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The redshirt sophomore forward at The Evergreen State College plays through severe pain every practice and every game with a left shoulder and biceps injury she sustained last season. It will require surgery following this season.
Taking time off to heal was never an option for the 6-foot Swain, a 2009 Black Hills High School graduate. Without hesitation, she was going to play this season for the Goeducks (1-4), and she will continue to wear a brace for support despite feeling sharp pain.
“I’d rather be here for my team and do what I can,” said Swain, who turns 21 Thursday. “I have to suck it up. There’s not really much I can do.”
Through five games this young season, Swain is averaging team-bests in scoring (14.4 points per game) and rebounding (9.6) going into the Geoducks’ nonleague home game against Northwest Indian College at 6 tonight at the College Recreation Center gymnasium.
Swain, who is left-handed but shoots right, suffered the injury last November in the season-opening trip to Montana when the Geoducks faced Carroll College and Montana Tech. She doesn’t know how the injury happened. She began feeling sharp pain during the 10-hour bus ride back to Olympia. She played through the pain during the Geoducks’ 5-20 campaign in 2010-11, her first as a collegiate player. But recent magnetic resonance (MRI) testing and a second opinion led to the conclusion that she’ll need surgery.
Looking at the numbers Swain put up last season, you’d never guess she was hurting. She had a breakout campaign, and is no longer a secret in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. She’s one of the conference’s top interior players after averaging nearly a double-double – 11.7 points and 9.3 rebounds a game in 2010-11 – to earn honorable mention all-CCC honors. She was the only freshman to be honored.
Her rebounds last season – 223 – rank fourth in team history. Her season-high 17 rebounds on Feb. 4 against Oregon Tech tied for fifth in team annals for a game.
Coach Monica Heuer, in her 11th season at Evergreen, thinks Swain can grow into a possible All-American candidate before her career is finished.
“She has that ability,” Heuer said. “No doubt about it.”
Having a redshirt year in 2009-10 paid dividends for Swain, who was a first-team all-2A Evergreen Conference player at Black Hills her senior season after averaging a double-double.
Not only did Swain have an extra year for growth and development, but she also blossomed as a vocal team leader.
“You have to step up and play to a certain kind of level,” said Swain, who noted she’s in the best shape of her life. “I always want to play a year ahead.”
Swain has learned what to expect from opposing teams night after night. It’s the norm for her to see double- or even triple-team defense from opponents.
As a result, she has learned to play to her strengths, not just in the paint and crashing the boards, but knowing when to pass to open teammates on the perimeter.
She has improved her game, developing a midrange jump shot from the foul line and pushing the ball up the court on a fast break to break the press.
“She makes the guards’ jobs easier,” said teammate Nettie Gould, a freshman guard from Vancouver’s Heritage High School. “I feel like she can handle a lot of the pressure. She’s a good leader.”
Heuer said Swain is playing like an all-conference candidate through five games, and feels the second-year player will develop consistency as the season progresses.
“I do feel like she came into the season ready to make an impact,” Heuer said, “and it showed the last few games. She’s going to be a big key for us.”
Meg Wochnick: 360-754-5473
mwochnick@theolympian.com.
