NAMPA, Idaho – When the Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team tips off the game of the year Thursday at Alaska Anchorage, they will be missing three key players.

And while McKenna Emerson, Maysun Wellsandt and Cami Knishka have not logged a single minute this season, their presence – or lack thereof on the road – will be felt by the No. 5 team in the country.

All three players are medical redshirts and have given up a season when they expected to see significant minutes.

Through it all, though, they have worked hard to stay involved with the team and do what they can to support their teammates on the court.

"My role is to be an encouragement to my team," Emerson said. "To love them and cheer them on through good and bad."

The Nighthawks (25-1 overall, 17-1 GNAC), who play at Anchorage (25-1, 17-1) at 7:15 p.m. MST on Thursday in a battle for the GNAC title, felt the absence of their redshirts the most during their one loss this season at Simon Fraser.

"It's noticeable when they are not with us," NNU coach Steve Steele said. "I heard a lot of comments after Simon Fraser about how much we missed those three girls off the bench, just building us up and giving us confidence when we were struggling."

It's a role all three players have learned to enjoy, even if it means not getting to actually play with the team.

"I'm just focusing on loving my teammates more and in different ways than actually competing with them," Wellsandt said. "Just encouraging them or filling up their water bottles at practice or rebounding for them. Just little things."

While Wellsandt and Emerson have been unable to participate in any physical activity, Knishka has been practicing with the team since December.

She hurt her shoulder playing soccer during her senior year of high school. She got tangled up, fell and landed on her arm with all of her weight on it. She played the rest of the season and then played her senior year of basketball until she got an MRI in May, discovering she had two tears in her labrum. She had surgery in June and was finally cleared to practice in December.

She could have played this year, but ultimately decided with the coaching staff that it was better to save her minutes for next season.

"I didn't know what it was and I was glad it was something I could fix," Knishka said of the injury, "but it was hard to know that I wouldn't be coming in right away to play. I've focused on rehabbing, learning the system and being with the team."

Wellsandt, a sophomore, sat out last season as well after walking on to the team the day after Thanksgiving. She found out she would miss this season around the holidays again.

"It was pretty frustrating having to sit out two years in a row," she said. "It's just changing your mindset of, 'I'm not playing and giving minutes' but we are still part of the team and adding and creating to this 25-1 team."

Wellsandt has an osteochondral defect in her leg where she broke cartilage off of the outside of her femur. It was a progressive injury that may stem from an ACL injury in high school.
Emerson, a freshman, has a very similar issue, though she didn't need surgery like Wellsandt.

Emerson's injury is smaller and doctors aren't sure why she suffered it, though it could have to do with her nonstop competition. She hasn't had more than a week off of athletics in the last seven years and came to NNU to run cross country and track and field, as well as play basketball.

"When I was at my doctor's appointment, the last thing and furthest thing on my mind was being told I wouldn't be able to play this season," she said. "It was definitely a shock and it took me a few days to process that."

One of the first people to reach out to Emerson was Ellie Logan, who missed all of last season with an ACL injury and has suffered myriad injuries during her collegiate career.

"A lot of the rehab process you are trying to mentally talk yourself into a good attitude and staying positive," Logan said. "It is nice to have another voice other than your own in your head encouraging you on the hard days. I was trying to give them something to fall back on."

Logan had gotten similar text messages last year from former teammates and friends and they helped her on the dark days when she didn't want to go work out.

Thanks to Logan paying it forward that has now been passed on to Emerson, who sees that as her job with the team.

"Being surrounded by these people who have reached out and shared God's love has really made being injured not that bad," Emerson said. "Just as I was encouraged, it is now my turn to pass that encouragement on. And I'm truly loving it."