SELINSGROVE, (Pa.) — Wednesday’s been a bittersweet day for Susquehanna University senior post player and tri-captain Karyn Kern (Brodheadsville/Pleasant Valley H.S.). She was named both Columbus Multimedia Division III Women’s Basketball Player of the Week, and to the first Team of the Week by D3hoops.com on the same day that she learned her collegiate career in both basketball and track and field have come to an end by way of a ligament knee injury suffered in Tuesday night’s 83-80 MAC Commonwealth Conference win over Messiah.
Kern suffered both a tear to her anterior cruciate ligament and had some cartilage damage to her right knee — forcing her to undergo reconstructive surgery some time in the next two weeks. Rehabilitation from such surgery takes up to six months to complete, meaning Kern will miss both the remainder of the women’s basketball season, as well as the entire outdoor track and field season where she is a four-time MAC outdoor champion jumper (all three seasons in the triple-jump, once in the long jump).
She sustained the injury on a fast break layup with 2:48 left in the first half to put her team up 44-31. Kern posted her fifth double-double in as many games this season — and the 42nd of her Susquehanna career — with 14 points and 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes Tuesday. She entered the game averaging a remarkable 29.3 points and 14.0 rebounds per game — earning Most Valuable Player honors at both the Susquehanna Varsity Club Tournament, and last weekend’s Rochester Chuck Resler Invitational.
Kern pumped in a tournament record and career high 37 points while grabbing 12 rebounds in Saturday’s 76-71 win over host Rochester in the Resler Invitational Championship Game. After scoring 32 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in Susquehanna’s 82-68 win over Denison in Friday’s opening round, she also broke the tournament’s two-game scoring record with 69 points. Kern averaged 34.5 points -- shooting 61.9 percent from the field (26 of 42) and 85.0 percent from the line (17 of 20) -- as well as 13.5 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 3.0 blocks in the two games.
A Preseason All-American who was also a three-time MAC Commonwealth All-Star, earning first-team honors last season, Kern led NCAA Division III in field goal percentage last season with a MAC record 65.0 percent (169 of 260). Her final numbers this season will find her averaging 26.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, 2.8 steals, 1.8 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game, while shooting 64.5 percent from the field (49 of 76) and 78.6 percent from the free throw line (33 of 42). She will finish fifth on the program’s career scoring list with 1,358 points, and fourth in career rebounds with 796. Kern was on pace to both surpass Megan Lytle (1991-95) as the program’s career rebounding leader (Record: 996, 1991-95), and become the first 1,000-point scorer, and 1,000-rebounder in school history. She accomplished that feat at Pleasant Valley High School, scoring 1,360 points while grabbing 1,099 as she finished first in scoring and second in rebounding at the school.
“This is obviously devastating news for both Karyn and our team. Words cannot express our sorrow right now. Kerny’s been both a great player and a great leader ,” said 13th-year Susquehanna head women’s basketball coach Mark Hribar, who has lost two key players for the year with ACL injuries, and another starter for the next four to six weeks. Highly-recruited freshman point guard Shannon Baker (Greensburg/Greensburg Central Catholic H.S.) sustained her torn ACL in the team’s intrasquad scrimmage, while junior starting power forward Mandy Horner (8.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg) (Spring Mills/Penns Valley Area H.S.) has been lost for four to six weeks with cartilage damage in her left foot.
“We’ve been a little snakebit lately with injuries. While we’re down right now emotionally because of our losses, I know this group will bounce back and play as hard as it can the rest of the way,” said Hribar.
Kern won the MAC outdoor triple jump championship for the third-straight year last season with a jump of 35-9. She also finished second in the long jump for the second time in her career, coming within the final jump of repeating as champion with a leap of 16-7 1/2. She also finished third at MACs in the high jump with the team’s season best leap at 5-1.
Kern had hoped to make it to nationals in track and field this season. She had career best efforts of 35-11 (1997) in the triple jump, and 16-11 (1997) in the long.
A four-time selection to the MAC All-Academic teams, earning honors twice in the winter and twice in the spring, Kern is a psychology major with a speech communications minor. She is the daughter of Carol and Peter Kern.
The Susquehanna women’s basketball team is off to its first 5-0 start since 1994 and will host Widener Saturday at 1 p.m. in a potential match-up of unbeatens. Widener is presently 4-0, 1-0 in the conference, with a game at Delaware Valley Thursday.
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