The No. 17 Baylor women's basketball team lost senior forward/guard Aijha Blackwell to an injury in Tuesday's victory over SMU. Going into Sunday's matchup with No. 19 Maryland in Waco, Texas, the 3-0 Bears still have not made an announcement on Blackwell's status.
"I think everyone saw it was a lower leg injury," Baylor coach Nicki Collen said of Blackwell, who was helped off the court. "Aijha has not signed off on sharing medical information. So that's all I can really say."
Asked if she expects to get Blackwell back this season, Collen said, "I can't answer that."
Blackwell played her first three years for Missouri before transferring to Baylor this season. She was second in Division I in rebounds per game last season (13.0) and was third in ESPN's preseason transfer rankings. In ESPN's most recent WNBA mock draft earlier this month, Blackwell was the No. 7 pick.
In the two games before she was injured, Blackwell averaged 20.0 points and 7.0 rebounds. Baylor forward Caitlin Bickle missed the Bears' first three games with a thumb injury but returned to practice Thursday.
"It's kind of bittersweet because I was looking forward to playing those two together," Collen said. "I think [Bickle will] take the lion's share of her minutes. We're going to continue to need contributions from both freshmen forwards. It's a collective effort going forward."
