Ryerson Rams star Angela Tilk couldn’t wait for the 2012-13 basketball season to begin. The Rams had a brand new court in the Mattamy Athletic Centre, a new coach, and Tilk was eager to prove that she was a premier women’s varsity basketball player that could lead the Rams to success. 

On Sept. 9, two months before the regular season started, Tilk was in the best shape of her life. She scored a career-high 30 points and added 18 rebounds as the Rams routed the York Lions 63-47 in a pre-season game, christening Coca-Cola Court. It was a fantastic night for the fifth-year, who set the new scoring high in front of her family. 

Then, with less than five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Tilk felt a sharp pain in her left ankle, heard a loud bang and fell to the floor. She looked around, but nobody else had reacted to the sudden noise. Tilk tried to get up, but her left ankle stopped her. Then, as quickly as the pain came on, it went away. 

She shrugged it off and continued to do what she does best, play basketball. Ironically, the night she scored the most points ever turned out to be one of the worst days of her basketball career. 

“It was a split-second pain,” she said. “I got up and started walking on it. I couldn’t feel it, so it didn’t hurt. I thought I was fine. I went over to (the trainers) and they didn’t say anything, so I thought it was a twisted ankle.”

The lack of pain Tilk experienced was because she had damaged the nerves surrounding the tendon in her heel. She felt well enough to walk home with a crutch, but it speaks to the deceitfulness of the injury. Tilk did not feel pain and wouldn’t for another five weeks. 

Overnight, her ankle swelled up, and she felt a need to get a second opinion. She called Kelcey Wright, a fourth-year guard and close friend, and the two of them went to hospital to determine the severity of the injury. 

Tilk went into the ER doctor`s office alone and came out in tears. She had ruptured her left Achilles tendon. Her season was over. 

Her doctors said her recovery would take up to a year. Tilk was defiant, driven, in peak physical condition and determined to work through it.

Her recovery started off well. Two weeks earlier than expected, she shed the cast and crutches, trading them for an air boot. She was out of the boot by the end of November, six weeks ahead of schedule. 

 Rebuilding the strength and mobility in the muscle proved to slow down the recovery process.

“It might frustrate her because it’s a slow recovery,” head coach Carly Clarke said. “It takes longer than she would have thought, but I think she’s become patient with it and understands the process.” 

In mid-February, she still couldn’t do a single-leg calf raise — an essential motion in proper running — but was back in the weight room, spending time swimming and strengthening in the pool. She’s resumed shooting, and can jump again, but she mostly relies on her uninjured right foot. 

On Feb. 26, Tilk hit the court with Clarke for a one-hour practice — her first in five and a half months. 

In the off-season, Ashley MacDonald, an OUA all-star and three-time Ryerson female athlete of the year, graduated. Tilk was supposed to take over as the team’s top player, so without her, the Rams had two big holes to fill. 

The two most senior players on the team, Wright and Dayana Gechkova, were both guards. The backup post, Annie Bourdeau, was a rookie. Silvana Jez, a second-year guard, was asked to change positions and move into Tilk’s former role.

“(The new posts) were thrown into a role that they weren’t ready to, or expected to fill,” Tilk said. “They are being put in a position where they are forced to create and that’s hard for a first or second year.” 

Tilk had a knack for getting offensive rebounds, kicking the ball out to the guards, relieving the pressure on her teammates and creating new offensive opportunities.  

In the absence of Tilk, Wright and rookie Cassandra Nofuente became the centerpieces of the Rams’ offence. Wright led the team with 13.8 points per game and 40 three-pointers. Nofuente scored a team-high 250 points, while averaging 30 minutes a game en route to being named the OUA East Rookie of the Year. The Rams made the playoffs with an 8-12 record, but lost 86-64 to Queens in the quarter-finals. 

While the Rams made the playoffs there was a sense around the team of what could have been.

“(Tilk) was really just starting to show the presence and the power she could have over other OUA players,” Rams play-by-play announcer Jeremy Pearl said. “With the loss of her this year, we didn’t get to see her dominate as we could have.

Had the injury happened during the regular season, Tilk would have effectively been robbed of her last year of eligibility. But because Tilk’s injury occurred in an exhibition game, she was able to defer her fifth and final year. 

“It could have been worse,” Tilk said. “If I choose to play next year I can. It’s still an option.”  

Tilk has applied to graduate schools, but hasn’t committed to anything yet. 

If she comes back to Ryerson, she’ll pick up right where she left off. If not, she’ll walk away having left an all-star legacy and an imprint on a young team going forward.