After a freshman season in which she didn't play much, UC San Diego's Erin Condron was looking forward to making a bigger impact in her second year. 

However, her progress toward that goal was halted by a hand injury.

Condron was forced to miss the first 14 games of the 2024-25 season. When she did return to the lineup, she was able to improve on her freshman year, but she also returned with a newfound sense of appreciation for the game of basketball.

It was something that UC San Diego head coach Heidi VanDerveer noticed right away.

"She came back in great shape," VanDerveer told The IX Basketball. "I think sitting out gave her a different perspective of kind of what she could do and how she could help our team."

Condron echoed VanDerveer, stating that observing the game from the sidelines allowed her to see where she could be most effective in the Tritons' lineups. Upon her return, she scored in double figures in eight of her first 11 games. She shot over 45% in seven of those games.

She wiped away the bitter taste of the injury and helped lead UC San Diego to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025.

"When I was injured, in the moment, it's terrible. You're upset. I had a really good preseason, and so I was pretty devastated," Condron told The IX Basketball. "But I came back, and I had a new appreciation of what I could bring to the team. I could see the bits and pieces that my team was missing on the court. I could see where I could kind of fit into that role. In terms of what I could bring, that was something that really shaped what I worked on."

Read the full story on The Next Hoops/IX Basketball.