Tenley Dowell’s persistent recovery

Tears rolled down Tenley Dowell’s face.

The then-freshman had been dribbling down the court on a fast break. It was one of the last drills the Butler women’s basketball team was doing in their final practice before the second regular season game of her collegiate career. Days before, Dowell had a short conversation with women’s basketball head coach Kurt Godlevske, in which she remembers him saying, simply: “Tenley, you’re going to be the starting point guard.” Dowell, who played the three and the four in prior exhibition games, was excited because she played point guard throughout her high school days.

Then…Pop!

She didn’t know it then, but it was the ACL in her right knee that snapped and…