Katie Dierdorf

As fans of the team know, Katie Dierdorf struggled throughout her career at Michigan with injuries, missing large portions of her first three seasons. This year she has been healthy, but not seen much game time. St. Louis Today has a profile on her and her career at Michigan:

The 6-foot forward has seen minimal playing time as a senior. But she refuses to express regrets about the path she took, having spent four years at the college she dreamed of attending and where her father, Dan, starred before his NFL career.

"When you come from high school, you know college will be different, but you can't grasp how different," she said. "Even though I didn't get a chance to play as much as I would have liked, it's knowing I could compete at this level. When you're in high school, no matter how cocky you are, you're worrying, 'Can I really do this?'"

And despite the constant interruptions, there were times Dierdorf seemed well on her way to proving she could. She has scored 256 career points, grabbed 131 rebounds and shot 49 percent.

Now she is mostly a practice player who still displays good skills. In practice Tuesday, she and teammate Janelle Cooper combined to win the team's 3-point shooting contest.

"In practice, the kid laces up with a smile," first-year coach Kevin Borseth said. "She is efficient when she's in there. For all she's been through, you wouldn't know it. ... There hasn't been one instance that I walked in and wasn't glad Katie was there."