EAST LANSING — Not long after Moira Joiner drained a 3-pointer from the wing in the opening quarter Wednesday night at Breslin Center she was recognized during a break in play.
A graphic would later appear on the video board celebrating Joiner reaching 1,000 points. Cheers came from the crowd. And her family sported 1,000-point shirts celebrating the moment.
Joiner had visions of experiencing big moments in the Michigan State women’s basketball program following her standout career at Saginaw Heritage and had hopes of competing for Big Ten titles and reaching the NCAA tournament. But reaching 1,000 career points wasn’t necessarily something she expected to do.
And there were especially doubts surrounding that milestone when concussions nearly forced her to end her basketball career following her junior season.
“I literally was not supposed to play basketball again,” said Joiner, who missed the final 15 games her junior season due to being in concussion protocol.
“I had a lot of concussions and doctor’s were telling me you might not be able to play again.”