They were her first steps away from the adversity she faced in the off-season and her first steps towards a healthy, productive year.

"Right now my head is going crazy because I'm so excited that I'm here, I'm practicing and I'm with the team," Smith said.

A couple of months ago, no one thought she would be here. Instead of preparing for the start of school and practicing with her Wisconsin women's basketball teammates, Smith underwent several surgeries to repair injuries caused in a car accident.

On Aug. 28, 1999, Smith and a companion were in a single-car accident. While traveling from the North Port area, the driver of the vehicle apparently fell asleep and the car crashed into a pole.

"The pole was on my side, and I didn't have my seat belt on. I guess I busted the window," Smith said.

Fortunately for Smith, she suffered no broken bones in the crash, but she did receive several facial lacerations. The skin from the bottom of her nose was torn off, and her upper lip was split and detached. In September, Smith underwent surgery in which doctors grafted skin from her forehead to her nose, and then had her nose reshaped two weeks later. One final cosmetic surgery was supposed to take place in December, which would require Smith to be redshirted for the 1999-2000 season, but the doctors rescheduled it for late April.

"[My doctor] said [I need] to have the surgery after the season so that the bloodflow is going right, and I don't have to worry about missing so much class," Smith said.

After missing several classes during the first part of the semester due to her injury, Smith is back in full attendance, both in the classroom and on the court.

Up until Oct. 30, when she was cleared to start practicing, Smith was forced to observe practice from the bench, and ride a stationary bike for conditioning.

"I'm happy about that [participating in practice]. I hate that bike," Smith said.

Although Smith is able to practice and participate in games, there are still some physical constraints she has to bear. The most noticeable of these is a clear, padded facial mask. Although the mask is a temporary precautionary device, it creates another obstacle Smith must overcome.

"It [the mask] affects my seeing. I can't see down, and I can't see my legs when I'm playing," Smith says.

Luckily for Smith, she will only have to wear the mask for the remainder of this week.

"It protects the nose. They [doctors] just want it to protect me for the first couple of weeks of practice that I was going full time," Smith said.

On Tuesday night, while still wearing her mask, Smith made a huge step in her recovery. After only practicing with her teammates for a couple of weeks, Smith stepped onto the court to compete in the Badgers' exhibition game against Athletes In Action. Although she went scoreless in seven minutes of play, the statistics of the game were not as important as the satisfaction of playing. Smith was told she would miss the majority of her season, so she did not expect to see this level of recovery so soon.

"I was told I wouldn't be able to do anything until at least Dec. 5; I didn't think I would be in that game last night. I didn't even think I'd be practicing by this time," Smith said.

With the satisfaction of a quick recovery behind her, Smith can now look forward to the start of her freshman season. Although she had high expectations coming into this season, all of those faded with her accident.

Smith's new goals for the year are simple and modest.

"All I want really want to do is get into a game a couple of minutes, get down the court and get my feet wet as a freshman," Smith said.

With all of the adversity that Smith has endured these past couple of months, one must believe that the worst is behind her.