Jacksonville women’s lacrosse player Kasey Stevens sits in front of her computer waiting to be interviewed over Zoom with a mini basketball hoop affixed to the door in the background over her right shoulder.

How fitting.

The hoop was a gift from her dad when she entered her freshman year of college. It’s followed her from dorm room to dorm room — and now to her apartment closer to the beach — since. She just never threw it out.

Stevens, a graduate student taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility that came as a result of COVID-19, was a talented basketball player at Bowie High School (Md.), but she ultimately played the sport for fun once she committed to play women’s lacrosse at Jacksonville as a sophomore. It’s funny how life works, though.

On Monday night, in a sign of both desperation and necessity, Stevens suited up for Jacksonville’s women’s basketball team. She played 32 minutes, recording four rebounds, three assists and one steal. She posted a +/- of 15, the best of any player who stepped foot on the court. Jacksonville beat Flagler 59-52.

Here’s the best part: It was Stevens’ first competitive basketball game since her senior year of high school five years ago.

“After high school, I just thought I was done,” Stevens said. “Here I am today.”

The Dolphins were in dire need of support. A slew of injuries — none COVID-related, according to head coach Darnell Haney and a spokesperson from the university — forced the team’s hand. After finishing the final 1 minute, 10 seconds of a 64-59 loss to FIU on Dec. 5 with just four healthy players on the court and nine battling injuries, administration reached out for help.

Lauren Cevis, Jacksonville’s deputy athletic director and senior woman administrator, reached out to the university’s women’s teams on Monday, Dec. 7, asking if any athletes had high school basketball experience. Every coach responded to this cry for help within two hours. By the end of the day, Cevis said she had a list of seven interested players to contact.

The following day, five players from five sports (lacrosse, softball, rowing, soccer and beach volleyball) began the process of joining the team. Some immediately jumped on flights. Others, like Stevens, hopped in the car to drive.

Somehow, Cevis said, with the help of Doug Frye, the director of sports medicine, and Emily Rice, the women’s basketball athletic trainer, the athletes were eligible to participate in their first practice on Thursday, Dec. 10, wearing borrowed numbers of the injured players. Stevens wears No. 3, the normal number of Da’Nasia Shaw.

For all involved, it’s been a whirlwind. An ironic one, too. In a COVID-19 landscape in which we’ve come to expect the unexpected, this situation actually has nothing to do with the pandemic.

“We stay encouraged, and we move forward,” said Haney, who said the hope is to have the bulk of his normal roster back by the time conference play begins on Jan. 2. “It’s been really tough.”

Stevens has been a bright light in this unique situation. Haney said she played so well that he just couldn’t take her out of the game. Stevens said she could have pursued a college basketball career had lacrosse not been in the picture.

“One of the things that I knew about her is, I had seen her play lacrosse before, and I knew she was a very cerebral player,” Haney said. “She could see things and do things on the lacrosse field that definitely could translate to basketball. One of her key attributes is that she’s a fighter.

“If she had played basketball for four years and I was recruiting, I would have recruited her. You see hints of, she just knows it. She’s like a coach out there. She just understands the game.”

Stevens didn’t score after shooting 0-for-5 from the field, and her stat line isn’t necessarily a sight to behold. But she impressed the coaching staff, dishing out two key assists that helped break open the Dolphins’ fourth-quarter lead.

Her assist to Jada Perry led to a three-point play that essentially iced the game with 47 seconds left. Even after admitting the speed of the college game was faster than expected — “You have to think, ‘OK, what’s next?’ before you even do the present,” she said — Stevens looked right at home on the hardwood.

“I was proud of being able to keep up, especially on the offense end,” said Stevens, who was a prolific defender and passer in high school. “I wasn’t too confident in remembering all the plays, but my biggest accomplishment was being able to keep up. On top of that, getting those assists. I had one to Jada Perry, who had an and-1.”

The similarities between basketball and lacrosse are often talked about in teaching the fundamentals of either sport. Defensive schemes, both zone and man-to-man, can translate between sports, though Stevens admitted she did have to stop herself from over-sliding to the ball. The motion offenses were similar, too, with the ball-handler focused on finding off-ball cutters to keep the offense flowing.

Haney knew that Stevens’ lacrosse background would make the transition easier. He said she “instantly” asked for the playbook once everything was finalized.

The initial goal was for the non-basketball players to provide temporary aid. But after Stevens’ performance, Haney said he’s open to keeping her around longer because “she brings something to the table that helps our program.”

“We’re going to work on that jump shot today though,” Haney joked.

Good thing she kept that mini hoop to get extra reps in.