And then there were eight. And the eight kept winning.

Over Christmas break, the Saint Louis University women’s basketball team lost LaKia Jones, Christan Shelton, Kirsti Holloway, Harmonie King, Shanda Greer and Stephanie Solomon to broken third metatarsals in their left feet.

That only left seven healthy Billikens-Star Jackson, Angie Lewis (the only original starters left), Greta Bujaker, Amie Van Deurzen, Jana Haywood, Laniya Stevens and Melissa Oliver. Outside hitter on the volleyball team, Brooke Minniear, who played with Jones in high school, joined the team to make eight.

The injuries posed challenges for the entire team, healthy and injured. The injured Billikens’ physical activity was limited, especially shortly after the injuries were diagnosed.

“Basically, they needed a three-to four-week period of relative rest,” said head athletic trainer Tony Breitbach. “We tried to do some alternative activities with them.”

The problem was immediately dealt with. Every player on the team was given calcium supplements since the beginning of the season. The team was given new shoes that provided increased shock absorption. Both the men’s and women’s teams were given orthotics that act as shock absorbers and fit inside the shoes.

Each injured player participated in pool and cardio workouts, in addition to a four-phase rehabilitation program. The first phase consisted of bike riding as part of a cardio workout and to stay in shape.

Some of the rehab exercises included work with the leg press and balancing techniques. There were also intrinsic muscle exercises where the players picked up marbles and towels with their toes to strengthen their toes.

“I was surprised with some of the exercises. But if the doctors said that they would help us get back faster, I was happy to do it,” Holloway said.

The second phase was work on the stair machine. Their minutes progressed as long as they were not experiencing pain.

The third level was work on the treadmill. The players began by walking and progress to jogging, as long as they did not experience any pain.

Finally, before they were cleared to practice, they did court exercises. They underwent game-like activities, like shooting layups and defensive slides and doing activities that would test their lateral movement.

When they were cleared to practice, their minutes were limited, practicing from a fourth of the time and working up to full practices.

But the rehabilitation wasn’t close to being the hardest thing for the injured Billikens. Having to sit and watch proved to be torture for them.

“One of the biggest challenges for us was maintaining a positive attitude,” said King. “I personally hated sitting out. It was a learning experience. It makes you humble and your desire increases.”

While injured players were rehabbing, the healthy Billikens faced their own challenges, from the coaching staff to the players.

“We focused on trying to get better,” said coach Jill Pizzotti. “But when you’re low on bodies and the coaches have to step in and play so that it’s five-on-five, the coaches can’t do their jobs. It made it tough to get better. We had to cut practices short because we had the same eight people going through everything.

“With the group of eight that we had, they just went out and played,” Pizzotti said. “There wasn’t much creativity there. We emphasized not coming out of what we do. We couldn’t step out of their capabilities to do what we needed to do.”

Despite the limited numbers, the Billikens didn’t feel that depth was the biggest challenge.

“We worked on everyone having confidence in themselves,” Lewis said. “Most of the injured players were starters. It took us a few games to get the confidence we needed.”

“We concentrated on what we needed to do to get things done. We focused on what we could do with what we had and didn’t worry about what we didn’t have,” Van Deurzen said.

“We worked on staying focused,” Oliver said. “We all knew that some key players went down. Those who were left had to stay positive. We had to have the right attitude.”

Some teams would have folded when the team is cut in half. But the Billikens weathered the storm and improved to 9-7 overall and 2-1 in Conference USA. SLU moved into fourth place in C-USA with a 57-56 win over No. 20 Tulane. It was the first time that everyone was healthy and cleared to play since November.

SLU sees the many positives that are emerging from a seemingly negative situation.

“It changed the mentality of the team.” Jackson said. “It gave people a chance who haven’t had an opportunity to show their skills.”

“We all came together well and backed each other. It showed our character and that we were willing to accept the challenge.”

“Those seven got a ton of minutes. With a full squad, everyone will be experienced,” Pizzotti said.

A situation that could have devastated the Billikens may catapult them to the top.

“This could be a dream come true. We came in as freshmen and kept working through the games we know we should have won,” King said. “Now it’s all coming together.”