Foot Problems Bench Titans’ Hennessey

Michelle Hennessey, who set three school records for the Cal State Fullerton women’s basketball team in 1990-91, will not return for her senior season because of chronic pain caused by recurring foot injuries.

The 5-foot-2 point guard, who averaged 6.2 assists and 2.5 steals last season, has had four operations on her feet. In the latest, in April, both of her small toes were amputated.

Hennessey has had problems since her senior year at Edison High School (1986-87).

In the third procedure, necessitated because two bones in her fourth and fifth toes were rubbing together, doctors removed all bones from her small toes and sewed the fourth and fifth toes together in 1989.

Hennessey thought that that operation would cure the problem, but she played the 1989-90 season at Orange Coast College and the 1990-91 season at Fullerton in excruciating pain.

She decided to take an extreme measure and have the small toes amputated, believing it would rid her of the problem once and for all. It didn’t.

“It’s worse now than it ever was, and I don’t have small toes,” Hennessey said. “I was better off playing with pain like I did last year. I regret having the surgery.”

Hennessey said doctors now believe she has nerve damage in her feet. Her physical activity is limited to jogging on a straight course. She experiences pain when she pivots or turns her feet.

“I offered to shoot them up with pain-killers before games, but the coaches didn’t go for that,” Hennessey said. “They thought it was unethical and I can understand that. It’s not worth jeopardizing my health to play.”

Although she averaged only 4.6 points last season, Hennessey was a key factor in the Titans’ best season. Fullerton went 25-8 and reached the second round of the NCAA playoffs, losing to Stanford.

She set a school single-season record with 205 assists, including a single-game record 13 against Cal State Northridge, and set a school record 12 steals against San Jose State.

Hennessey probably will be replaced by Lianne Ishikawa, a freshman from Ventura Buena High or Marissa Frial, a freshman from Riverside John W. North.

“It’s a tremendous loss, because we’re losing our most talented ball-handler, a co-captain and a strong leader,” Titan Coach Maryalyce Jeremiah said. “We have two freshmen who play like Michelle, but they don’t have her experience.”