February 1, 2008

     WATERBURY - With knee pads, high socks and a black mouth guard, former Platt girls basketball standout Mallorie Michalak is still giving opponents fits with scrappy play, perfect passes and clutch shooting.
     Michalak, 19, is Post University's starting point guard, but her road there was a rocky one.
     After finishing a stellar career with the Panthers as the team's third leading scorer of all-time, the 5-foot sparkplug accepted a full scholarship to play at Division II Dowling College on Long Island in the fall of 2006.
     Unfortunately for Dowling and Michalak, her time as a Golden Lion would be brief because the freshman started feeling ill after the third day of practice. Michalak was suffering from light-headedness and an upset stomach, but went back to practice.
     "Eventually it got worse," Michalak said on Thursday night after she and the Post Eagles picked up their fourth win of the season. "One practice, after practice, I started coughing really bad. I felt like I was going to throw up. My coach told me to get whatever I needed to get done and get back here when I was better."
     That's where the Michalak's long quest for a diagnosis began. She immediately went to a hospital near campus, where she was told she had a stomach bug. Unsatisfied with that assessment, she went to another doctor, who told her she had a stomach virus and prescribed a steroid to fight it.
     "The following symptom was my breathing," Michalak said. "I couldn't walk or talk without being short of breath. In the middle of the night, five weeks later, I couldn't breathe and I was gasping for air. I couldn't even talk. That's when my mother and I decided I was going to go to some doctors at home."
     Back in Connecticut, Michalak went to a lung specialist, who said the teenager had the lungs of a long-time smoker. Michalak said she had never smoked anything in her life.
     Without any clear answer to what was wrong, the quest continued to an allergist on the recommendation of her personal doctor. The allergist suspected Michalak had an asthma-related problem.
     That's where Michalak finally got her answer.
     "They found that I was allergic to dust mites and mold," Michalak said. "I could have died in my sleep. I had the problem when I was one or two, but I didn't react like this. After six months of treatment, I didn't want to go back to (Dowling) because I didn't want to take any chances."
     So Michalak withdrew from Dowling, used 2006-07 as a redshirt year and started thinking about schools closer to Meriden. Post turned out to be her perfect fit.
     But there was a problem. Because of the steroids she had been prescribed, Michalak had gained weight and had to get back into shape.
     Over the summer, she played in four basketball leagues, including three 18-and-over men's leagues, to get back into her old form. Michalak also found a non-basketball way to regain her endurance: soccer.
     "On the spur of the moment, the Post soccer coach called me up and asked me to play soccer," Michalak said. "That was a shock, because I'm not really a soccer player. I decided to do it. It was great and I ended up liking it a lot."
     As a center-midfielder, Michalak scored four goals. At Platt she only played soccer in her freshman and senior years.
     Her journey back to college basketball finally arrived as the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference began play on Nov. 15. Ever since, Michalak has been one of Post's top players this season. First-year coach Tracey Garofalo said she feels fortunate to have Michalak aboard.
     "She's stepped up huge," Garofalo said. "She doesn't see herself as a freshman and we don't either. She's a natural leader who wants the ball in her hands with the game on the line. She takes care of the basketball and does the little things that matter."
     On Thursday night, Post (4-15) defeated Nyack College 80-65 at the Drubner Center in the Brass City.
     Michalak was the catalyst for the Eagles all night, finishing the game with 18 points and 7 assists. She also iced the game by going 6-for-6 from the line in the final minute to quell and chance for Nyack to get back into the contest.
     "If you have someone you can trust and believe in who can take care of the basketball, the other things will fall into place," Garofalo said of Michalak, who played all 40 minutes. "We look to her as the leader. She gets the ball to the open players and that's what she should do."
     Michalak leads the team in assists per game (2.7), is third on the team in scoring (9.1 ppg), second in steals (26) and, surprisingly, third on the team in rebounding with 61. She is also shooting 40 percent from 3-point land (20-for-50).
     Michalak, a criminal justice major, said she is pleased with her success, but is mostly just happy to be playing again.
     "I love being back and I missed it a lot," Michalak said. "Doing the other leagues was fun, but it wasn't organized. I feel like I'm getting back into it. I don't feel like I am where I was when I graduated, because I didn't play for a while, but I'm getting there."