Mataeya Mathern training, playing through pain at UND

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Dec. 30—GRAND FORKS — If you are looking for Mataeya Mathern, you will probably find her on the basketball court — even when it's not basketball season.

Mathern, an Edgeley/Kulm-Montpelier Class of 2024 grad, is currently playing basketball for the University of North Dakota women's basketball team. The E/K-M alum is 13 games into her second season with the Fighting Hawks.

Mathern's freshman season ended with a couple of big wins but fell short in the semifinal round of the Summit League Tournament against top-ranked South Dakota State University. UND finished at 12-19 overall and 6-10 in the conference standings. The Fighting Hawks had no seniors, six juniors, three sophomores and one redshirt, and five true freshmen on the roster last year.

Mathern played in 20 games as a true freshman and scored a total of 15 points. She averaged 7.7 minutes played per night.

"My freshman season was full of new experiences where I learned how to navigate many changes and adjust to what it is like playing college basketball at this level," Mathern said. "I feel like all the experiences helped me grow as a player and person, which is only going to help me in the future. My impression (of) the season was that we (grew) a lot."

After UND's season concluded in early March, Mathern and the team took a few weeks off before getting back to work.

"The offseason consisted of a lot of shooting, lifting, ... team practices, conditioning and ... building connections with our teammates," Mathern said. "Training in the offseason was way more limited with what we could do with our coaches because we only can go eight hours a week."

Once the season got going, the training becomes more like a part-time job.

"(Training) goes to 20 hours (a week), so we are able to schedule more individual workouts and film sessions," Mathern said. "In the offseason, we never would have more than an hour and a half practice, we lift heavier to build muscle, and we would have conditioning. In season, our practices get longer. Our lifts are more to just maintain what we built in the offseason, we watch a lot more film, and we do more recovery."

Mathern has had to take advantage of UND's athletic training team recently.

"My feet started bothering me this summer and just continued to get worse as we got into preseason," Mathern said. "They have not figured out yet what it is exactly, but I do have cysts in the bottom of my feet that they were able to see on the MRIs. We have tried almost everything you can imagine besides surgery right now. I went to PT, I got them dry needled, we tried shockwave therapy, I had a procedure done to try to drain the cysts, but they couldn't get the fluid out, and I also got a cortisone shot."

According to Mayo Clinic Health System during a dry needling treatment, one or more thin, monofilament needles are inserted into a muscle trigger point. A trigger point is a local band of tight or irritable muscle tissue. The purpose of this physical therapy technique is to relieve pain and improve mobility. This technique is used for issues such as back pain, headaches and muscle strains. The technique is similar to that of acupuncture.

Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive treatment using high-energy sound waves to promote healing, reduce pain and break down damaged tissue in musculoskeletal conditions like plantar fasciitis — a condition similar to Mathern's.

"(My feet) still bother me, but it doesn't hold me back from playing," Mathern said. "I haven't really had to adjust my game. I have just learned to deal with the pain. I felt it was in my best interest to play basketball this year because if I can manage the pain, I'm not making them any worse by playing on them."

Mathern has played in 13 games this winter and has tallied five points. She has nabbed 24 rebounds, a pair of assists and five steals. The sophomore is playing 7.5 minutes per game.

As of Monday, Dec. 29, the Fighting Hawks are 3-10 overall. The team's next game is scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 1, at the University of Denver.

"We are a very new team this year, but we have the potential to grow every single day and see where that takes us," Mathern said. "We just need to remember to trust the process. I'm excited about this team because we have created special connections with each other on and off the court, and when you get to play the sport you love with people you love doing it with, it makes for a special team."

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