Abyee Maracigan loves basketball. Really, she can’t stay away from it. Even after eight surgeries, she’s pulled back to the game.

    Since tearing her anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee for the first time when she was 14, the number of injuries and surgical procedures have only grown. The occasional doctor would tell her to stop, retire and step away from basketball.     

    She couldn’t. She wouldn’t.

    Three torn ACLs, four meniscus surgeries, a broken wrist and thumb reconstruction slowed Maracigan down — how is she even walking, much less playing basketball? — but the 5-foot-9 guard on Idaho State women’s basketball team always methodically worked her way back.

    There is one thing, however, that no amount of will, inner strength or stubbornness can stop — time.

    Maracigan is one of five seniors on ISU’s roster who will play their last two games in Reed Gym, starting tonight at 7 p.m. versus Northern Arizona.

    Four teams have locked up the seven postseason berths. Idaho State and Montana State, though it’s not official, are certainly expected to make the cut, too.

    With one spot remaining, the Lumberjacks trail Southern Utah by a game.

    So while NAU is scrambling for the last postseason berth, Idaho State is banging with Eastern Washington and Sacramento State (Saturday’s opponent) for the No. 3 seed — assuming Montana and Northern Colorado avoid a collapse in the season’s last two weeks.

    “I’m proud of the work we’ve done so far,” said Bengals head coach Seton Sobolewski. “We’ve secured a winning season, we’re still one of the most competitive teams in the Big Sky Conference, and we can compete with anybody. So we’ve done some really good things.

    “It’s not done yet, it’s not even close but it makes it fun.”

    It’s fun for Maracigan, too, even though she’s coming off the bench for the first time in her career.

    In all her years playing, Maracigan always saw the floor from a starter’s perspective, but in her three years on ISU’s campus she’s been forced to view basketball from an entirely different angle.

    But, first, let’s back up.

    Maracigan is from Tucson, Ariz., one of three Bengals on the roster from the Copper State. In high school, Maracigan started all four years and led Flowing Wells High School to a 33-1 record and a state championship.

    Then she went to Pima Community College. In her first year there, as the starting point guard, Maracigan averaged 14 points, eight rebounds and 5.4 assists while the Aztecs went 28-6 and finished third in the National Junior College Athletic Association.

    With Maracigan leading the way her sophomore year, Pima continued to roll but in the first-round of the NJCAA tournament she tore her ACL, again, in her left knee that time.

    She wanted to continue playing, and Sobolewski still offered her a scholarship.

    Her first year in Pocatello, 2010-11, she used a redshirt to recover from her third ACL surgery, and in Maracigan’s junior year she played in 10 games, total.

    “Last year wasn’t easy not playing too much, but it was also one of the best experiences,” Maracigan said. “We got to contribute in a way where we (could) sit back and realize, ‘My team’s doing great, whether I’m playing or not.’”

    She embraced the role of a practice player, someone who had to push the starters at practice and prepare them for the next game.

    “It was just humbling for me,” Maracigan said, “because (growing up) it was always like, ‘Abyee you have to do this, Abyee you have to do that.’”

    Today, along with fellow-senior Jessa Jeppesen, she’s the first substitute off the bench. Maracigan’s role isn’t to lead the team to victory, instead, Sobolewski expects her to keep the level of play consistent with the starters.

    In ISU’s 25 games, Maracigan has averaged 4.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in just under 20 minutes a night. Most memorably, against Southern Utah Jan. 10, Maracigan had a career-high 21 points along with 10 rebounds in the Bengals 80-71 victory.

    “She has a tendency to give us an offensive spark,” Sobolewski said, “She can hit an open three; she can get to the basket (and) handle the ball.”

    So the girl who began her career on such a high, suffered through injuries, fought back to star in junior college and then dealt with even more setbacks has found her place for the Bengals.

    “I’m not burned out, I love basketball,” Maracigan said. “I feel it this year with my legs and stuff. My legs start swelling up, my wrist starts hurting, but I’m just such a competitor. ... It’s always been one of those things where I have such a passion for playing basketball.”