Amelia Hassett quietly battled walking pneumonia last season

Amelia Hassett - Aaron Perkins, Kentucky Sports Radio

Coming from Eastern Florida State College, Kentucky women’s basketball transfer Amelia Hassett was one of the biggest surprises of Kenny Brooks’ debut season in Lexington. At 6-3, she had a pure shooting stroke and a nose for the ball on the glass, finishing the year averaging 8.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per contest.

It was clear, though, she wasn’t herself down the stretch, really from the start of February. She went from scoring in double figures in 11 games from November to January — including a stretch of seven in eight outings — to just one in her final 11 games of the season.

Hassett still found ways to produce, particularly on the glass, but her shooting numbers took a nosedive. Now, we know why: walking pneumonia.

“We did (keep things quiet). I was a bit sick,” she said on WLAP’s Sunday Morning Sports Talk. “By the end of it, I guess they called it walking pneumonia. … I just had to keep going. I mean, it happens during a long season, so we kind of kept it quiet and just pushed through.”

There had been rumblings of Hassett battling through illness, but the severity was unclear — certainly not to that extent. It adds up, though, and shows just how much of a trooper she was battling through to start all 31 games with 30-plus minutes in all but one outing in February and March combined. Averaging 33.1 minutes on the year, she fell short of the 30-minute mark just three times, two of them coming before the illness.

How did she fight through to keep playing? Adrenaline and Gatorade.

“I guess at halftime, you’re just taking some Gatorade or drinking stuff to help refill your body to get back out there in the second half,” she said. “Once you’re on the court, the adrenaline kicks in, and you’re just like, ‘I just have to keep going.’ You don’t really think about it as much, because you’re just thinking about the game.”

It wasn’t about keeping opponents in the dark or maintaining some big secret, but rather fighting through and finding ways to help the team win. That was her only focus.

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“It’s kind of — if you’re sick, you just have to keep going,” Hassett said. “We didn’t really talk about it. You just had to keep going, really.”

Back at full strength, Kenny Brooks already says he has high hopes for the Australian forward in her second season as a Wildcat.

“I think she’s gonna be more comfortable,” Brooks said of Hassett. “Obviously, we were hard on Amelia last year just because we needed her to guard the best player, rebound the basketball on both ends and then make shots. All the while, she’s playing 30-some minutes a game. I thought she had a tremendous year. She really did. I think now, with added help and her being able to be more natural in her position, I think she’s going to be a lot more productive for us.

“… I thought she had a really good year last year. I look back on it, she had a really good year, and I’m excited for her to be able to play off of everyone here now and have some more help where she can be fresher.”

Fresher — in other words, without averaging over 30 minutes per game with a mild lung infection.

Minor setback for a major comeback for the senior forward.