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Old Soul Fourth-Year Ataira Franklin Has Fought Through Injuries To Excel For UVa P By Shane Mettlen erhaps some fans of a more advanced age might roll their eyes or shake their heads when they hear a college fourth-year talking about feeling like an "old lady." But for three years now, Ataira Franklin has been helping carry the Virginia women's basketball program on creaky knees. Franklin — a nominee for the 2014 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, which is given to a senior athlete who excels on and off the field using their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities — has been racking up individual honors almost since the moment she arrived at UVa from Riverdale Baptist in Bowie, Md., where she was an All-Met pick by The Washington Post. "You know, I'm an old lady now," Franklin said, repeating a joke she'd made frequently during the preseason. "I've felt like that since my second year, since my injuries. But I'm getting there. I'm trying to stay healthy and strong." Franklin has had three arthroscopic surgeries on her right knee since enrolling at UVa in 2010, the most recent in April, and has often worn knee braces. But she's managed to make the ACC AllFreshman team her first year in Charlottesville, and earn honorable mention All-ACC honors as a second-year and first-team All-ACC accolades last year after averaging 14.3 points per game and serving as the Cavs' top defensive stopper with 2.2 steals per game. i20-21.Ataira Franklin.indd 1 Her scoring average ranked ninth in the league, while her theft average was fifth. In addition, she was fifth in free throw accuracy (79.3 percent) and 13th in three-point shooting (35.0 percent). Last year, Franklin became the 29th player in program history to score 1,000 career points. She entered this season with 1,192 points, which ranks 20th in program history. Even though she's played through pain and discomfort, Franklin hasn't let it slow her down at all. She led the Cavaliers in minutes played (36.1 per game) last season and she's missed just one of UVa's 101 games the past three years. Last season, with the Hoos missing fellow backcourt players who were out with injuries of their own, Franklin was in a position where she was forced to spark the Cavaliers both offensively and defensively. "There were times last year when I felt like I had to back off a little bit because I had to stay on the court," she said. "This year gives me a little bit more wiggle room to be more aggressive. We have a little more depth and that allows for more intensity any time anyone is on the court." This time around she should have more help, particularly on defense, and Franklin sees Virginia as a team that could be a force on defense throwing a variety of schemes at opponents. "We're putting in some new looks this year, defensively," Franklin said. "We're going to have a lot more depth and we've had to focus on zone the past couple of years, but we are able to throw some new looks in there. So that's a new role for 11/5/13 2:12 PM