Wiggins' downtime wasn't lost time

What should have been the bleakest time in Candice Wiggins' basketball life turned out to be far brighter than even she could have hoped.

Midway through the 2010 season, only eight games after returning from preseason knee surgery, the Lynx's irrepressible guard blew out her left Achilles' tendon in a victory over New York.

Suddenly, Wiggins' world deflated. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2008 draft out of Stanford was faced with the first serious setback of her career. Months of rehab, as well as crutches soon to be so familiar they would become friends, were her future. Three-pointers were not.

"It was devastating," Wiggins said. "It was the darkest hour of my life. Even the knee injury before it, I was only out six, eight weeks. To me, that was nothing. That was a vacation. But nine to 12 months? You're thinking 'What if I never get back?' "

But Wiggins has never been one to dwell on life's disappointments. Her dynamic personality is her essence, and it didn't take long for her to start thinking that her glass wasn't just half-full, it was spilling over the edges.

"Those were challenging times for her," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "I know she went through the 'Why me' part. Everybody does. But she got through that and got back to being herself. She started [using Twitter] more. Now, everything is back to being sunshine. Always sunshine."

Now healthy, Wiggins is filling a familiar role as the first player off of the Lynx bench. In her rookie season, she was the WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year.

"That's what we're expecting out of her," Reeve said. "She gives us the ability to stretch the defense. Will she go 5-of-7 every game? No. But you have to guard her out there. And she gives us great on-ball [defensive] pressure. We need that and we need 10 points per game out of her off the bench."

When the injury hit, Wiggins retreated to her home state of California. Encouraged by family members and friends, she realized that time away from the basketball court was an opportunity she couldn't pass up.

"I got to finish school at Stanford," she said. "I had left a quarter early to play USA Basketball and play in the WNBA. So I got to be a student, not a student-athlete. And being a student at Stanford is incredible."

The time off helped her see past her basketball career and get a feel for what the next chapter in her life might be.

"I got to know my professors," she said. "I took a public speaking course. I took an engineering course, which was the hardest class I've ever had in my life. I realized that, while basketball is a gift I have that I do very well, there are a lot of other things I want to do. Actually, this has been a glorious year."

With the upgraded talent on the roster this season, Wiggins is unconcerned that she's not in the starting lineup.

"She doesn't care if she starts or comes off the bench," Reeve said. "She's all about winning now."

Wiggins is also very aware that, with the problems facing other local professional franchises, the Lynx have an opportunity to become more relevant on the local scene.