By Marissa Essenburg | Sports Writer
Two years after the game was taken from her, Ines Goryanova didn’t rush her first steps back onto the floor — she waited for the moment to feel earned. When she finally checked in for No. 15 Baylor women’s basketball, it was more than a substitution. It was the quiet end of a long, unseen fight.
After more than 700 days spent watching from the sideline, the redshirt freshman point guard stepped into a Baylor uniform that once felt far away. Wearing a brace on her left knee, Goryanova returned to game action for the first time in her collegiate career on Jan. 14 after a devastating injury forced her to miss the entirety of her true freshman season and the first 15 games of this year.
“It really does mean everything,” Goryanova said. “The past two years have been really difficult. My coaches, teammates and family … when I lost confidence in myself, they never did. That’s what pushed me every day to come to the gym and do my rehab and try to get better every day with anything I can do.”
In January 2024, she tore her ACL and meniscus and dislocated her left knee. Two years later, she was back in uniform, logging her first collegiate minutes in Baylor’s road victories at Utah and BYU.
In back-to-back home wins over UCF and Houston, Goryanova logged nearly 10 minutes in each game, recording the first points and assists of her Baylor career.
“It was great getting on the court at home with all the fans,” Goryanova said. “Hearing how loud they got, it really did mean a lot. The support is so noticeable, for real.”
For Goryanova, the return was more than physical. It was emotional. The experience was shaped by the process, amplified by the energy inside Foster Pavilion and fortified by the belief of those around her.
“That type of injury is no joke,” senior forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs said. “To have a lot of setbacks takes a toll on your mental [health]. She’s gonna do her work, and she fights through the hard days. We believe in her, and we’re so happy to have her on the court. I’m excited to see her confidence grow as we keep playing and the year goes on.”
Goryanova was ranked No. 41 in the 2024 class by ProspectsNation and No. 71 by ESPNW. She wasn’t the player head coach Nicki Collen initially came to see during the recruiting process, but by November of her senior season, the Bears had inked the 5-foot-8 guard to a National Letter of Intent.
“Two assists and no turnovers, that’s a good start,” Collen said after the win against UCF. “She made good reads and good kick-out passes. [She has to be] comfortable getting in a flow, making the right play and taking care of the ball. She’s gonna have to learn that the game is physical.”
Coming off the bench behind graduate point guard Jana Van Gytenbeek, Goryanova gives Baylor a steady secondary ball-handler, capable of settling the offense in a season that has seen multiple 30-turnover games and extended minutes for the starting five.
“[Goryanova] coming back is huge because it allows Van Gytenbeek to get some rest,” ESPN women’s college basketball analyst Christy Thomaskutty said during Baylor’s game at West Virginia. “She’s been averaging almost 40 minutes a game in Big 12 play.”
Baylor’s belief in Goryanova has been there all along.
“When she makes simple plays, she’s really going to help us and give us valuable minutes,” Collen said following the Houston game on Jan. 27. “It’s hard to figure out what you’ve got at this point of the season, but I think we’ve got a kid who could be pretty darn good here.”
