JEFFERSON TWP— These days, Lyndsy Day's left knee is unfettered by a bulky knee brace.

She doesn't need it anymore. Her knee is strong now.

And so is her play.

The Butler senior point guard has been waiting 12 months to feel like this again: free, quick and unafraid.

That wasn't the case a year ago when the ACL in her knee crumbled in the first scrimmage of the season.

The injury, thought at first to be minor, wiped out her junior season.

"At first, the trainer said I would only miss a week," Day said. "I was real disappointed when I found out I tore it."

It made for a long season for Day.

She saw significant minutes as a sophomore and was going to be one of the mainstays in the starting lineup.

Through it all,Day participated in team activities. During most games, she was on the bench trying to help her teammates in any way she could.

A pat on the back. A word of encouragement.

Deep down, however, she was weeping.

"I tried to make it to every game," Day said. "It was hard watching, but I still tried to cheer them on. But I really wanted to be out there. It killed me not to be out there."

One year late, Day is back on the floor. She enjoyed the game of her career againstKnoch Monday night, scoring a team-high 15 points and leading Butler in assists and steals.

There was no hesitation in her moves to the basket. She dribbled through traffic and absorbed contact. If there was a loose ball, she was one of the first to dive for it.

Late in the game, she pounced on a loose ball and was hit on the side of her left knee. She simply rose, smiled at a teammate and kept on playing.

It wasn't like that at first. During the summer, she was still wary of her knee.

"At first, I was real hesitant and I was worried I wasn't going to be able to come back," Day said. "It was going real slow. But I finally got comfortable with my knee and it didn't hurt as much. It took a while, though, but I think I'm back where I used to be."

That was a pleasant sight for coach Dorothea Epps.

"She's probably 99.9 (percent) now," Epps said. "The difference is the toughness. That's one thing we missed last season — that one girl who was just tough. She brings that and she's a seasoned player and that helps a lot, too.

"You know what you are going to get from her in crunch time," Epps added.

With Day back in the mix to go along with a mix of talented guards and post players, Butler is thinking big this season.

So is Day. She's just happy to be back in uniform, back on the court and back making life miserable for opponents.

"It's really exciting that I'm getting it all back," Day said. "It's exciting that I'm able to play with this team and play better than ever."