April 4, 2005

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Junior post player Hillary Jager has left the UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team due to personal reasons, head coach Mark French announced Monday.

Jager's departure is unrelated to the torn left anterior cruciate ligament she suffered during a Nov. 7, 2004 exhibition game against Czech club team Strakonice BBC that sidelined her for the entire 2004-05 season. It was Jager's first competitive basketball game in over two years, after taking a break from the sport following the 2001-02 campaign. As a true freshman at UCSB that season, the 6'2" native of Vista, Calif., averaged 3.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 28 games off the bench.

"Hillary was very brave coming back, rehabbing and getting ready to go again. I think if her knee had stayed healthy she would have had a great year and great career at UCSB, but it just wasn't meant to be," French said. "Our Gaucho family wishes Hillary nothing but the best in her future endeavors."

The Gauchos are coming off a 21-9 campaign in 2004-05 in which they captured their 10th consecutive Big West Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for a ninth straight year. UCSB will tentatively return seven letterwinners for 2005-06 while adding six players, three true freshmen along with three others who missed last season due to injury.