It shouldn’t have ended this way. Lauren Klieber, one of the brightest stars in the history of Knights basketball, suffered a severe left knee injury in a December 28 game against Trinity College.

For Klieber, a senior nursing major, the damage ended her season and NCAA career. The estimated recovery time is nine months.

“It’s a difficult thing to talk about,” she admits. “It’s the sport that I’ve played for the last 15 or 16 years of my life, and for me to go out like this just doesn’t feel right. I miss playing with my teammates.”

Klieber finished her Neumann career as the fourth most prolific scorer in women’s hoop history with 1,571 points. She was on pace to climb into second place all-time and even had the record (1,946 by Nafisa Saunders) in her sights before the injury benched her for 15 games.

“I think I definitely could have finished second and had a shot at the record, but my body had other plans for me,” she says.

The standout 5’9” guard/small forward was named to the Atlantic East Conference first team in her sophomore and junior years. In 2022-23, she finished sixth in the country in Division III women's basketball scoring with 22.3 points per game. She also pulled down 9.9 rebounds per contest that year, nearly averaging a double-double.

After notching impressive on-court numbers at West Chester East High School, Klieber investigated playing at Division I and II schools. Once she decided to study nursing, however, she focused on Division III as the best fit to balance academics and sports.

She is happy she chose Neumann. “For the last four years, I’ve had a great group of teammates and coaches around me, and so much support. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

According to Head Coach Mary Beth McNichol, the feeling is mutual: “Lauren has set the standard for our program. She is one of the hardest workers I have ever coached, and she studied the game. She was truly an example to all the players in our program. Besides being a great player, she was also a leader, great student and great teammate.”

Without Klieber, the team reached the Atlantic East championship game on March 1 but lost to Immaculata.

After graduation in May, Klieber and her family are planning trips to Italy and Alaska. Even before the family adventures, though, she is arranging interviews to apply for positions in medical-surgical units at local hospitals. Eventually, she would like to land a role in an ER.