DATE: Wednesday, March 12, 1997             TAG: 9703120652

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   98 lines

SHE ALSO SERVES WHO SITS, ACHES INJURIES AND ILLNESS HAVE SAPPED ODU'S ANGIE LISTON'S PLAYING TIME, NOT HER SPIRIT.

Four years ago when the Old Dominion coaches needed post players they found 6-foot-6 Angie Liston answering phones in a hospital in Ontario, Canada.

Today, the Lady Monarchs senior is 500 miles from her home in Brockville, but she is still a regular at the hospital. A bad back, bum knees and a condition so rare you won't find it in most medical books are part of the ``bad luck,'' that has followed her like a curse. Now ODU, the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Mideast Region, is a serious contender for a national title and illness has relegated Liston to the bench for what probably will amount to the duration of the postseason.

So, how bummed are you, Angie?

Liston laughs breathlessly and rolls into a cough that borders on a gasp. ``How bummed am I?'' she repeats. ``If you were to ask me Senior Night, I would have said terribly, but now I don't know. I've had bad luck for four years. I'm not that bad right now because we're just practicing, but when it comes to the tournament, I'll really wish I could be out on the floor.

``Senior Night was really hard because it was my luck that it would have been my only time starting my whole career and I couldn't even do that.''

The thought leaves her winded as talking for long periods is tiring. Liston learned last month that she is suffering from Hashimoto's disease, which stems from an enlarged thyroid and is more common in middle-aged women than 25-year-olds. In December, Liston thought she had a cold when breathing became a struggle. In January, she realized it was more.

``I'd walk across the room and start hyperventilating,'' she says. ``I couldn't get any air in. That's when I ended up in the hospital and they started doing tests.''

For weeks the tests showed nothing but a healthy adult as Liston grew sicker. She stopped attending games, unable to handle any level of excitement.

The Hashimoto's diagnosis was a relief as it is curable with medication. Still, three months into it, Liston has no timetable for recovery.

``I feel better than I did,'' she says. ``I take it week by week.''

She's learned to live this way because of a college career that never got on track. In high school, Liston's only injuries were minor ankle sprains, and she earned MVP honors three times. Yet despite the height and stats to attract Division I coaches, Liston received no scholarship offers that would pay for more than tuition in basketball or her love, volleyball.

``There are three other kids and I'm the oldest, so I was trying to do it on my own,'' she says. ``So I thought if I had to work a year, so be it.''

She worked for two - in almost every department of a local hospital before ODU assistant coach Allison Greene intervened. Greene's interest was peaked when, while working at a camp in the Poconos, she met a pal of Liston's. He bragged about a kid who dominated her competition in high school but got no looks for college.

``She's 6-6?'' Greene remarked. ``What's her phone number?''

Liston was named to the CAA's all-rookie team her freshman year, but as a sophomore, her troubles started. Going for a rebound in a scrimmage game, she lifted the ball above her head and one of her teammates grabbed for it from behind. Liston clung tightly enough to hyperextend a disc in her back.

It cost her the season.

``I had to sit through practice and I had to sit when (my teammates) were in the weight room and watch them lift,'' says Liston, who continues to have treatment by a chiropractor. ``That was really hard, because I didn't even know if I'd be able to walk normally again.''

Greene says it was Liston's back trouble that probably led to knee problems as a junior. At the start of last season she had surgery on the right knee and returned to the lineup by January, but the other knee began giving her fits. Rather than more surgery, Liston opted for cortisone shots. She's never felt healthy since. Though she still has a year of eligibility left after sitting out her sophomore season, she does not plan to play next year.

``My back, I just have to put up with,'' she says. ``I can put on my brace and I'm all right; it just bothers me when I'm finished. It's the knees I can't take, because it's both of them.''

Liston's on-court career, says ODU coach Wendy Larry, has included ``moments of brilliance but never any consistency.'' She scored a career-high 15 points to go with nine rebounds as a freshman at James Madison. In the Louisville tournament last Christmas, Liston came off the bench and made an immediate impact against nationally ranked Colorado.

``She got an offensive rebound, she blocked somebody's shot and she hit a shot from one inch inside the 3-point line all in a matter of minutes. She wasn't on any team's scouting report,'' Greene recalls. ``I saw (Colorado coach) Ceal Barry with her hands on their hips say to one of her assistants, `And who, pray tell, is that?' ''

But those days are behind Liston, who will graduate with a degree in human services counseling in May. Liston knows that if the Lady Monarchs advance to the Final Four, she will likely be a spectator. Playing for just a minute would be great, she says, as the national championship is one of the few women's basketball games broadcast in Brockville. Her parents have never seen her play in college.

But she is also a realist.

``I think just being part of the team, having my name in the program, that's good enough for me,'' she says. ``If I'd be able to play, that would be even better. But if I can't, I'll accept it and just be there for them.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Photo]

IAN MARTIN/The Virginian-Pilot

Angie Liston, right, at ODU Senior Night. ``It was my luck that it

would have been my only time starting my whole career and I couldn't

even do that.''

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