About 11 a.m. Sunday at their home in Melbourne, Australia, Valeliano and Natasha Poa were in front of the television watching their daughter, , and her in the SEC Tournament semifinals. It was Saturday night in South Carolina.
Things were going great. LSU was winning.
But with 5 minutes and 44 seconds left in the game, after an LSU turnover, they watched their tough-as-nails daughter run backward down the court, the only obstacle between the Ole Miss player dribbling the ball and the goal.
Last-Tear Poa tried to get in position to take a charge — an offensive foul that happens when a player runs into a stationary defender. Loyal fans have watched her get knocked down time and again, immediately bouncing back up, often smiling.
This time was different.
stayed down and was crying.
"No parent wants to see their kid on the ground, and we're halfway across the world, not able to do anything," Natasha Poa said Thursday.
Valeliano and Natasha Poa said they knew immediately that something was wrong. Though neither had ever been to the U.S. to see their daughter play for LSU, they started making plans to be with her.
Natasha Poa texted the LSU coaching staff immediately, asking for details on their daughter's condition. They learned their daughter was being taken to a hospital in South Carolina.
Last-Tear Poa was diagnosed with a concussion.
Meanwhile, LSU went on to defeat Ole Miss Saturday night "for Poa" as teammate Flau'jae Johnson said on the court during the game.
On Sunday in the SEC finals, LSU lost to South Carolina, in a game that was full of more drama.
Last-Tear Poa spent Saturday night in the hospital in South Carolina and then headed back to Baton Rouge with the team.
By lunchtime Monday in Australia, her parents began a 25-hour trip to h. When they made their first stop in Sydney, they got a message that upon arriving in Baton Rouge, Last-Tear Poa had been readmitted to a local hospital.
Valeliano and Natasha Poa traveled to h from Australia after their daughter, LSU basketball player Last-Tear Poa, suffered a concussion during the SEC Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina.
BY JAN RISHER | Staff writer
"That was all we knew. We had to get on the next flight — and it was dead silence," Natasha Poa said.
Armed with that unsettling update on their daughter's health, the parents boarded a 15-hour flight to Dallas.
By the time they arrived in Baton Rouge Monday night around 7 p.m., Last-Tear Poa was back in her apartment with her teammate and friend Sa'Myah Smith, helping care for her.
How is Last-Tear Poa now?
"She's not 100%," Natasha Poa said. "When we got here, the adrenaline kicked in for her. But once she got settled, she was out and went to sleep."
But she's getting better each day, her dad said.
Progress is slow and steady.
"She's tough as nails. When we saw her down, we knew something was wrong," he said.
Both parents said they could tell the injury was bad from a world away.
They were screaming at the television, knowing something was not right.
"I don't know what the processes and protocols are for the officials, but I was more disappointed because they are there — on the floor," her mother said. "For them to look at her and then look away and then look at her again but do nothing? It just didn't seem right. I know they have to give her time to get up, but once she didn't get up. Shouldn't they flag someone over? I was pissed."
Valeliano Poa said that the game seemed overly physical and that the officials "should have controlled the situation better."
Immediately after Last-Tear Poa fell and didn't bounce right up, her teammates gathered around her. About 25 seconds later, teammate Angel Reese helped Last-Tear Poa stand and held her upright in a sort-of bear hug.
Shortly afterward, Reese appeared to recognize that Poa couldn't stand on her own. Teammate Hailey Van Lith ran behind Last-Tear Poa to assist. Coach Kim Mulkey and other team personnel joined the players. Three managers tried to help her walk off the court but soon realized Last-Tear Poa's legs weren't cooperating. About two minutes after she fell, they eased her onto her back on the court.
Medical personnel then put a neck stabilizer on Last-Tear Poa, transferred her to a backboard and rolled her off the court on a stretcher.
"It felt like it went on forever," Valeliano Poa said.
Both Natasha and Valeliano Poa say they hope no other player or parents go through what they and their daughter did in the minutes that followed Last-Tear Poa's fall. They are asking if there is a better way to handle head injuries on the basketball court.
Still haven't seen her play
The parents have yet to see their daughter play a game in person for LSU and are planning to head back to Australia on Monday.
"We have jobs. We have kids back home. We can't stay," Natasha Poa said.
They'll miss the opening round of the NCAA tournament by days. But the time in Baton Rouge has given them a fuller sense of how the fans and community have embraced their daughter.
"Being overseas, I didn't see the magnitude of how big it is until we were over here and walking with her — like last night at Walmart," Valeliano Poa said, prompting his wife to explain how a security guard offered to escort them and their daughter around the store.
"We knew she had gotten the Poa name out there, but we didn't know it would be like this," Valeliano Poa said.
They can't help but be proud of their daughter, who they describe as soft-spoken, thoughtful and family-focused.
"Where she was raised was tough. It was a low-income area, full of drugs," her mother said. "We had to move from there, but she was brought up in that environment."
Valeliano Poa is originally from New Zealand. Natasha Poa is a first-generation Australian. Her family is from the Cook Islands.
"For us, family is the biggest thing — family and respect," Valeliano Poa said. "Our Poa name, she carries that. She's brought it to the world. We tell her that we expect her to carry it with pride — knowing that you don't only represent yourself. You represent everyone past and present."
For now, they are grateful — not only that their daughter is recovering, but for so much more.
"The way so many people were saying prayers for Poa — from Iowa, from South Carolina, from all over. We are grateful to the whole basketball community. Thank you for the love and support you have given our daughter," Natasha Poa said. "We are especially thankful for the people in h. In my heart, this was the state for her."