STARKVILLE — Aerial Powers was far from in shape when the season began last November.

After competing for the United States in the World University Games last July, the Michigan State women’s basketball junior took four months off after suffering a right Achilles heel injury. MSU coach Suzy Merchant even went as far to describe Powers as “grotesquely out of shape.”

But Powers began to rehab and progressed daily in an effort to get back to fully healthy. She is finally healthy and scored 27 points Friday to help MSU beat Belmont 74-60 in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Humphrey Coliseum. No. 4 seed Michigan State plays No. 5 seed Mississippi State 1:30 p.m. today (ESPN2) for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen in the Bridgeport, Connecticut, bracket.

“It was bad,” Merchant said. “With an Achilles you can’t do anything. You can’t ride a bike, you can’t run on a treadmill, she couldn’t get in the pool. She did zero aerobic activity for four months.”

No. 15 Mississippi State (27-7) beat Chattanooga 60-50 in the first round Friday after No. 16 Michigan State used a 10-0 run to begin the fourth quarter to beat Belmont.

Powers said the time off was needed because her Achilles was “so sore,” and there wasn’t much she could do on the basketball court that didn’t bring on the pain.

But Powers was there for the first Spartan practice in October, but she admitted it was hard for her to focus on basketball because she was thinking about the injury and the pain.

“The first practice back when I tried to go up and down it was so bad,” Powers said. “(Merchant) was telling us a drill we were supposed to do and I totally thought she said something else because I was so tried. I couldn’t even hear what she was saying. It was a struggle, it really was.”

Merchant joked that she made sure she knew where every automated external defibrillator (AED) was because she didn’t know how Powers was going to respond to the first practice in four months.

The Detroit, Michigan, native missed the first two games against Western Michigan and Georgia, but played in 20 minutes against Idaho State scoring 12 points off the bench and 14 minutes against Cincinnati scoring 20 points.

Merchant thrust her back into the starting lineup against Baylor Nov. 28 in a game in Freeport, Bahamas. She has started every game since and hasn’t played less than 23 minutes in a game.

“I think early on her numbers didn’t really reflect some of the things that she could do because she couldn’t put the work in but then over time she was able to,” Merchant said. “I think that’s where her confident comes, she knows she is ready for a moment like this because she’s put in the time.”

Even playing early in the season, Powers wasn’t completely healthy. She said she really began to feel better about midway through the season, but Merchant said she really saw it in mid-January. Either way, it was tough for Powers to put in time in the gym and the weight room.

Powers was practicing with her teammates, but she said that wasn’t enough for her to work on her game.

“Individually you only get a certain amount of shots in practice because you’re working with the team,” Powers said. “Outside of practice is where you really hone your skill and get better. It took me a while to get into that shape and let my Achilles be healthy enough to do that after practice.”

Powers scored a team-high 37 points to help Team USA beat Canada 82-63 in the gold-medal game in Gwangju, South Korea. In the six-game tournament, Powers led the team in scoring (18.0 points per game). She shot 51.4 percent form the field and averaged 6.0 rebounds per game.

The three-time All-Big Ten first team selection leads the Spartans with 22.0 points per game this season. She scored a career-high 40 points to help Michigan State beat Minnesota 114-106 February 21.

She scored in single digits once this season as she tallied eight points against Maryland in the Big Ten tournament championship game. Friday, she became the school’s all-time leading scorer (1,803 points).

“Aerial Powers is a very prolific scorer,” Belmont coach Cameron Newbauer said. “She can score anyway you cut it. You have to try to limit her. You’re not going to stop her because she is just that good.”

Powers’ experience with the Achilles injury wasn’t her first. Before her freshman season, she tore the Achilles tendon in her left ankle which kept her out for the season.

She learned from that first tear that it took six to eight months to get back after completely rupturing the tendon. Her tendon wasn’t completely ruptured this time and that gave her some hope.

Powers said she really leaned on her father, Juan.

“My dad really helped me stay in the mindset of, ‘It doesn’t matter, things happen for a reason and come back stronger, better, faster,'” Powers said. “It was so much it was hard, it was just be patient. I have struggled with being patient and it really tested me.”

Merchant said she could sense that Powers was sensitive coming back from this second injury because of what she experienced the first time. Merchant said it wasn’t because Powers wasn’t mentally tough, but it was a long process.

During that time, Merchant never saw Powers act timid.

“That girl’s never timid,” Merchant said. “She believes in herself, she’s confident and she’s put the work in. I always say confidence comes from preparation.”

Powers is far from “grotesquely out of shape” now and she is thankful that this injury wasn’t as severe as the first one. She had confidence that she was going to come back stronger than ever the second time around.

“Being that I was walking and being in-tuned with the girls, it was fine,” Powers said. “I just had to be patient again.”

Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait

Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.