An all-conference first-team selection with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s women’s basketball team a year ago, Natalia Ackerman is now seeing limited minutes at Cal.

Yet perplexing though it might seem given her accomplishments, she couldn’t be happier.

The Aptos High graduate thought she was done with basketball entirely after establishing herself as one of the Big West Conference’s premier players in her final season at Cal Poly. Not because she wanted to be: Ackerman’s doctor had advised her not to continue playing due to the nagging back injury that has plagued her since she was a sophomore.

Ackerman listened — and having completed her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, she figured she’d reached a good stopping point. After Ackerman coached kids in youth camps, however, her desire to play returned, and since she had two years of NCAA eligibility remaining, she figured she may as well use at least one.

Given the green light by her doctor, Ackerman entered the NCAA Division I transfer portal after it had all but closed. Needing a post player, Cal quickly pounced on the opportunity to add the 6-foot-1 forward to its roster.

“We loved her rebounding ability and her high motor,” Golden Bears coach Charmin Smith said. “She’s super athletic, and she’s a good fit with what it is we’re trying to do.”

Ackerman is equally thrilled to be able to play slightly closer to home.

“I’m blessed to be here,” the graduate student said. “I couldn’t have imagined a better place to end my years in basketball.”

Ackerman has seen her playing time reduced significantly since coming to UC Berkeley. As a senior at Cal Poly, Ackerman averaged 12.0 points and 8.9 rebounds — both team highs — in 25.7 minutes per game. During one particularly dominant stretch that ran from February through early March, Ackerman posted four straight double-doubles, and she was twice named the Big West Conference’s Player of the Week.

At Cal, by contrast, Ackerman is averaging just 2.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in roughly eight minutes per contest entering Thursday night’s game against North Carolina State.

There’s good reason for her reduced workload: Though Ackerman can be a dominant shot blocker, rebounder, and inside scorer, Smith doesn’t want her carrying too heavy a load on that back of hers — literally or figuratively.

“Cal has done an amazing job of managing my injury,” said Ackerman, who medically redshirted as a sophomore at Cal Poly after tearing several discs in her back. “I’m in a situation where if I get too many reps, it takes time to rehab more. They make sure I’m really taken care of here.”

Despite her limited role, Ackerman has still been quite productive for the Golden Bears, who were 14-2 and ranked No. 20 in NCAA Division I as of Sunday. She ranks second on the Bears in blocks (eight) and sixth in rebounds (47).

Smith believes her coaching staff’s judicious approach to Ackerman’s playing time has enabled her to be impactful despite her limited role.

“She’s been able to do everything we need her to do,” the Golden Bears coach said. “We’ve been smart and she’s been smart about her recovery. We don’t over-pound her.

“Our people here are making sure she gets the rest and recovery she needs. We’re able to give her back a break, and we’re fortunate to get her back in playing at a high level. She does an amazing job for us.”

In Ackerman’s final season at Cal Poly, she set the Mustangs’ single-season record in blocks with 63 — a total that led the Big West Conference. She also ranked third among Poly’s career leaders in blocks with 94 and would surely be pursuing the school record in the category (111, shared by two players) — if she hadn’t surpassed it already — had she returned to San Luis Obispo.

Even so, those numbers set the stage for Ackerman’s 100th career block. She reached the milestone against a big-time opponent, too, in Cal’s Dec. 5 upset of then-No. 19 Alabama at Berkeley’s Haas Pavilion.

“Coach honored me after the game with this graphic thing,” Ackerman said. “It was really sweet.”

The competition Ackerman is facing in the Atlantic Coast Conference is tougher than what she battled in the Big West. Undersized for a Division I forward even in the Big West, Ackerman is going up against even taller players in a conference that includes four teams ranked in the AP’s Top 25, including her own.

“I play with my heart,” Ackerman said. “That’s what helps me.”

Smith believes Ackerman has more than held her own against some of the nation’s best teams and will continue to do so.

“Natalia does a good job rebounding and definitely runs the floor extremely well,” the Cal coach said. “Her game translates well at any level because of how active she is.”

Now working toward a master’s degree in sports education, Ackerman is looking to pursue a career in sports technology. Her back problems have something to do with that: Under her uniform, she wears an athlete monitoring system, produced by Catapult, that tracks how much she jumps and runs so Cal’s coaching staff can make sure she doesn’t overdo it. Ackerman believes she can help Catapult with regard to product development and/or sales.

For now, though, Ackerman still has some basketball left to play — and with one more season of eligibility remaining, she may try to squeeze more out of herself.

“I keep telling myself every year, ‘This is it,’” she said with a laugh. “I think I’ll be done after this year. But I’m leaving my options open.”