Tarusina was supposed to make her ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating debut in August 2016 at the 2016 JGP St. Gervais, alongside Russian teammate Alina Zagitova. However, she and her coach Sergei Davydov, along with other athletes, were in a car accident on the shuttle bus en route to the rink where the competition was taking place. Tarusina sustained a knee injury requiring surgery and was forced to withdraw from the competition. She missed most of the 2016–17 season because of the accident but placed 10th at the 2017 Russian Junior Championships.