KNOXVILLE — As teammate Shekinna Stricklen writhed under the basket and cried out in pain during the first half of Tennessee's 80-61win over Alabama on Thursday, Lady Vols senior forward Alex Fuller hoped for the best.
“My first thought when someone goes down is that I hope it's not their ACL, because I've been there and done that,” said Fuller, who redshirted her freshman season at UT to recover from a pair of surgeries on her left knee. “We all just prayed that nothing was wrong and that it wasn’t anything acute.”
Stricklen, who leads the team with 13.2 points per game, fell to the court after colliding with a Crimson Tide defender with 10:39 left in the first half.
The 6-foot-2 freshman guard suffered a subluxation of her right patella, but avoided serious ligament damage, according to Jenny Moshak, UT associate UT associate athletics director for sports medicine.
Stricklen has been rehabbing with Moshak this weekend in preparation for tonight’s Big Monday matchup with fourth-ranked Duke at 7 at Thompson-Boling Arena. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
“We're planning on her being in,” Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. “She looks good. ... If she’s not ready, she’s not ready. But I’m optimistic about it.”
Tennessee players are equally hopeful but understand they’ll have to carry a heavier load if Stricklen is unavailable.
“Nobody can replace Shekinna, but we’re going to have to do our best to fill her role (if she can’t play),” freshman guard Alicia Manning said.
Said Fuller, “Somebody else is going to have to step up.”
Tennessee center Kelley Cain did just that for the Lady Vols (18-6) against Alabama. In her first career start, the 6-foot-6 redshirt freshman scored nine points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out five assists.
“Kelley’s made a big difference for us,” Summitt said. “That’s a player that has a presence.”
The same applies to Duke’s Chante Black, a 6-5 center who is averaging 15.3 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game.
Duke (20-3) has won three out the last four meetings against the Lady Vols (18-6) and owns a 2-0 record in Knoxville, winning in 2004 and 2007.
Duke is coached by Joanne P. McCallie, who is in her second year coaching at Duke. She is married to John McCallie, whose grandfather, Spencer Jarnigan McCallie, and great-uncle, James Park McCallie, founded McCallie School in 1905.
With a victory tonight, Duke would join Texas and Louisiana Tech as the only programs to beat the Lady Vols at home in three straight games.
“It's about time we beat Duke here,” Summitt said.
UT in pink
The Lady Vols will wear pink jerseys tonight as part of the Pink Zone breast cancer awareness initiative.
Pat has called the game tonight a 'must-win' situation. As for me, I have the notion that the Lady Vols can come out of this game with some semblance of motivation for the four remaining SEC regular season games and conference Tournament play, if they play Duke with 40 minutes of all-out effort. The victory would be sweet and key to NCAA consideration as far as TN's brackett placement, but a game in the trenches unscathed by more injuries would be acceptable, IMHO.
I trust all Lady Vol fans will be present at Thompson Boling Arena with extreme audible gratitude for Pretties in Pink. Let's give Duke a taste of their own medicine with a rowdy home crowd welcome. Bring all your better pink angels to the arena and make it a Big Monday to remember for the women's basketball nation.
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