Maria M. Cornelius - Scout.com
Tennessee Lady Vol point guard Loree Moore will have her tonsils removed Friday and will miss up to a month, according to Jenny Moshak, assistant athletics director for sports medicine.
The 5'9 senior from Lakewood, Calif., "has been experiencing ongoing and reoccurring throat and sinus problems," Moshak said. "The prescribed course of action is to have her tonsils removed."
Loree Moore is scheduled for surgery Friday at St. Mary's Medical Center in Knoxville. Dr. Leslie Baker will perform the procedure.
The tonsils are glandular tissue found on both sides of the throat. Their function is to trap bacteria and viruses entering the body through the throat. They produce antibodies to help fight infections. When the tonsils can't effectively ward off infectious intruders, they themselves become infected and swell.
The operation can be quite painful for adults and requires about 10 days of rest before returning to a sedentary job, according to medical guidelines. Before resuming physical activity, a rest period of three weeks is recommended. The concern is bleeding at the surgical site so rest is prescribed until the area heals.
Under those guidelines Moore will miss all of the games in December - DePaul, Louisiana Tech, TCU, Stanford and Rutgers. If she were able to return to the practice court in late December or early January, she would need some time to get up to game speed. Thus she also could miss the Old Dominion (Jan. 2) and UConn games (Jan. 8).
Moore missed 17 games last season after tearing a ligament in her knee. She returned to action this season and started all six games for the Lady Vols. Although she has struggled offensively so far this season, she was a key piece of running the team's offense and also one of its standout defenders.
When Moore was out last year, guards Shanna Zolman and now-departed Tasha Butts ran the offense. Zolman, a junior and one of the team's best pure shooters at the wing spot, can fill in again. The duties will also fall to freshman guard Alexis Hornbuckle , who has played the point position because fellow freshman Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood started the season injured.
Wiley-Gatewood, who has been described by coach Pat Summitt , as a "natural point guard," has returned to practice in limited duty and will undergo her first full practice Friday.
Summitt said Monday she had not yet considered a starting lineup against DePaul, which comes to Knoxville on Sunday. Now she has one less player to figure in the mix.
Tennessee has been hit hard by injuries this fall with highly touted freshman forward Candace Parker undergoing knee surgery in September. She remains sidelined. Freshman forward Alex Fuller was redshirted this season after having reconstructive knee surgery.
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