Charting rough waters

Lady Vols planning to pace themselves as they play five games in seven days

Shanna Zolman looks ahead to five games in seven days and smiles.

Pat Summitt surveys the same busy beginning to Tennessee's women's basketball season and shakes her head.

"As a player you love that,'' said Zolman, UT's senior guard. "As a coach, you don't.

Either way, the second-ranked Lady Vols must live with a schedule that begins at 1:30 p.m. Sunday against Stetson at Thompson-Boling Arena and fast breaks through four more games by Nov. 26.

The follow-up to Stetson is the following night versus Chattanooga.

The Lady Vols then depart early Tuesday morning for the Virgin Islands. They will play three games in three days at the Paradise Jam, beginning Thanksgiving night against No. 10 Michigan State in a rematch of last season's national semifinal game. No. 14 Maryland lurks as the final game with Gonzaga sandwiched in between.

On her weekly teleconference Wednesday, Lady Vols coach Summitt said, "We lost our mind with scheduling, but it was by design.''

Opening with games on consecutive days before the Caribbean excursion turned out to be the only workable solution to scheduling Stetson and Chattanooga.

The degree of difficulty for so many games in so little time is in the eye of the beholder. Chattanooga coach Wes Moore doesn't anticipate his team being overlooked in the crowd.

"We're the second one,'' he said. "Maybe the fifth one will have an advantage."

The lineup has forced Tennessee to plan long-term and adjust its practice schedule, working three days and taking a day off. In a rare preseason concession, Summitt said, "I want to make sure we don't overtrain."

Sophomore guard Alexis Hornbuckle sounded more like her mother than herself in bracing for the busy stretch.

"You have to make sure you get the right amount of rest and eat right,'' she said. "If you handle it right off the court, it can be done.''

The challenge begins with the physical demands of not only back-to-back games but also the traveling and the knee histories of various players. Lady Vols athletic trainer Jenny Moshak said two weeks ago that nothing short of a crystal ball could predict how these games will play out.

Along with the overtraining, Summitt is not inclined to overreact either.

"I'm probably more concerned about our defense and turnovers,'' she said.

At some point, Hornbuckle thinks a strong mind will have to cover for weary legs.

"You body might get tired, but it's also mental,'' she said. "I think the hidden challenge is mental.''

Of the first five games, two present the possibility of potentially draining emotional spikes. The first is the opener, when Tennessee's thoroughbreds are turned loose. Acclaimed redshirt freshman Candace Parker, who missed all of last season while recovering from multiple knee surgeries, has used the word "amazing" more than once in anticipating the moment.

"There's so much talent out there,'' Hornbuckle said. "We want to see where we're at.''

The second spike game is Michigan State, which erased a 16-point second half deficit to upset the Lady Vols last season in Indianapolis.

"You can't get too high,'' Hornbuckle said, "or you'll be overshooting and overrunning the ball.

"You can't take (a game) personal. The second you take it personal, it throws you off.''

Whichever game, whatever the circumstances, Tennessee intends to throw bodies at the challenge.

"We're going to start out playing everyone on the roster and see what happens, see if we can maintain the same efficiency,'' Summitt said.

"There are a lot of talented teams in the country. We're talented and deep. Why have all of this talent if you're not going to use it?''


Moss Update: The MRI exam of Lindsey Moss' left knee showed no structural damage.

The freshman guard, who has sat out the last four practices with soreness in the joint, will continue treatment and work her way back into the workouts.