Thursday, March 23, 2006

Hornbuckle suffers concussion on top of bloody nose, broken wrist

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee point guard Alexis Hornbuckle, already playing with an injured wrist, got a bloody nose and suffered a concussion from hitting her head on the floor against George Washington.

But other than the obvious physical limitations, Hornbuckle's return from injury just in time for the NCAA Tournament has worked out well for the Lady Vols.

Hornbuckle was held out of practice Wednesday because of the concussion. She was stripping the ball away from a player in Tuesday's second round win when she fell on the floor and hit her head. Coach Pat Summitt said Hornbuckle should be ready to practice Thursday.

Then the No. 2 seed Lady Vols (30-4) are off to the regional semifinals in Cleveland, their 25th straight appearance in the round of 16. They will play Rutgers on Sunday.

"She got a concussion. She was out today. We'll evaluate her to see if she'll be back tomorrow," Summitt said after practice.

Hornbuckle, a sophomore from Charleston, W.Va., seemed unfazed by her latest injury.

"They're just being a little extra cautious because if I hit my head again it might be worse, I guess? I'm hard-headed," she said, smiling.

Hornbuckle missed seven games after she broke her right wrist on Feb. 12 in a game against Vanderbilt. She had surgery to insert a screw to help the healing, and team officials originally said Hornbuckle would miss the rest of the season. Doctors cleared her to play last week.

Without Hornbuckle, the Lady Vols had no true point guard. The only other one they had — Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood — left the team and transferred to Maryland in December.

Hornbuckle had started 24 of 25 games until the injury. She came off the bench and played 17 minutes in the Lady Vols' first round 102-54 rout of Army on Sunday, her first game action in over a month.

Wearing a splint-like wrap around her wrist and forearm, Hornbuckle played 24 minutes Tuesday in Tennessee's 66-53 win over George Washington.

"She gives our basketball team a lot of energy. She helps us improve our early offense, our transition, with her ability to push tempo. From that standpoint, it was good," Summitt said.

"I thought she tried to do a little too much last night. I think she's still trying to get back in the groove."

Hornbuckle had four assists, two turnovers and four steals against Army. She had three assists, four turnovers and three steals against George Washington.

Hornbuckle had to go to the bench at one point against George Washington after Kimberly Beck hit her in the face and caused her nose to bleed.

It was not broken. "Popped a blood vessel," Hornbuckle said.

Hornbuckle said she has been able to do more with her wrist than she thought — from dribbling to shooting. She's grabbed 10 rebounds total in two games.

After averaging 10.4 points a game before the injury, she has made only one field goal in the tournament so far.

But she's not bad at the foul line, going 3-of-4 against Army and 4-of-6 against George Washington, after changing the way she shoots it.

"I slide over to the left a little bit because my shot is off. I don't have a follow through wrist down, so it's not a straight shot," she said.

And Hornbuckle is still diving on the floor for loose balls, which is how she broke her wrist.

"I don't even think about it," she said. "I guess I'm crazy."

The Lady Vols were treated to some high-flying dunks after practice. And no, it wasn't Candace Parker, who made women's basketball history by dunking twice over the weekend.

The Harlem Globetrotters were practicing on a trampoline for a show Wednesday night in Thompson-Boling Arena.

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