Tennesse coach Pat Summitt (The Associated Press)
Such is life for a program that Pat Summitt has coached to eight national titles, 15 SEC regular-season championships and 13 league tournament titles.
“Obviously we’ve had our fans travel to Duluth before,” Summitt told a Lady Vols radio audience last week, “and we need you there.”
Georgia was the only SEC team to beat No. 4 Tennessee this season, but fans of the Lady Bulldogs are unlikely to outnumber the Lady Vols’ even though the Georgia campus is only 45 minutes from Duluth.
In the first and second round of the NCAA tournament last year at the Gwinnett Arena, Georgia’s support seemed almost equivalent to Florida State’s.
But a bigger concern for the No. 22 Lady Bulldogs is the health of senior guard Ashley Houts, who twisted her left ankle while playing the full 40 minutes in the 54-50 win over Tennessee on Jan. 21.
After her injury, the Lady Bulldogs lost five of six, but coach Andy Landers believes Houts has regained some of the burst she was missing in the games that followed the injury.
“It’s been a challenge more than anything else,” said Landers, whose team ended the regular season by winning three of four. “Unfortunately, the person who has been injured the longest and hampered the most by the injury is Houts. She sets the tone in many ways for our basketball team. When your leader can’t go full tilt, it affects the ebb and flow of your team, not just from a playing standpoint but also from a mental standpoint.”
Houts is one of five senior guards who are the undisputed leaders of their teams at the Gwinnett Arena.
She joined LSU’s Allison Hightower, Mississippi State’s Alexis Rack and Bianca Thomas of Ole Miss in being named first team All-SEC. Vanderbilt’s guard Meredith Marsh, who helped the Commodores win their second conference title in three years last season, was named second team All-SEC.
“I hope we can look at this game as our season is not over and it depends on how we’re going to end the season,” Marsh said. “It’s up to us and no one can take it from us unless we let them. We have the heart to do it, so I’m excited about it.”
South Carolina junior Valerie Nainima, Auburn junior Alli Smalley and Kentucky’s A’dia Mathies, who was named this week as SEC freshman of the year, are other leading guards.
Summitt places most of the responsibility on setting up her defensive alignments on guards Angie Bjorklund and Shekinna Stricklen.
Bjorklund joined Hightower and Kentucky’s Victoria Dunlap, a junior forward who was named SEC player of the year, as the only players to receive unanimous selections from league coaches.
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