Raptors Coach Nick Nurse
Tennessee guard Jordan Horston is out for the time being after suffering a fractured dislocation of her left elbow in Thursday’s loss at Alabama.
“With the update on Jordan, it’s a fractured dislocation of the elbow (left), and she will be out a few weeks for sure,” Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper said. “And I don’t know how many weeks that will be, because the most important thing for us right now is to make sure that her injury has time to heal. And unfortunately, you can’t put a timeline on that. You know, we’ll have to see the progress, and we will monitor it frequently in the next month, but at this point, I think you’re really pushing it with the season winding down, but I suppose at this point the door would still be open (to return).”
Harper’s timetable leaves Horston’s role for the rest of the season ambiguous. The Lady Vols have just eight days left in the regular season and will place NCAA Tournament games in less than three weeks.
The seriousness of the injury could leave the star sidelined the rest of the season, however, times will tell.
Horston has been Tennessee’s go-to offensive star all season, averaging a team high 16.2 points per game. The junior guard is more than just a scorer, however, posting 9.4 rebounds and four assists per game.
The Lady Vols will turn to starters as well as bench players in Horston’s absence.
“Oh, we’re going to have dig a little deeper,” Harper said. “I think Kaiya (Wynn) is going to have some opportunities to come in and help us at the guard spot. You know, you’ve got Karoline Striplin and Emily Saunders that could come in, and we could slide some folks around. And you know, Jessie (Rennie) has been tough, and she’s a veteran, so at this point, it’s all hands on deck.”
While Horston’s absence is a major loss, this Tennessee team is no stranger to playing undermanned. Rae Burrell missed the first two months of the season and power forward Keyen Green suffered a season ending knee injury last month.
“I think it’s a competitive group,” Harper said. “They love playing basketball, and you know, obviously, this is a lot of adversity, because you’re trying to replace more than just a leading scorer. She’s our best defender, best rebounder, best ball handler, passer – she did everything for us. But I think our team, I think what you have to do here, is you’ve got to love playing and you’ve got to love competing, and you have to look at this as this is our opportunity. No one wants to do it without Jordan (Horston), but that’s the hand we’re dealt at this point.”
After starting the season 17-1, the Lady Vols have started to slip over the last three-plus weeks. Tennessee is now 20-5 after winning just three of its last seven games.
Life without Horston has a daunting start as the Lady Vols face No. 1 South Carolina Sunday in Columbia. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. ET and ABC will broadcast the game.
