Much to the surprise of Lady Tigers fans and the Baton Rouge media, DeTrina White took the floor to warm up with the team about 30 minutes prior to Sunday afternoon’s contest between No. 3 Tennessee and No. 4 LSU.
As early as a week ago, both head coach Sue Gunter and White said there was no timetable for the senior center’s return.
Both only said White’s rehabilitation was going extremely well and hinted the Lafayette resident could be back by NCAA Tournament time.
However, Gunter said LSU got clearance from the doctors Saturday night to play White.
In 19 minutes, White shot 2-of-6 from the field for four points and grabbed four rebounds. She will help add another rebounder for the Lady Tigers down the stretch.
“The doctor said she was good to go,” Gunter said. “She has been working out, but we weren’t sure when she would play. We wanted to make sure with her mom, with her and with the doctors that she would get some minutes. I thought she played well. It will be nice to have her going down the stretch.”
Even Lady Volunteers head coach Pat Summitt was caught off guard by the early return but said she was not surprised.
“We’re the great healers,” Summitt joked. “If you’re a team that has injury problems, all of the sudden we show up, and I guess we just have that magic ability to heal people. Everywhere we go, the injuries are healed. I’m proud she’s healthy. I never want a player to be injured, certainly a player of that caliber.”
Forward Aiysha Smith said the team found out before the team’s shootaround that White would be available.
“[I said] ‘Wow, already, you’re a quick healer,'” Smith said. “DeTrina’s a great player. She brings a lot of emotion, and she’s a great rebounder. Just another good addition to the team.”
Seimone the Great?
Summitt, who actively recruited and was a finalist for the services of current LSU forward Seimone Augustus, said she did everything she could to lasso the possible Freshman of the Year.
“I begged her, I told her grandmothers I’d cook for her — we wanted her to come, but we knew it was a long shot,” Summitt said. “We knew she would be a player that made an immediate impact.”
Summitt went so far as to compare Augustus to former Lady Vols great Chamique Holdsclaw. Holdsclaw is Tennessee’s all-time leading scorer with 3,025 career points and garnered the 1999 WNBA Rookie of the Year.
“I put her right there with Chamique Holdsclaw,” Summitt said. “[Augustus] is probably a little more skilled in the area of ball handling and in the passing game.”
Etc.
Lady Vols guard Kara Lawson said LSU is the quickest team Tennessee has faced all year.
“They have players that can do so many things,” Lawson said. “They have shooters, they have penetrators and they pass the ball really well. You’re going to have to play hard because they will pick you apart and make you look silly.” . . .
Augustus said the loss is tough to swallow, but “we’re going to get them again in Little Rock [at the SEC Tournament].” . . .
LSU football head coach Nick Saban sat courtside for the game and men’s head basketball coach John Brady was caught schmoozing with writers on press row.