Tennessee's program-worst 41.6 percent field-goal shooting last season turned out to be part of a trend.

The Women's Basketball Rules Committee took note that the overall field-goal percentage for Division I teams dipped below 40 percent for the first time since the NCAA began tracking women's statistics during the 1981-'82 season.

As a result, the committee has decided to renew its crusade against "displacement." It's time once again to call the hand checks and eliminate use of arm bars by defenders against ball handlers.

This correspondent will believe it when he sees it.

Some variation of this mandate has been around long enough to gather mold. UT coach Pat Summitt was grousing about a hand-check crackdown as far back as the start of the 1998-'99 season. Nothing crushes a cause quite like her dissenting voice.

At any rate, the campaign worked so well that Bill Stokes, the SEC's coordinator for women's hoops officials, conceded last week at Media Days, "We had to back away on going nuts on hand checking.''

After all these years, why keep trying to fight the same battles? Why not try redrawing the battle lines instead?

Forget about moving back the 3-point line, which will be a preseason experiment. It's foolish to fool with that. Instead, widen the foul lane and see what happens.

The men's game is experimenting with a wider lane in selected games this season. The women should take note.

Most of the physical play takes place around the basket. More space might minimize the collisions. Any attempts at "displacement" would tend to be more obvious.

At the very least, the experiment would change the nature of the griping, err, I mean, discussion.

Lady Bulldogs Hurting: Georgia's depth in post players has been all but wiped out by another preseason knee injury.

Freshman post Angel Robinson suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament during an exhibition game Tuesday night.

The 6-foot-5 Robinson's role had become more important after starting forward Rebecca Rowsey went out with an ACL injury in September and forward Ebony Felder was unable to return because of chronic knee pain.

Sophomore center Reicina Russell, a transfer from Penn State, left the team for personal reasons without playing a game.

The Lady Bulldogs' wealth of inside players helped make them a consensus preseason top-10 team. They will have to compensate with their depth and experience on the perimeter.

"It certainly raises the bar as far as the challenge before us,'' Georgia coach Andy Landers said.

Wildcats Aim Higher: The prevailing preseason view of the SEC is clear at the top with Tennessee, LSU, Georgia, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss and cloudier thereafter.

Kentucky coach Mickie DeMoss, a former Lady Vols assistant coach, sees an opportunity for her team. A top-six finish could lead to an NCAA tournament berth.

The Wildcats finished ninth last season and were picked for the same spot this season at Media Days.

"I think we've got a team that is hungry,'' DeMoss said. "... That is fine to be ranked ninth. I just think this team is going to use this as a challenge, and I just believe we are better than that.''

The best way to move up in the SEC is with improved post play. Sophomore forward/center Eleia Roddy, who missed most of last season with an ACL injury, had 15 points and 11 rebounds in 18 minutes of Thursday's 90-34 exhibition victory over Dalhousie University of Canada.

Exhibition Preview: Judging by Dalhousie's loss at Kentucky, the team from Halifax, Nova Scotia, doesn't preview as much of a challenge for UT in its exhibition opener at 3 p.m. Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The reunion figures to be much better. Dalhousie is coached by Dr. Carolyn Savoy, who completed her doctorate in sports psychology at Tennessee. She was the sports psychology consultant for the Lady Vols' 1990-91 national championship team.

Notebook: Lady Vols Candace Parker and Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood returned to practice Friday after resting their surgically repaired knees this week. ... Arkansas forward Sarah Pfeifer, the team's leading returning scorer at 12.4 points per game, is out for the season with an ACL injury. ... Within the first eight hours after single-game tickets went on sale last week at Notre Dame, the Irish sold 1,421 tickets for the Tennessee game there on Dec. 31.