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Practice and a video session Monday afternoon revolved around how the Tennessee women's basketball team plays.

The final exhibition tune-up, against Carson-Newman College at 7 tonight at Thompson-Boling Arena, will emphasize who plays as well.

The minutes will be doled out differently than Sunday's 83-72 loss to the U.S. national team, which put a greater premium on experience.

Senior guard Alexis Hornbuckle played 39 minutes. Her only break came early in the first half. Fellow starters Candace Parker and Shannon Bobbitt played 34 and 33 minutes respectively.

Those work loads will be reduced tonight. UT coach Pat Summitt said Monday that she would talk with Jenny Moshak, the Lady Vols assistant athletic director for sports medicine, before determining Parker's playing time. Tennessee's All-American forward is two weeks removed from a shoulder injury and got tangled up with U.S. center Lisa Leslie in Sunday's game. Afterward, Parker said she was fine.

Senior Alberta Auguste, who's recovering from a calf contusion, looked better Monday, taking part in practice. Regardless of her condition, Auguste will not play tonight. Summitt said the 5-foot-11 forward has another game to sit out as punishment for missing two classes last spring.

Conversely, the Lady Vols are planning a busy night for their four freshmen as a final shakedown cruise before the season opener Sunday against Chattanooga. Starter Angie Bjorklund played 24 minutes against the U.S. but no other freshman played more than Vicki Baugh's 15 minutes.

"Just to see where they are, to gauge their progress since the start of practice,'' Summitt said, "to let them have time to play. They need it."

Summitt's review of Sunday's game reaffirmed UT's effort as worthy. As she said, "I wanted to see a little bit about the character of the team. For the most part, we were mentally tough."

Execution was a different matter, beginning with a sluggish start and ending with misspent possessions on offense after pulling to 73-70 with 3:48 left.

Summitt mentioned defense, specifically sprinting back down the court and protecting the middle of the floor more consistently.

Rebounding, a topic she sounded off on after the U.S. game, remains on her mind.

"We have to be more physical in our box outs and get four people to the boards,'' Summitt said. "We typically had two or three in the U.S. game."

Notebook: Carson Newman, which was 21-10 last season, returns four starters and 11 letterwinners. ... This is the fourth consecutive season the Lady Vols and Lady Eagles will play an exhibition game. ... UT guard Cait McMahan, who is redshirting this season after offseason knee surgery, took part in the shooting portion of Monday's practice.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.