Saul Young

Tennessee's Candace Parker, right, battles for a rebound with Danielle Gant of Texas A&M during Tuesday's game in Oklahoma City.

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Tennessee considers time to be more of an ally than an adversary in its women's basketball preparations for the Final Four.

The perspective applies specifically to star player Candace Parker's recovery from twice suffering a dislocated left shoulder during Tuesday night's 53-45 Midwest Regional final victory over Texas A&M at Oklahoma City. Her playing status will have a huge bearing on the Lady Vols' play in a national semifinal game against LSU at 9:30 p.m. Sunday (TV: ESPN) in Tampa, Fla.

Connecticut and Stanford meet at 7 in the other semifinal. The winners play Tuesday night for the national championship.

"At this point I don't know,'' UT coach Pat Summitt said Wednesday regarding Parker's condition for Sunday. "But between now and Sunday she has a lot of time with (athletic trainer) Jenny (Moshak) and the rehab and rest. I feel good about it."

The official word from UT Wednesday was that Parker was being treated symptomatically and would undergo further evaluation before the team leaves for Tampa tonight. The prevailing symptom was soreness. Judging by Summitt's conversation with Parker, the 6-foot-5 forward wasn't solely preoccupied with the state of her shoulder.

"She was concerned about whether she could keep her hair appointment,'' Summitt said.

Whatever it takes, the Lady Vols need their All-American in the best form possible. Each Final Four team has one of its own. Parker, LSU's Sylvia Fowles, Stanford's Candice Wiggins and Connecticut's Maya Moore were named Wooden All-Americans on Wednesday, the day after they made The Associated Press first team.

Of immediate concern to Tennessee is Fowles. The 6-foot-6 senior center was anticipating this possible rematch before the sweat had dried from UT's 61-55 victory over the Lady Tigers in the conference tournament championship game March 9 in Nashville.

"We ain't looking for payback,'' she said after that game, "but once we meet up again we'll do a whole lot better than what we did in this tournament.''

With Parker's condition and ultimately her effectiveness still in question, the overall state of Tennessee's offense is another pressing matter.

Without Parker, the Lady Vols went nine minutes, 16 seconds without scoring against Texas A&M.

With Parker, Tennessee's scoring has become dangerously one-dimensional. In the two NCAA games in Oklahoma City, Parker's 60 points amounted to 47 percent of UT's 127 points.

Summitt will address the near-meltdown against the Aggies by watching film with point guard Shannon Bobbitt, who committed seven turnovers.

"I did not think Shannon had a good game,'' Summitt said. "After watching the tape it was clear to me that they did bring the heat to Shannon. I don't know if it was the game or the pressure of the defense, but I think she got a little frustrated."

Along with pressuring Bobbitt, the Aggies also smothered Angie Bjorklund, which accounted for UT's top two 3-point shooters. Between them, they produced one trey by Bobbitt.

Bjorklund's one basket required her to pump fake a defender before getting off a foul-lane jumper.

Since combining for six treys in the tournament opener against Oral Roberts, Bobbitt and Bjorklund have produced six in the next three games. During that span, Bjorklund - a double-figure scorer for most of the season - is averaging three points per game. The Lady Vols really could use more points from the 6-foot freshman forward, who had seven treys in a game three times this season.

"At this point, encouragement is probably the best thing for her,'' Summitt said. "We'll also look at a couple of things we can do to free her up."

At least Tennessee has senior guard Alexis Hornbuckle firing away at a decent clip. She's averaging about 12 points per tournament game and rebounded from two missed layups against A&M to hit a huge 3-pointer with 50 seconds left. Upon further review, the shot was closer to 26 feet than the 24 feet originally reported.

"I think she ought to feel like she's definitely stepped up for us,'' Summitt said. "She has to be looking to make plays for us."

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.