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Vicki Baugh’s freshman basketball season at Tennessee ended with a national championship and a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee.

The injury severely impacts the 6-foot-4 forward’s offseason work. Still, it doesn’t wipe out next season, said Jenny Moshak, the Lady Vols assistant athletics director for sports medicine.

“There’s never a good time for this,’’ Moshak said. “But we have a time frame in which to work.”

Baugh already has begun pre-surgery rehabilitation, which addresses pain, swelling and range of motion. She will undergo surgery next month, after final exams are finished. That leaves approximately six months until the first game of the 2008-09 schedule.

Dr. Greg Mathien, UT’s team orthopedist, confirmed the extent of the damage Friday after Baugh underwent an MRI exam.

Baugh suffered the injury after driving to the basket for a layup with 7:16 left in Tennessee’s 64-48 victory over Stanford in Tampa, Fla. She crumpled to the floor after landing and had to be helped to the bench.

“It was painful,’’ Baugh said afterward. “I landed on it funny.”

Baugh scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds against the Cardinal. Her final basket pushed the Lady Vols’ lead to 55-44 and their advantage stayed in double figures for the game’s duration, enabling them to win their second consecutive national championship and the eighth in team history.

“We all have so much love for Vicki; I love the girl to death,’’ teammate Nicky Anosike said Wednesday. “When she went down, the whole team went down. We knew we had to win for her.”

Baugh played in all 38 games, averaging 5.3 points and four rebounds per game. She shot a team-best 55.2 percent from the floor. She scored in double figures six times with a season-high 12 points against Purdue in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

“Some of her key contributions came in the six games during our national championship run and in the SEC title game,’’ UT coach Pat Summitt said. “Things were really starting to come together for her and it’s just so unfortunate that she suffered a torn ACL.

“I’m excited about Vicki’s future. The knee will be a setback, but I know she’ll come back stronger and more determined than ever.”

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.