Baugh testing knee on court

When Vicki Baugh takes the court, the Tennessee women's basketball player is listening to her left knee as much as the coaches. And that's a good thing.

The Lady Vols' 6-foot-4 junior forward, who's just under eight months removed from anterior cruciate ligament surgery, has begun testing her knee in practice. On Saturday, she practiced for about an hour before pulling herself for treatment.

"She's very strong in the weight room,'' said Jenny Moshak, the Lady Vols associate athletic director for sports medicine. "But it's the functional stuff that I can't simulate in a rehab setting; it's the speed of practice.

"So what we're doing is we're working her in and then when it talks to her a little bit too much, she comes out. We treat her. We work her back in. So it's going to be in and out, in and out for a little while."

Moshak said that Baugh is attempting to return this season. But there's no timetable. Furthermore, there's no expectations from UT coach Pat Summitt.

"I told (Baugh), if you can get back this year, that's great,'' Summitt said. "If you can't, we'll deal with it. I'm not pushing her at all."

Baugh, who underwent two ACL surgeries on her left knee within a calendar year, has reached a plateau in her latest recovery, Moshak said. She's bothered more by pain than swelling. Baugh is able to lift weights and take the court. Saturday was the third consecutive day she participated, albeit for a limited time.

"The good news is she's ready and willing to try the next day each time,'' Moshak said. "From the standpoint of physical as well as mental and emotional, she's not giving up by any means."

Another good sign is that Baugh appears to be playing with better balance, jumping and landing squarely on two feet.

"We worked on it the first rehab as well,'' Moshak said. "I don't know how much she bought into it as much as she's buying into it now."

Cain Update: Center Kelley Cain, who has had two right knee surgeries during her UT career, is practicing with no restrictions. Moshak's advice to the 6-6 redshirt sophomore is to keep her knee bent and be careful around 5-2 teammate Briana Bass.

"If we can get Bri to quit boxing her out that low, we'll be good,'' Moshak said.

Georgia Injury: Georgia has its own ACL injury with returning starter Christy Marshall out for the season after going down in the final team workout before the start of official practice.

The 6-1 senior averaged nearly nine points and 4.5 rebounds per game last season.

"It rips my guts out every time a kid falls and grabs their knee,'' Georgia coach Andy Landers said. "... We're in a state of shock right now."

Getting Serious: The Lady Vols' first two practices were conducted as part of the weekend coaching clinic. The volume will be turned up when the team returns to work on Monday without an audience.

"Glory Johnson shows up not ready to play today,'' said Summitt, referring to the sophomore forward from Webb School. "... We can't have an upperclassman not coming in here ready to compete."

At one point, associate head coach Holly Warlick gathered the players and asked them: "Did you all forget we lost in the first round (of the NCAA tournament) last year?"