Seventh-ranked North Carolina is likely to be without talented 5-foot-10 freshman guard Tierra Ruffin-Pratt Saturday against the Huskies at Gampel Pavilion. Ruffin-Pratt sustained a dislocated right shoulder last Saturday against Winston-Salem State.
North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said today that she isn’t even sure Ruffin-Pratt will be in uniform for the nationally televised showdown. Ruffin-Pratt, who missed Wednesday’s game against Georgia Tech, is fourth on the team in scoring (8.3), second in rebounding (6.3) and third in steals (1.4) in 21.3 minutes in 13 games (nine starts) this season.
“She dislocated her shoulder and it popped out completely and they put it back in,’’ Hatchell said. “They’re going to put a harness on her. But her other shoulder is that way, too. So she’s going to be in a double harness. I don’t know if she will be able to even shoot the basketball. I don’t know if she’ll even dress out Saturday. We’ve still got to wait and see about that. But she had a pretty serious injury with that shoulder. Ruffin-Pratt is a tough kid. She’s physical. She’s very skilled. She’s a very intelligent basketball player. Even though she is a freshman, she’s not your typical freshman. But she is so restricted with those shoulder harnesses on her. This is a very talented kid, an All-American high school player that is a really good player. And she’s not been able to show how good of a player she is because of those shoulder harnesses on her. But as far as Saturday, we’ll just have to wait and see.’’
Sophomore Chay Shegog, a 6-5 post player, returned to action against Georgia Tech after missing the previous two games due to a concussion. She had 10 points and six rebounds in 22 minutes.
“She played last night,’’ Hatchell said. “It didn’t seem to bother her.’’
Shegog is third on the team in scoring (8.6) and third in rebounding (6.2) in 23.1 minutes in 12 games (10 starts) this season.
Hatchell purposely stopped the teleconference at one point to give a shout-out to the UConn fans.
“I’ve been coaching a long time and there’s a few places throughout the country that I’m not real crazy about going to play,’’ Hatchell said. “But UConn … This may be our fifth time coming up there. Win or lose, it’s a tremendous environment up there. The fans are fantastic. They’re fans of women’s basketball, and we’ve always been treated first-class there by the fans and the people in Storrs. I don’t mind coming up there and playing just because it’s such a great environment for women’s basketball and they do such a fantastic job. I love coming up there to play, win or lose. I may be saying something different Saturday after the game but I don’t think I will because the fans are so good. We’ve always been treated great, and I love the UConn fans.’’
Rich
