Dawn Staley updates Te’a Cooper’s injury status for Tennessee
South Carolina women’s basketball is set to play Tennessee on Sunday, but the status of the Gamecocks’ leading scorer remains in doubt.
USC coach Dawn Staley said Friday that junior guard Te’a Cooper, who sprained her left ankle against Kentucky on Thursday, is progressing in her recovery, but whether or not she will play against the Lady Vols is unclear.
“She’s doing good. She walked around today. She’s in a lot better position than she was yesterday, and we got good news, it’s just a sprain,” Staley said.
In the portion of practice open to media on Friday, Cooper was on the sideline in training gear, receiving ice and treatment on her ankle. She did not participate in any drills.
Cooper’s injury appeared to happen when she was battling for position in the lane and rolled her ankle badly. She immediately hit the floor and had to helped off the court, unable to put weight on her affected leg.
However, Staley seemed optimistic about Cooper’s health in the long term on Friday. Whether or not she’ll be ready in time for the road matchup with Tennessee will be up to her, Staley said.
“Te’a wants to play. You always put it in the hands of the athlete, and of course we don’t want her to further hurt herself. It’s her personal barometer as far as pain, and pain is a personal thing,” Staley said.
Cooper’s motivation to play may have a personal edge — she transferred to South Carolina from Tennessee, where she earned SEC All-Freshman honors before missing her sophomore season with a knee injury. After she sat out last season per NCAA rules, Sunday would be her first opportunity to play her former team.
For Staley, however, the focus is obvious — getting Cooper back in the lineup as quickly as she can for the entirety of South Carolina’s stretch run through the end of the regular season, SEC tournament and NCAA tourney.
“You’d have to ask her that,” Staley said when asked about Cooper’s desire to play against Tennessee specifically. “I’m quite sure she’s going to want to play — that’s the school that she went to. We just want her to play whether it’s Tennessee, it’s Auburn or Mississippi State, we want her back in the lineup.”
In 25 games and 24 starts this year, Cooper is averaging 12.2 points, 2.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game. She is the only Gamecock averaging more than 11 points per game and leads the team in usage rate, per Her Hoop Stats.
South Carolina plays Tennessee on Sunday in Knoxville at 4 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
This story was originally published February 22, 2019 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Dawn Staley updates Te’a Cooper’s injury status for Tennessee."
