Sports Editor

Time is getting short for the Troy State Lady Trojans as they try to heal some injuries before they begin Trans American Athletic Conference play.

Head coach Jerry Hester’s team could be described as the walking wounded, but there is still a lot of hope that some of the pieces will be ready to snap into place before their Jan. 4 visit to Florida Atlantic.

One member that will be seeing some limited practice time this week is senior forward Keisha Ellis who is returning after a stress fracture in her leg.

The wound has not totally healed, but doctors have given her the okay to see limited time. Hester said it would be a game-time decision on wether or not she would play against Texas Pan American Thursday.

"She of course was limited in what she could do in the early practice, but I saw some bright spots and it was definitely better than I expected," Hester said. "It will be a game-time decision on whether she plays or not. Right now I’d say no because this game isn’t as important, but I would like her to give her a few minutes just so the conference games coming up won’t be her first."

Another player that the Lady Trojans will be anticipating word on is the team’s leading scorer Abby Boone. Boone received an MRI on her knee Monday and the extent of her injury will not be known till later. She is currently fifth in the TAAC in scoring racking up 17.7 points per game while grabing the ninth slot in rebounding with a 6.1 average.

Hester knows his team will not be at full strength no matter what happens, but hopes that their game Thursday will help the Lady Trojans shake off an extended layoff before a tough road schedule in the TAAC.

"We certainly want to try and get the holiday out of us and get back into the same playing form," Hester said. "We need to win to build that confidence going into conference play.

"Texas Pan American has a really fine perimeter shooting team," he said of the team TSU beat 98-90 in overtime to start the season. "It will be interesting to see how they are coming along since we played them. I know they’ve had a hard time of it, but they played us very hard and I’m sure it was a heart breaker to lose that one to us at the start."