Sports Editor

After over two weeks of not playing ball, TSU head coach Jerry Hester and his squad of Lady Trojans will return to action tonight at Trojan Arena.

They won’t be the healthiest bunch to ever grace a court, but some of the faces Troy State will see on their bench dressed out will be a welcome sight. Keisha Ellis will see her first action of the year and Abby Boone seems to be coming along well after an MRI on an injured knee.

Hester was just happy to have enough bodies to go around in practice this week as they prepared for Texas-Pan American.

"We had a full house at practice for most of the week," Hester said. "It’s pretty unbelievable after all we’ve been through. We’re not all healthy, but at least we’re all out there."

As far as exactly how long Ellis will be able to play or how effective she will be Hester couldn’t say, but he did have high hopes for the seniors return.

"We definitely plan on playing Ellis," Hester said. "We would like her to see somewhere around 15 to 20 minutes, but that’s about as far as we would want to go with her right now.

"There is nothing they can do medically for Boone," he said of the Lady Trojans leading scorer. "She will just have to play with the pain. She is the most improved player offensively on our team so we really need her out there."

As far as the competition they will be facing in Texas-Pan American, Hester expects a dog fight. After a 98-90 win by the Lady Trojans handed TPA their first loss of the season he feels they will be ready.

"That was a devastating loss for them at home and with it going to overtime it was obvious they could have won it," Hester said. "When you’re in situations like both of our teams are any win is a good win. With the problems both of us have been having we’ll both be hungry for a to play at our best and get a victory."

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Trojan Arena, admission is free.