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The women's basketball court will be out of bounds to Tennessee's Vicki Baugh for two weeks.

Jenny Moshak, the Lady Vols associate athletic director for sports medicine, equated Baugh's recovery from reconstructive left knee surgery to a competition and said a new strategy was in order.

"We're playing a game and we're not winning the game,'' Moshak said.

Baugh, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the national championship game last April, was cleared for duty on Nov. 2 but Moshak cautioned then that the sophomore forward remained "in rehab mode."

In the meantime, Baugh has handled some halfcourt drills but has been unable to run up and down the floor during workouts without eventually feeling pain and discomfort. Therefore, she will spend the next two weeks exclusively on weight training and rehabilitation.

"We're at the place right now where we need to get the leg stronger so it can handle the forces out there,'' Moshak said.

While Baugh is frustrated, Moshak said: "What she has to understand is in the big scope of things, this is nothing big. In the big scope of things, she will get over this and not remember it halfway through the season."

With Saturday's regular-season opener against San Francisco looming, Monday was a busy day for Moshak. Center Kelley Cain bumped heads with a male practice player and went out. Moshak expects Cain to miss today's practice, too.

"We take the head seriously,'' Moshak said. "Unfortunately you can't do anything with the head to make it go faster."

Forward Alyssia Brewer suffered a sprained left thumb and was wearing a splint. However, there's a chance she will practice today, provided she pass some medical tests.

Guard Angie Bjorklund rode the stationary bike and is close to returning from lower back spasms, which kept her out of Sunday's 85-50 exhibition victory over Love & Basketball.

Forward Alex Fuller, who left Sunday's game with an undisclosed injury, watched Monday's practice but will return today, Moshak said.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.