UConn junior guard Kia Nurse is set to return to the court when the top-ranked and top-seeded Huskies play the winner of the Memphis/Tulsa game in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament on Saturday.
Nurse missed the last four games of the regular season due to a stress reaction in her right ankle. She returned to the court yesterday, did some basketball drills and shot the ball while her teammates practice. UConn coach Geno Auriemma said she will likely be limited to half-court work at today's practice.
"She is definitely playing tomorrow, how many minutes I don't know," Auriemma said. "We'll see how thing go tomorrow and will make a decision on Sunday and Sunday we will make a decision about Monday. Hopefully a little bit at a time her minutes can increase. We've got a long time to rest after Monday so if we are playing three games in a row, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, we don't have to worry about it for another two weeks almost."
Nurse's competitive fire is well known so I am sure she's been chomping at the bit to get back on the court.
"The first part she was just miserable and I didn't even talk to her," Auriemma said. "I didn't care what she had to say because I didn't want to hear it . One of the doctors and Janelle (Francisco) our trainer gave her some informaiton of, 'hey, OK, we are going to take you out of the boot and put you in an aircast.' Then she came up to me and, 'hey, I think I am going to be ready.' I said I am penciling you in for the second round of the NCAA tournament Now she is walking in with the aircast, maybe first round of the NCAA tournament."
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