STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State women”s basketball team will have to find a way to get along without Tysheka Grimes for a little longer.
MSU coach Sharon Fanning-Otis said Tuesday that Grimes (foot injury) won”t play at home against No. 17 Vanderbilt at 8 p.m. Thursday (CSS) or against No. 4 Tennessee at 1 p.m. Sunday (SEC Network) in Starkville.
Grimes injured her foot Friday in practice. Fanning-Otis said Grimes will be re-evaluated Monday, and the hope is she will be back sooner than later.
“We will just take it a week at a time and see,” Fanning-Otis said. “She is going to have to go a week at a time.”
The Lady Bulldogs played without Grimes, a senior guard/forward, Sunday in a 73-58 victory at Auburn in their Southeastern Conference opener.
A career-high 22-point effort by Mary Kathryn Govero helped MSU (10-4, 1-0) open its 16-game SEC slate in style.
Sophomore guard Diamber Johnson played 30 minutes off the bench against Auburn and post players Rima Kalonda, Bethany Washington, Danielle Rector, and Channa Campbell and guard/forward Ashley Jones rotated in the lineup to help the Lady Bulldogs make up for Grimes” absence. Senior guard Armelie Lumanu also saw action at forward as Fanning-Otis mixed and matched combinations. She said the Lady Bulldogs will need contributions from everyone on the bench if they are going to pick up the slack.
“We told them (Tuesday) that there is not a set starter in that position,” Fanning-Otis said.
Grimes is third on the team in scoring (11.5 points per game). She leads the team in rebounding (7.0) and is third on the team in steals with 31.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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