All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee Lady Vols: Who steps up with Keyen Green out for season

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee center/forward Keyen Green (13) is helped off the court after going down with an injury during an NCAA women's college basketball game between Tennessee and Georgia in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022. Tennessee won 63-55.News Joshua L Jones
Tennessee center/forward Keyen Green (13) is helped off the court after going down with an injury during an NCAA women's college basketball game between Tennessee and Georgia in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022. Tennessee won 63-55.News Joshua L Jones /
facebooktwitterreddit

Anybody with a soul has to hate what just happened to Tennessee Lady Vols forward Keyen Green. After transferring from the Liberty Flames and missing all of the 2020-2021 season due to a torn ACL, she is now out for the rest of this year due to…a torn ACL.

Green was hurt in UT’s 63-55 win at the Georgia Bulldogs Sunday. Kellie Harper confirmed the news surrounding the senior forward in a press conference Tuesday afternoon. She said at the same time that Tess Darby would be back soon.

It’s hard to move past anything else other than sympathy for Green, but the fact of the matter is the Tennessee Lady Vols in general have had to adjust to injuries all year. They lost returning starter Marta Suárez for the season before the opener, and then Rae Burrell got hurt in the opener and didn’t return until January.

As they have done all year en route to their 18-1 record and top five ranking in both polls, they once again need somebody to step up after an injury. Based on what we’ve seen so far, this one could be much harder than it looks.

Averaging seven points and over three rebounds off the bench, Green’s role with UT was to join Alexus Dye in taking pressure off Tamari Key down low. With Dye and Key the starters, Green was crucial for the Tennessee Lady Vols.

Now, with Green out, UT has no proven options in the post off the bench. So who steps up? Well, they really just have two options: Center Emily Saunders and forward Karoline Stripline. The pressure is on one of them to help offset the devastation of this injury.

It should be Saunders’ time to step up. At 6’5″, this is her third year in the program. Sure, she was a three-star recruit, but her experience should give her the tools necessary to be able to come onto the court and provide valuable minutes off the bench.

On the other hand, after averaging over three and a half points a game and nearly nine minutes her first year, she has been knocked down to between half and one and a half points a game in around five minutes a game the past two years. That regression is concerning.

Striplin is a true freshman forward at 6’3″, but she was a four-star recruit, but she is averaging over three points a game and has made 13 appearances this year. As a result, she has already shown signs of being able to spell Key and Dye when needed.

dark. Next. Lady Vols all-time team

One of those two, however, needs to step up for the Tennessee Lady Vols. The injuries have been devastating, but Harper has done a great job in developing players and offsetting her other losses. She is now going to have to do that again.