And as the North Carolina women's basketball team is fully aware, the longer the pain lingers, the dimmer UNC's hopes of breaking out of its recent slump become.
The 21st-ranked Tar Heels play No. 7 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium today at 7 p.m. And since UNC's 6-foot-6 sophomore center sprained her right ankle Jan. 10 against N.C. State, the team (14-5, 4-3 in the ACC) has struggled to establish an inside presence, losing three of its past four games and dropping to third in the ACC.
Sutton leads the conference with 2.18 blocks per game and was averaging 13.1 points heading into the loss to State. She sat out North Carolina's win at Clemson and has played limited minutes with little effectiveness in the past two games, both of them losses to unranked ACC teams.
"With me playing on it, it's kind of taking it longer to heal," Sutton said.
Her discomfort has placed more of an onus on the Tar Heels' perimeter players, and the result has been some of the team's worst shooting of the year.
In its past three losses, UNC has shot 30 percent from the floor, including 21 percent from behind the 3-point line, prompting coach Sylvia Hatchell to consider a switch to a more patient, half-court offensive strategy.
Having a healthy Sutton, who will start tonight for the second straight game, would help that game plan. "We need to get her back at full strength," Hatchell said. "That would help us a lot. She's just real timid out there -- real tender and timid."
The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.
