FAYETTEVILLE ROLLS WITHOUT COULTER

FAYETTEVILLE -- Fayetteville's starters, plus junior Kylee Coulter, huddled for a few seconds near midcourt just before the Lady Bulldogs' opening tip on Tuesday night. Coulter did the talking, saying a quick prayer for her team and their game against Fort Smith Southside. It's become a staple of Fayetteville's pregame routine. The starters were decked out in their home white uniforms with purple lettering and numerals. Coulter wasn't. She was in street clothes, including a pair of leopard-print Adidas that would've been the outfit's standout item if it wasn't for the brace on her right knee. The 5-foot-9 guard could only watch from the bench as Fayetteville blew out Southside 59-19, the result of a torn ACL suffered in Dallas in late December. The pre-tip prayer is about the only remaining bit of normalcy surrounding games for Coulter. "It really sucks," said Coulter, who is planning to have surgery in early February and hopes to be released by July. "It's more upsetting not being able to play with the girls, because they're like my second family and we're all together. And if someone's not there with you, it doesn't feel right." The injury didn't affect Fayetteville (10-5, 1-1 7A-West) on Tuesday against an overmatched team. The Lady Bulldogs led 19-0 after a quarter, scored the game's first 21 points and didn't allow a score until Emily Lockhart banked in a six-footer with 6:48 left in the first half. Fayetteville dominated, led by sophomore post Jasmine Franklin's 12 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. Eleven Lady Bulldogs scored as every player on the roster, aside from Coulter, played at least six minutes in the mercy rule win. The game provided a bit of a breather for Fayetteville, sandwiched around road showdowns at Fort Smith Northside and Springdale High, two other top contenders in the conference. It allowed Rimmer, who has used numerous starting lineups this year, another game to mix and match with his rotations as he attempts to fill the void left just before conference play by the injury. Depth is a strength for Fayetteville, which is loaded with versatile guard-forward types and can go 12 deep, but Coulter was leading the team in scoring before her injury. "We miss her ability to guard a point guard all the way through a post kid," Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer said. "That's rare. ... You can't replace Kylee Coulter, but it's that next-man-up thing. We're fortunate enough to have a good stable of guards so we can try to turn that over." Fayetteville still has a chance to contend for the conference title and wants to defend its state championship. But the task got tougher in late December when Coulter went down. "We're just like, we've got to do this for Kylee, because she wants to play and it sucks to be out," junior Ashley Breathitt said. "She's a reminder that we've got to keep going through adversity, so we've got to just try to fill her shoes, because she did a lot for us."

FAYETTEVILLE ROLLS WITHOUT COULTER

Photo Credit: Fayetteville Athletics

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