So when does South Carolina get A’ja Wilson back?

After Sunday’s 86-70 loss to No. 6 Tennessee, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley and players Tyasha Harris and Alexis Jennings all repeated variations of the same phrase.

“Once A’ja comes back ... ”

Although the No. 9 Gamecocks put up a fight against the high-powered Lady Vols, they became fatigued late and stumbled without the leadership of senior All-American A’ja Wilson, who watched the contest with a pink cast on her leg after injuring her ankle on Thursday.

And while nobody in USC’s program offered Wilson’s absence as an excuse for the defeat, it was undeniable that without her, the Gamecocks are simply not as good a team, and when she returns, Dawn Staley’s squad will be competitive with just about any other program in the country.

The question is, when will that happen?

Staley offered positive news on that front after the game Sunday and gave a timeline for finding out more information.

“Cast will be off tomorrow,” Staley said. “She’ll get an MRI tomorrow, and then we’ll see how it goes. She put weight on it before the cast, so that’s always a good sign.”

Wilson’s injury has been classified as an ankle sprain, and she wore a walking boot and rode a scooter on Friday when her high school retired her jersey. Last season, she missed two games with an ankle sprain.

The Gamecocks play their next game in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday against Vanderbilt, before traveling to Kentucky for a Sunday matchup. Staley will likely update Wilson’s status on Tuesday or Wednesday before the team leaves.

If there is any uncertainty, however, it seems probable Staley would hold Wilson out of at least the Thursday contest, as South Carolina will be heavily favored against Vanderbilt with or without her. The Commodores are an SEC-worst 4-14 this season and winless in conference play.

However, if Wilson is unable to play Thursday, South Carolina might be down to eight healthy available players, as sophomore forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan took a nasty fall against Tennessee and spent several moments on the ground, clutching her left knee. She left the game and went to the locker room immediately, unable to put any weight on her injured leg.

After the game, though, Staley said the injury was not as bad as she initially feared, but added that Herbert Harrigan will also undergo an MRI before returning to practice.

“She’s better than we thought. Her ligaments are strong,” Staley said.

But if the MRI reveals more damage or Herbert Harrigan is sidelined regardless, the Gamecocks’ lack of depth, which already hurt them against Tennessee, will be more apparent. Staley, however, is not making any excuses.

“Injuries have been plaguing a lot of teams this year, and obviously other teams are doing it, so it’s doable,” she said when asked how USC would potentially handle playing Vandy with only eight players available. “I try not to dwell on what we don’t have and put my energy into what we do have and getting those players ready to play. So if it’s eight, if it’s seven, if it’s five, we’re just gonna go.”

South Carolina and Vanderbilt tip off Thursday at 8 p.m.

This story was originally published January 14, 2018 at 5:15 PM with the headline "So when does South Carolina get A’ja Wilson back?."