Sometimes it seemed it was never going to end.

Speculation grew with every passing game that point guard Jasmine James spent on the sidelines for the Georgia women’s basketball team.

And last Sunday, it finally did.

When Meredith Mitchell fell as she competed for a rebound in the second minute of the Lady Dogs game against Alabama, the time came for James to return to the court.

“It was exciting, after sitting on the bench for three and half weeks just watching to even have the opportunity to get on the court was exciting,” James said. “It was just good to get back out there and just get back into the swing of things.”

JASMINE JAMES

And did she ever get back into the swing.

James was the joint top point-scorer with 18 to go along with eight rebounds and four assists, though she did turn the ball over six times.

While James’ performance wasn’t flawless, it was more than Lady Dogs could have asked for as she played 32 minutes – much more than Georgia head coach Andy Landers ever planned.

“In my mind [she would play] about 18 to 20 minutes,” Landers said. “That was going to come in six-minute lumps, but then Meredith went down and we didn’t have a choice — it’s been the case all year, We haven’t had many choices.”

The game against Alabama was the Lady Dogs’ last before their bye week. If James didn’t play against the Crimson Tide, she would be even more rusty when Georgia returned to action against Vanderbilt on Sunday.

James said it was important for her to get on the court against Alabama.

“It was very crucial and very important and it was always kind of planned for me to play Sunday, definitely not those type of minutes, but it was definitely planned for me to play a little bit,” she said. “It was important for me to get out there and kind of get some of the cobwebs off so that when I came back this week, I wouldn’t be too rusty.”

In James’ absence, Mitchell had been filling in at the point guard position, something she has admitted she isn’t comfortable with.

According to Mitchell, she wasn’t the only person happy to see James back on the court.

“Everyone’s glad that JJ’s back. I know she definitely is,” Mitchell said. “Coming off the great performance that she had, I think it’s a great thing for us and for her, just because it gives her a lot of confidence. I know she worried how it would be first game back, so it was great for her to bounce back like that.”

Landers has struggled to fill the hole in the six games James has missed with Mitchell and Khaalidah Miller handling point guard duties for the majority of the time with Anne Marie Armstrong handling the ball more as well.

The Lady Dogs are also likely to welcome back freshman Krista Donald on Sunday after she had seven teeth pulled earlier this week.

But it was his point guard’s return that excited the head coach most.

“What feels good is to feel like you’ve basically got just about everybody back and that’s exciting,” Landers said. “But it’s particularly exciting not just to have her back [but] to see her moving and playing with confidence in her knee.”

One of the biggest challenges for James has been finding use for herself in the time she has been out.

She said an increased amount of video study and watching from the sideline has given her greater appreciation for the work her coaches do.

“I had a lot of time to sit and observe and actually learn a lot just from being able to sit on the sideline and see things that maybe people don’t see when they’re out there,” James said. “Everything over these past few weeks has been a learning experience.”

She also said the manner in which she made her return and the subsequent amount of time she played has actually worked out better for her and the Lady Dogs than their original plan.

“It actually worked out well because I was able to play in that game,” James said. “I’ve been able to pretty much participate in all the practices this week and pretty much starting to get back to feeling like myself.”