Foster encouraged by Mocs' defensive progress

photo UTC women's head basketball coach Jim Foster directs players during the Lady Mocs' basketball practice and their Mocs Club Basketball Open House.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team has been hard at work preparing for the 2014-15 season, which begins Friday when the Mocs host Villanova at McKenzie Arena.

For UTC coach Jim Foster this preseason has heightened importance as he replaces five key players lost from last season's Southern Conference championship team. As part of the preparation, the Mocs held a closed scrimmage last weekend against Georgia to help fine-tune both teams.

"I thought defensively we did a pretty good job," Foster said of the workout. "We didn't do well against certain things that they did, but that was more my fault because we hadn't emphasized that."

Statistics and other details cannot be revealed from closed scrimmages such as the one between UTC and Georgia, which are not open to the media or any spectators, per NCAA rules.

According to a recent story from The Associated Press, more men's and women's teams are moving away from exhibition games and using closed scrimmages as a better way to get ready for the season. NCAA rules require that only players, coaches, officials and essential personnel, such as game-clock operators, attend the games.

The closed scrimmages allow coaches to work on specific areas of concern for both teams, and some coaches find them more useful that typical exhibition games that normally feature mismatched opponents.

"The scrimmages are a good thing," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said in the AP story. "You can get a lot of feedback. You can stop in the middle of it, add another session at the end of it. It's really flexible to do what you want."

While Foster could not reveal specific details of the scrimmage with Georgia, he did say that his team performed well for the most part, giving him and his staff a more realistic look at the Mocs' strengths and weaknesses.

"We had three sessions and were real happy with two of them," he said. "Even the session we didn't do as well in, we didn't do that bad defensively."

Wert to redshirt

Foster confirmed this week that freshman post player Ashlyn Wert will not play in the 2014-15 season and will take a redshirt year to improve her game.

The 6-foot-5 player from Lancaster, Pa., is the tallest player ever signed by the UTC women's program, and Foster said it's not uncommon for post players to need extra time to develop.

"The average center in the NBA matures at the age of 28," Foster said. "Big players take longer to mature as athletes. Having her an extra year will benefit both of us."

Sophomore Jasmine Jones and redshirt freshman Ansley Chilton will get most of the work in the paint in games this season, with help from redshirt sophomore transfer Sydney Vanlandingham and others on the interior.

"We have some interchangable parts," Foster said. "We have some perimeter players that can fill a role there. If we stay healthy in that position, we'll be fine."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Contact Jim Tanner at jtanner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6478.

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