The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team faced stiff challenges right out of the Southern Conference gate last week with games at Samford and Mercer, the second- and third-ranked teams in the league's preseason poll.
By earning double-digit victories against both, the Mocs assumed early control of the conference standings and sent a message: We haven't gone anywhere.
Some questioned the legitimacy of the program after the Mocs went 6-8 in nonconference play this season, but coach Jim Foster didn't put together that portion of the schedule - which was stocked with highly regarded major programs - so things would always be pretty. It was put together so the team would look its best the rest of the season in conference and tournament play.
"That's the goal, to get to be a four-quarter team," Foster said after Saturday's win at Mercer. "It's the reason we play the schedule we've played. We should be exposed. We want our kids to get tougher, we want them to understand who they are as players, so we play better people.
"If you're down 16 points and you come back and win the game, maybe they weren't that good, but that's not going to happen against Connecticut, Notre Dame, Louisville, so you start getting an understanding of who you are. That's why you need to learn things."
Against Samford and Mercer, UTC built 20-point leads before settling into 16- and 18-point wins against teams that beat the Mocs away from McKenzie Arena last season. Since a 48-43 loss to Samford on Jan. 23, 2016 - which followed a 23-point loss to Mercer two days prior - the Mocs have won 10 straight games in conference play, with the average margin of victory 20.8 points.
The Mocs shot 58 percent in last week's wins, and they made 41 percent from 3-point range. Jasmine Joyner averaged 22 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocks in the wins.
Joyner, a senior forward, was a constant entering the season, but there were things about the team that needed to be ironed out, such as Chelsey Shumpert moving to point guard.
Shumpert, a 5-foot-4 redshirt junior who missed most of last season while injured, had played off the ball throughout her career. Considering incoming freshman Lakelyn Bouldin also wasn't a sure thing at the position, the nonconference schedule gave them a chance to acclimate - Shumpert to playing lead guard, Bouldin to the college game in general.
In her past seven games, Shumpert is averaging 3.9 assists. Bouldin has proven to be the team's best long-distance threat, making 38 percent of her 3-point attempts to rank third in the conference.
"We've learned enough about ourselves to be a pretty good basketball team," Foster said. "They've stepped up to the challenges that are there.
"Looking at Lakelyn at Rutgers, and she was very wide-eyed in her first college game. Then we come in here and it is a very good crowd for them and different atmosphere from most of the places in our league, and she is just very matter of fact.
"That's why playing at Rutgers, Connecticut and Louisville is important. It becomes matter of fact for you."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.