UTC's Lakelyn Bouldin working to become more complete player

UTC's Lakelyn Bouldin (33) goes baseline past Western's Tess Harris (21).  The University of Tennessee Mocs visited the Western Carolina Catamounts in Southern Conference women's basketball action at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, North Carolina on February 1, 2018
UTC's Lakelyn Bouldin (33) goes baseline past Western's Tess Harris (21). The University of Tennessee Mocs visited the Western Carolina Catamounts in Southern Conference women's basketball action at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, North Carolina on February 1, 2018
photo UTC's Lakelyn Bouldin dribbles past Western Carolina's Nikki Johnson during a Feb. 1 game in Cullowhee, N.C. Bouldin has had to deal with more attention from defenses during her sophomore season, but she is still one of the Mocs' top scorers.

Lakelyn Bouldin has had to do a lot of learning this basketball season.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore went from being a scoring option - just not necessarily the Mocs' best option - during her freshman season to being one of the top three scorers for the Mocs while also becoming more of a focal point for opponents.

With that added attention from defenses, Bouldin's shooting percentages have dipped some. That doesn't concern UTC coach Jim Foster at all.

He is squarely focused on expanding her game in all aspects.

"To me, Lakelyn's development is going to come directly related to how much better she makes her teammates," Foster said Tuesday. "I think she has the ability to be a very good passer; her job as a basketball player has always been to be a finisher. The success of her teams depended on her scoring, but when you get to this level, people send a second person at you and sometimes a third, and you have to rely on your ability to find your teammates, so that's new."

It's not as though Bouldin is having a sophomore slump. Her scoring average has gone up from 10.4 points per game as a freshman to 12.5 this season, when she has made 38 percent of her shots from 3-point range, which ranks second in the Southern Conference. But due to the Mocs' roster turnover in the offseason and some shuffling during the schedule, she is being asked to do a lot more.

Her rebounding average is up to 3.4 per game this season, though she already has more turnovers in 24 games (46) than she had in 32 last season (37).

"I think I've had to become not just a 3-point shooter," Bouldin said. "Last year teams didn't know much about me, so I could live off the 3. Now they know that I'm a shooter, so I'm putting the ball on the floor more and trying to hit my teammates instead of looking to score. It's been difficult at times. I'm trying to pick up and read the defense, but you never know what they're going to do."

Foster said that's in part because some opponents have started throwing better defenders at her to try to take her out of the game. It has worked at times, because the Mocs have only had three consistent scoring options: Bouldin and senior sisters Aryanna and Keiana Gilbert.

"College is a heck of a lot different than high school," Foster said. "The four years you spend in college, you're going to be guarded differently. The best defensive guard might now be guarding her, whereas last year they weren't - maybe they were on Queen (Alford), maybe they were on Key (Gilbert). Now with Key going to point (guard), it maybe changes things. Maybe the best perimeter defender is now guarding her, and you've got to be successful at that. If she (Bouldin) comes out hot, there's going to be a switch that brings that player on her. Now you have to adjust your game, maybe from the first to the second quarter, because someone different is on you, their skills are different and how they're guarding you.

"All that stuff gets put to the test, and how you react to that and how quickly you react to it, and I think she's now starting to understand those aspects, now starting to try to be more successful when that happens."

The Mocs (15-9, 6-4) had an opportunity to move into a tie for second place in the SoCon standings last Saturday against East Tennessee State, but a late lull led to a six-point win by the Buccaneers, helping them maintain a two-game lead. Mercer (23-2, 10-0) has a healthy lead, though, and can clinch a share of the regular-season title with a win tonight over Western Carolina and Saturday against UNC Greensboro.

The Mocs are looking to gain a split of the season series when they host Furman (15-11, 5-6) at 6:30 tonight at McKenzie Arena. The Paladins won 58-57 on Jan. 20 in Greenville, S.C.

"As a team, we've got to grind with these last two games," Bouldin said. "We had a bad loss Saturday, so we've got to regroup, get ourselves together and play a 40-minute game.

"Not just the first half; not just the second half. We've got to put it all together."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.

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