As college basketball’s regular season begins to wind down, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s team is aiming toward the possibility of a deep postseason run.
Ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press poll, the Mocs are trying to wrap up a second consecutive perfect run through the Southern Conference. They are 21-3 overall, 9-0 in the SoCon going into today’s 3 p.m. home game against UNC Greensboro.
Four first-year UTC players — true freshmen Keiana Gilbert and Anna Claire Noblit, redshirt freshman Ansley Chilton and sophomore transfer Sydney Vanlandingham — have had varying levels of impact on the court, but they’ve all learned and grown as players.
They’ve all been asked to change and grow to produce at the NCAA Division I level.
“It’s just an honest evaluation of who they are and who they could be,” coach Jim Foster said. “Now it’s up to (them) to work on those skills on a daily basis and learn the game differently.
“It’s a process of accommodating your talents to the opportunities that present themselves.”
Gilbert has started every game, is second on the team in scoring with 11.3 points per game and was named ESPN national player of the week in early December after scoring 27 points in the Mocs’ 67-63 upset win over then No. 4 Tennessee.
“I didn’t think it would happen for me that quick,” she said before practice Thursday, “but I just did what I could to help my team.
“I knew it would be a lot tougher (in college). It’s a big transition from high school with the intensity level and the type of players at the college level. But I just had to adjust to it.”
For Noblit, who averaged 24 points per game as a high school senior in Tuscumbia, Ala., the adjustment has been more about building a more complete game in college.
UTC’s Anna Claire Noblit plays in the game against Wofford Monday at McKenzie Arena.“I’ve definitely improved quickness wise and defensive wise,” she said. “(Foster) always tells me to work on defense, because I’m not as quick and defense wins games.
“My role as a high school basketball player and my role as a college player are totally different. It’s a lot more important now to listen and to be able to do exactly what he says.”
Noblit is averaging only 1.6 points per game, but she showed her potential by hitting two 3-pointers in the final minutes against No. 3 Notre Dame.
“I’ve just got to remember to keep working hard,” she said. “They’re always encouraging me to keep shooting and get my shot quicker, and they’ll fall eventually.”
Vanlandingham and Chilton both came into this season with a taste of college experience: Chilton spent last season as a practice player while redshirting at UTC, and Vanlandingham played as a freshman two seasons ago at UT-Martin.
But that experience couldn’t have fully prepared them for the changes asked of them by Foster to maximize their talents. Both have been asked to adjust their style of play and position on the court, a process that has taken time.
“At first I was really frustrated with the amount of playing time I was getting,” Chilton said. “I wasn’t used to that because I started as a freshman in high school (at Dade County). I’ve never really had to sit the bench, but I think it’s been good for me.”
Playing behind sophomore post Jasmine Joyner has limited the 6-foot-3 Chilton’s playing time, but she’s begun working on her play facing the basket in the hopes that she can take on the role filled by senior power forward Destiny Bramblett next season.
“He’s told me he wants me to come in and kind of take Destiny’s place,” she said, “and he sees me shooting a lot more and I’ve been working on my shot a lot more than I do now.
“That gives me a lot of hope that he sees me stepping in her place.”
Vanlandingham essentially has had to learn how to play college basketball again after leaving UT-Martin and spending a year away from organized basketball.
“I played rec ball with boys for a year, and I picked up a lot of bad habits with them,” she said. “I was playing like street ball, and I’m still trying to break myself of that and slow down.
“I’m finally finding structure and learning what it means to slow down and play your role.”
Today, the Mocs will take on a Spartans team that is winless in SoCon play, which could give every active UTC player opportunities for valuable live-game action. But Foster said he expects to get the best shot from UNCG and every opponent.
“They lead the league in steals, they play a certain way and you’ve got to match their energy,” he said of the Spartans. “They’re going to play full-court, 94 feet for the whole game. They don’t care what the score is; they’re going to continue to do that.
“Therefore, they have the potential to score points in bunches. You can’t take take possessions off; you can’t jog back on defense. … All teams present their challenges.”
Challenges can also become opportunities to take another step forward, as Chilton did in Monday’s win over Wofford. Playing in the second half of the Mocs’ 68-41 win, she made an aggressive move around her defender and went to the basket, just missing the shot but drawing a foul. It was a move she wouldn’t have made two months ago and a step toward becoming as strong a college player as she was in high school.
“It was kind of like I forgot about my surroundings and forgot I was playing in front of all those people,” she said. “I forgot that there was all that pressure, and I just played and told myself, ‘Ansley, this is the game you’ve been playing since you could walk.’
“It felt good; it felt normal.”
Contact Jim Tanner at jtanner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6478. Follow him at twitter.com/JFTanner.