As the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team’s freshmen have listened, they’ve improved.
And now they’re starting to play – and contribute.
UTC’s Bria Dial (12) drives past Greensboro’s Te’ja Twitty (23). The University of North Carolina Greensboro Trojans visited the University of Tennessee Chattanooga Mocs in Southern Conference women’s basketball action at McKenzie Arena on January 4, 2018. 
Samford’s Samantha Fitzgerald (35) strips the ball from UTC’s Rochelle Lee (32). Also defending on the play is Samford’s Natalie Armstrong (45). The Samford Bulldogs visited the Chattanooga Mocs in Southern Conference women’s basketball action at McKenzie Arena on January 25, 2018. 
UTC guard Brooke Burns (23) dribbles around Western Carolina guard JonTay Mitchem (23) during the Mocs’ home basketball game against Western Carolina at McKenzie Arena on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The impacts of their contributions have varied, but the five-player class has started to make more and more plays while on court for the Mocs (13-8, 4-3 Southern Conference), who play this afternoon at Western Carolina (4-18, 0-7). The 5 p.m. game will tip off a doubleheader, with the men’s game set for 7:30.
With the UTC women’s next win, coach Jim Foster will become the eighth in NCAA women’s basketball history to reach 900 wins. But his focus – and the reason he puts together a challenging nonconference schedule – has been to accelerate the growth process for his players. It has not only helped the team go through the trials and tribulations of a season, but forced the Mocs, freshmen included, to go through the highs and lows of each game.
“I had a lot of habits I had from high school that I had to try to break: Making a pass a certain way, being right-hand dominant, (learning about) being in the right place at the right time,” freshman guard Brooke Burns said before Tuesday’s practice.
“Coach has advanced basketball knowledge, and prior to being here, I wasn’t like that. I had to come in and learn a lot of things to get relaxed on the court and not be so nervous – and now I’m a lot more relaxed. It’s hard going in for a couple of minutes when you haven’t been out there much, but now that I’m out there for longer periods of time, I’m more confident, I now have an advanced IQ and now I can be in the right spots.”
And it’s starting to pay off. Bria Dial and Rochelle Lee have started games recently, with Dial ranking 11th in the SoCon in blocked shots per game. Mya Long and Burns have been spark plugs off the bench, with Long scoring seven points in 14 minutes in a Jan. 18 win at Wofford, while Burns averaged 6.5 points per game last week in the team’s 1-1 split at home against Samford and Mercer. She hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:40 left in overtime against Samford.
And according to Foster, it all started in practice.
“They’ve been starting to get it the last two or three weeks,” he said after the 68-58 win against Samford last Thursday. “Now they’re getting the opportunity. We aren’t just going to put you in the game just to go in. There’s certain things we want you to do. There’s certain things you have to do and we need them to do. They’re starting to do that and packing it all together. We had some very timely baskets and defensive plays from our freshmen tonight. They didn’t play like freshmen.”
The biggest thing older players told the freshmen entering the season was that if they listen to Foster and “do as he says,” it would enhance the number of opportunities they would have to play. It was easier said than done for some, though, which is what led to some struggles for them early in the season.
“It seemed like it was going to be easy to come in and do what he says, but when you’re not used to certain moves and playing a certain way, it’s hard,” Lee said before Tuesday’s practice. “There are things he’s wanting me to work on – like taking time on my shot and facing up – so now I feel like I’m doing it way better, which is why I’m playing more.”
With depth off the bench a concern most of the season, Foster has been imploring the team to be aggressive when in the game. Now that the freshman class has more confidence, its members believe they can contribute and help this team heading down the stretch.
And the Mocs need those contributions – even if they’re freshmen.
“I know that all of us have so much more (confidence),” Dial said. “I feel we’re all pretty good individually and together.
“We’re actually doing good now – before, not so much.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.