The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team took a test Tuesday night at McKenzie Arena and, for the most part, passed with flying colors.
The Mocs defeated Lee University 71-55 in an exhibition game, taking a big lead early and getting much-needed court time for several new players. Four-year starter Lakelyn Bouldin and sophomore Eboni Williams shared scoring honors with 17 points each, with Brian Dial adding 13 points and sophomore post Abby Cornelius getting team highs in rebounds with 10 and assists with five while adding two blocked shots.
Abby Bertran led Division II member Lee with 14 points, followed by Haley Schubert with 12 and Camryn Grant with 11.
"We came out ready to play," UTC coach Katie Burrows said. "I thought the starting lineup did a really good job. I thought once we started to sub and mix up some combinations, there was some discomfort initially, but once we got settled they started to play a little better together.
"We have a lot of folks that haven't spent any time on the court in a college game, or very little time, and I'm asking them to play a lot. So I was proud of their efforts."
The Mocs, who open the season Nov. 6 at Belmont, were sharp from the start, racing to a 23-4 lead mostly off a defensive effort that caused nine Lee turnovers. A Williams steal and layup gave UTC a 6-0 lead, and she followed that moments later with a short jump shot to move the lead to 17-4.
The Mocs used the last three quarters to experiment with a variety of lineups. Some worked and some didn't, Burrows said.
"The goal was to win," she said. "Also, I needed to find out who was going to work well together, and I think I will after watching this film and knowing who my rotations need to be moving forward. I probably didn't work on as many as different things defensively as I would have liked, but that's a really good team, and when they get hot you get in trouble.
"A lot of folks did things that I thought they would do, and some did things that were surprising and had the confidence to do. I was glad to see that. The biggest thing for me is that I want them to enjoy themselves while they were out there, and do the right things while enjoying themselves."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.