After long journey, Pene eager to learn
Pare Pene’s learning curve this summer and fall has been more like a gigantic hill.
The shift hasn’t just been on the basketball court for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga freshman. There has been a culture change for the New Zealand native, who is Maori (eastern Polynesian), Portuguese and Chinese.
The 5-foot-7 guard was the last of the four freshmen on this year’s UTC roster to report to the team, not arriving until August because she was competing for the Rotorua Basketball Lady Volcanoes in New Zealand. Pene averaged 9.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while ranking fourth in the league in steals with 1.8 per game.
Her contributions helped the team reach the WBC Tier 2 Grand Final in July, but the change to the American style was an adjustment for her.
“Here, I feel like we get more energy from the team and our teammates,” Pene said Wednesday. “Here, it’s more aggressive and a faster pace, plus I feel like I’m learning everything from scratch, like the plays, how to play defense, because it’s very different in New Zealand. I’ve also been learning about my teammates and how they play the game.”
She will have an opportunity to learn the UTC culture as part of a young team flush with potential talent, which should give her time to grow as an individual. With multiple guard options and ball handlers on the roster in former longtime assistant Katie Burrows’ first year as head coach, Pene won’t be asked to do too much from the beginning.
She’s going to be ready to learn, though.
“I just want to be more confident and start to take charge in my position,” Pene said, adding she had learned a lot from senior point guard Molly Melton. “I think we have a really special group here. The coaches are amazing.”
Bouldin honored
Southern Conference media have picked the Mocs to finish third, while the league’s coaches predicted them to wind up fifth in the eight-team conference. The preseason polls were released Wednesday.
East Tennessee State and Mercer tied for first with 44 points each in the coaches’ poll, while Mercer — which was 19-0 against league competition last season — held the media’s top spot alone.
UTC junior Lakelyn Bouldin was among the 10 players named to the preseason All-SoCon lineup. She was a thirdteam All-SoCon selection after last season, when she was the Mocs’ third-leading scorer by averaging 12.4 points per game and led the league in 3-point percentage at .381. She was third in the league in 3-pointers made with 62, and she made almost 88 percent of her 73 free throws, a success rate that led the Mocs and was second in the SoCon.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @gene henley3.