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UConn-South Carolina Notes: Alaina Coates hasn’t made the leap (yet)

Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

UConn blew out South Carolina 87-62. The bulk of USC's offense came on the backs of guard Tiffany Mitchell (17 points), the reigning SEC Player of the Year, and the undersized but endlessly energetic power forward Aleighsa Welch (17 points, 11 rebounds). USC's two centers, Elem Ibiam and Alaina Coates, had 6 points and 6 rebounds in a combined 33 minutes of play. Neither player attempted a free throw.

Last year, Coates was one of the most exciting freshmen in the country. She was the fifth-best rebounding freshman in the nation and won Co-SEC Sixth Player of the Year and SEC Freshman of the year. This year, her minutes are more or less the same (up from 19.6 to 20.1) but her scoring is down from 12.3 PPG to 10.7 PPG. This has coincided with a worse field goal percentage, dropping from 61% to 55%. Her blocks per game are down from 2.1 to 1.6 (though to be fair, so are her fouls per game, which have dropped from 2.4 to 1.4). Her rebounds per game have remained about the same at a little under 8.5 per game.

It's not that Coates is playing badly - she is a major contributor on a 22-1 SEC team. But the lack of a freshman-to-sophomore jump is disappointing.

UConn's starting front line lacks a traditional center, with Morgan Tuck giving up height to traditional centers at 6'2" and Breanna Stewart giving up strength and bulk. But Coates only managed 6 points on 6 shots and 3 rebounds. This isn't entirely her fault: UConn's guards were doing everything they could to deny Tiffany Mitchell the ball, and without Mitchell to create offense South Carolina struggled to even get the ball past the three point line during the first half, let alone to Coates in the paint. Still, her struggles to establish position in the post and draw fouls highlight the long way she still has to go before she becomes the player we all imagined her becoming during her stellar freshman campaign.

The Gamecocks are already a very good basketball team, and they have the pieces to be a great one. But a crucial piece to that puzzle is the development of Alaina Coates.