Gold Rush Feature: On The Run
12/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2010
This article was originally published in the Dec. 18 edition of Gold Rush.
By Sam Walker
Lakevia Boykin likes to run. She likes to get out in the open court, fill the lanes, put pressure on her opponent and finish strong at the rim. The 5-9 sophomore guard from Raleigh is a good young player on a Wake Forest women's basketball team playing a lot of good young players. If she could choose the pace of the game, it would be a rapid one.
Boykin is playing the second most minutes on the team and through eight games ranks second on the team in steals and assists and fourth in scoring. She contributes in many ways. That's how she's has earned her playing time, according to Deacon Coach Mike Petersen.
"It's because she has become really versatile, does a lot of things for us,'" Petersen said. "She is our best perimeter defender, is somebody who is very good in transition and makes the right plays at the right time, so she has done a very good job maturing as a player from her freshman season to her sophomore year. She's a very good athlete, very quick, good on-the-ball defender and really good in transition. She runs the floor well and executes the offense well."
"Last year I was just trying to fit in, find my role and help my team any way I could," Boykin said. "I've always been primarily a scorer, and I wanted to be that (a scorer) more this year. Last year I was a little passive, but this year I want to be more aggressive."
Boykin is getting her chance to be more aggressive. Playing over 25 minutes per contest, she has not only been able to score but also make others around her better. She says this team realizes its talent and ability to be competitive. It's all about getting everything and everybody "clicking" at the same time.
"We have a lot of experience, but if you look at our first five scorers, three of them are either freshmen or sophomores, and so we're playing a lot of good players who are young players, but they're good players," Petersen said. "Lakevia is one of those, solid with the ball, has a positive assist-to- turnover ratio, leads us or is second in steals I think, and she rebounds the ball well for her position and is a very good free-throw shooter. She does those things very well, and although she is second on the team in minutes, she's only playing 25 minutes a game, so it's not like she's out there for 35."
Boykin began the year by scoring a career-high 17 points and was 3 of 5 from three-point range versus SC State in the team's second game of the year. She followed that with 10 points and tied a career-high with six assists in the win over William & Mary. But her best overall game came against 12th-ranked Georgetown when she led the team with 16 points, four assists and four rebounds.
Boykin also guarded Georgetown's McDonald's All-American Ta'Shauna ''Sugar'' Rodgers, who scored a game-high 20 points in the Hoyas' win but mostly when Boykin wasn't guarding her.
"I think the Georgetown game has been her best game so far," Petersen said. "She played well against a very good opponent, defended well and when she was on Sugar Rogers, she (Rogers) didn't get very much. When Rogers scored, it was when somebody else was guarding her, so Rogers did a very good job of taking advantage of the time Lakevia wasn't guarding her."
"I know she finished with 20 points, but when I looked at it, it was in transition or when I wasn't guarding her, or she was hitting foul shots. But she wasn't scoring in the half-court offense, and I felt good about my defense. She is an exceptional player, so it was a challenge I was up to and gave me confidence."
The Deacons won five of their first six games but lost at Notre Dame, at Michigan and the home game against Georgetown -- power teams who have provided a good measuring stick. At the same time, Petersen said they scheduled the games not just to season a young team but to beat some good teams and build their own resume.
"It looked pretty good last year at this time (the tough schedule), didn't look that bad, but we're still not through it because it's six out of seven on the road, and six out of those seven went to the postseason last year. It's a tough stretch, and I was encouraged with our effort against Georgetown. We had opportunities but just needed to make some more shots. But we competed a lot better. We had a lead for a lot of the first half, made a run at them in the second half and never just quite got over the hump. To beat the 12th-ranked team in the country, you can't just play hard, you have to play hard and good, and we played hard but not good enough."
Following the break for exams the team gets back to action Dec. 14 in Florida against and USF, followed by a Dec. 17 game against Jacksonville. A win is what Boykin says is all this team needs, and with some needed teaching time back in the schedule for Petersen and his staff, the team is ready get back on the winning track.
"We're playing good teams, and they'll be good competition," Boykin said. "With the Georgetown team, you never like losing, but we were in the game, winning at one point. We just didn't get enough baskets. But with that we learned we can play with some of the top competition in the country."
"This is a good group to coach," Petersen said. "They work hard, like each other, so when you have these bumps in the road like we have the last few games, it makes it easier when you have good people around you. We have good people, and Lakevia is a good example of that. She's a good kid who buys into what we're doing and those kinds of kids are easy to coach. This bunch gets it."
