Rutherford Times

Nina Davis remembers so many details about Anastasiia Boldyreva's first practice as a Lady Raider.  

 

In the fall semester of 2021, when all the visas and other paperwork between U.S. and Russian embassies had finally been completed and Boldyreva came to Murfreesboro from Moscow, the 6-foot-6 freshman finally got a chance on the court. Davis and other MTSU coaches had seen film of course, showcasing the center's skill around the basket. But takes from the assistant coach were measured.  

 

"We really had no expectations," Davis said. "We knew that she was 6-6, we had some film on her, so we knew that she could get up and down the court. We knew she had some nice touch on the jump shot.  

 

"But man, we didn't know how good she was going to be."  

 

Matt Insell remembers that day well, calling the 2021 All C-USA Freshman team member a "pro" from the first day on the court ahead of a season in which Boldyreva would start all 35 games for MTSU, scoring in double figures 13 times while finishing second in Conference USA in blocks with 2.1 per game.  

 

With her scoring ability, her height, and her ability to get up and down the court well for someone at her position, there was so much to tap into early on with Boldyreva.  

 

"I've been around some really talented freshmen," Insell said. "And she was one of the more talented ones I've ever seen."  

 

What does the now sophomore remember about that day? Mostly the nerves. Understandable, playing in a style of basketball much more physical than what she was used to Europe, but even more so given the fact that she was facing a language barrier between her new coaching staff, her teammates and herself.  

 

Well, not so much a language barrier. It'd be more accurate to call it an accent barrier. Insell said that he always felt that she understood what the coaches were saying even without the translator that accompanied her through her early days in Murfreesboro.  

 

Boldyreva said much the same thing, the accents of her coaches and teammates were dissimilar from the English she had been exposed to. Combined with her picking up a second language with her Russian accent, it created some temporary barriers.  

 

"It took them time to understand me," Boldyreva said. "I still have a really heavy accent. But they are more used to it." 

 

Now entering her sophomore season, Boldyreva is expected to be an even bigger part of the Lady Raiders' game plan on both ends of the court this year, with a full summer workout schedule under her belt that was not afforded to her before her freshman season. That's not a surprise to fans who tuned into the Lady Raiders run through the WNIT, where Boldyreva averaged 14.2 points per game and 4.8 rebounds per game and tallied eight total blocks in the team's run to the semifinals.  

 

But any fans that only caught MTSU's early season games, where Boldyreva regularly saw the court for fewer than 10 minutes a game, might be surprised to see how much the center has grown as a player over the past year. Where early challenges were met head on, thanks to the support of her coaches and teammates, Boldyreva said.  

 

"The first half of the year for me, the physicality was too hard," Boldyreva said. "My body was not used to it. Maybe I used to play more as a 4 than as a 5, which is not as physical. But because of Nina and all of the coaches, they helped make me go be physical, and now I'm more comfortable with it." 

 

Davis said that missed summer was key to the slow start, at least in games, for the center.  

 

"Summer in basketball is really important because that's when you're in the weight room and that's where you can get stronger," Davis said. "So we had to toughen her up. She would let girls push her around, she was really weak. She had the talent, she just didn't know how to play aggressive with it." 

 

Insell said that the flashes were there in practice all through November and December, when Boldyreva would often start for the tipoff and then play spot duty the rest of the way. There would be good days of practice, where she understood the team's continuity on offense. There would be a good stretch in the game, where she was communicating on the floor.  

 

Gradually the minutes picked up once Conference USA play started. Playing 28 minutes at Florida Atlantic, 27 minutes at FIU. Scoring 17 points in 22 minutes in a blowout over Marshall in the Glass House.  

 

But facing Charlotte, the eventual conference champion, on the road in February, is when everything clicked.  

 

In the second half, the Lady Raiders needing buckets against a defensively stout 49ers squad, Boldyreva went to work on the block. Bucket, after bucket, after bucket.  

 

"It's a good feeling when coaches can trust you," Boldyreva said. "When they can say 'Go to Anastasiia, go to her, we need to score, so go to her.' It was one of the first moments I can remember when coach was saying that." 

 

She finished with 22 points in MTSU's 46-45 win. Boldyreva was 10-of-15 from the field. All other Lady Raiders? Only 8-for-33.  

 

"That day was when she decided 'Hey, I want to be special,'" Insell said. "And from there, she became a force."  

 

In eight of MTSU's final 13 games, the Russian center scored in double digits, led by an explosive 28-point performance at Toledo in the WNIT quarterfinals, shooting 11-of-15 in the second half and overtime against the Rockets to power MTSU to the semifinals.  

 

"At one point in the WNIT run, she was telling our older players where to be and how to get her the ball," Davis said. "Just to see her comfortable and confident, that was exciting." 

 

On the court, Davis said that there was plenty of area of focus this offseason, from getting a full weight room program in the summer to working on perimeter skills to continuing to develop on the block. And, as Boldyreva notes, working on reigning in the emotions that sometimes affected her play at times as a freshman.   

 

All the things that come with time and practice. Because everyone knows who Anastasiia Boldyreva is in 2022. And as Davis notes, that means there's nowhere to hide.   

 

"Knowing that you're not unknown, you're not coming from Russia anymore," Davis said. "You're 6-6, you're going to have a lot of double (teams), so I wanted her to be able to see when the doubles come, how to pass the ball out."   

 

Perhaps the most remarkable note with Boldyreva's story is the ect that all of this success is coming alongside adjusting to living in the United States, a challenge for any international student, let alone one that was putting in major minutes in the Division I postseason for their team.  

 

What she has enjoyed most about that transition, Boldyreva said, is becoming a part of the Murfreesboro (population: 157,519) community in a way that Moscow (population: 11.92 million) might not necessarily allow.  

 

"Most of the places I'm going, restaurants, other public places, most people know me," Boldyreva said. "They just come up to me asking me questions like 'What's your height?' Most of the time, they are basketball fans.  

 

"I really enjoy that, because I'm from the big city where nobody knows you. And for me, Murfreesboro is kind of smaller than my city and everybody knows me here."

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