When it comes to women's collegiate basketball, there are some schools who will always get attention no matter what — it's simply not possible to go a season without hearing about UConn, South Carolina, or Notre Dame. And that's way it should be; excellent teams always deserve as much recognition as possible.
But there are plenty of other NCAA teams having incredible seasons that just often fly under the radar, which means their incredible athletes can go unnoticed unless they're lucky enough to be able to lead their team on a championship run.
MTSU's women's program is currently enjoying its winningest season in the school's history, and that's largely due to the efforts of three seniors: Jalynn Gregory, Gracie Dodgen, and Anastasiia Boldyreva. The trio will graduate this year having never lost a home CUSA game, an impressive feat.
Anastasiia Boldyreva would be a great 2nd round pick for the Valkyries
Golden State has the 17th pick in this year's WNBA Draft. We have floated quite a few names for that spot (because truth be told, there are a lot of fantastic athletes available for this year's draft), and it's time to add Boldyreva to the list.
The 6'7" center hails from Russia and leads the nation in blocks this season (as of March 10, she's at 117) and is her program's all-time leader in blocks, a badge she earned before this season (and with height like that, there's little surprise). She's also the type of player you can rely on, her coach told the Shelbyville Times-Gazette on March 5.
Playing in Tennessee has changed Boldyreva's own perspective about international basketball, and has encouraged her to play as hard as she can. "Basketball spirit wise, this country is so much about basketball," she told the outlet. "Everyone is coming to watch you all the time, everybody talking about it, makes me want to practice every day."
In addition to her prolific blocking (she's notched well over 300 at this point), Boldyreva has also demonstrated consistency in terms of points per game (she's averaging 14.5 this season) and rebounds (9.8 for 2024-25, up from 8.5 last year). She was also named CUSA's Defensive Player of the Year this season, a distinction she previously earned during the 2023-24 season and is a nominee for this year's Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Award.
In other words, she's been a strong asset to her team at MTSU and would be a major steal for any WNBA team that adds her to a roster — and here's hoping it's Golden State.