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Chance Lindley inherited a UNO women's basketball program that struggled to match up with the best Division II teams in terms of height and size.

The first-year coach, charged with taking his program to Division I, didn't get a lot of size when he brought in freshman Taijhe Kelly this summer, but he did get a whole lot of height.

And now the slender 6-foot-4 Kelly, a classic project with potential, is starting to deliver.

The Carson, Calif., native has gradually seen increased playing time, particularly when matchups are favorable, and she had 14 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks on Saturday at New Orleans in her first career start.

She's expected back in the starting lineup for Monday's 2 p.m. season finale at Louisiana-Lafayette.

"She's still real young," Lindley said. "She just turned 18 recently, and it takes a little time to adjust from high school to college. It's a big jump to get used to the pace and the physicality of it."

Kelly's high school statistics were modest — averages of 4.1 points and 3.8 rebounds as a senior, similar to her junior year — and she didn't even start. Of course, part of that is that she played for powerhouse Long Beach (Calif.) Poly.

"We needed some posts and we tried to identify some quickly," Lindley said. "Myself and my staff had some ties out there and we thought she was a good fit. She has a few areas where she's still raw, but she has the potential to have a very good career here."

Kelly said she didn't start playing basketball until sixth grade and took a while to develop and get passionate about the sport.

"I never expected to be a basketball player — I was a cheerleader," she said. "The coach walked up to me and asked if I wanted to play, and I've been playing ever since."

Kelly said she considered Division I schools like Cal State Bakersfield and Eastern Michigan, as well as hometown Division II Cal State Dominguez Hills before deciding upon UNO.

"At first, I didn't know anything about this place," she said. "But I like it. The weather is kind of hard on me, but everything else is fine."

Kelly's outburst against New Orleans pushed her averages to 3.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. The 18 rebounds matched the eighth-highest total ever by a UNO player.

But Kelly's forte has been as a shot-blocker. She has 41 for the season, the eighth-highest single-season total at UNO. She averages 1.6 blocks per game, despite playing a shade less than 13 minutes per game.

"That was my highlight in high school," Kelly said. "I've been a shot-blocker forever. I've just been able to have pretty good timing."

Kelly's height and reach also enable her to dunk a tennis ball. Any chance she'll be dunking a basketball before she's through?

"I'm at the rim, but not above it yet," Kelly said. "I think I can get there. But it's not something I've really been trying to do."

Kelly's strength and her offense (Saturday's 7 for 15 field-goal shooting put her at 43.4 percent from the field for the season) are still works in progress.

But there's still a lot of potential.

"She has certain qualities you can't teach," Lindley said. "She's a good athlete, who's long, and she has good hands. You just try to teach and help her as much as you can with the rest."

Contact the writer:

402-444-1027, rob.white@owh.com

twitter.com/RWhiteOWH

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