Collins giving A&M women boost off bench
Texas A&M's Skylar Collins is working on her master's degree in sports management, but she's also trying to finish her undergraduate work in basketball with an A.
The 5-foot-9 reserve senior guard is coming off the best game of her career. She played a career-high tying 23 minutes in Saturday's 59-33 victory at Iowa State, shredding ISU's zone defense by hitting 4 of 5 3-pointers.
"She hit some tough shots," A&M head coach Gary Blair said. "People were hanging over her, and she was hitting shots at the end of the shot clock."
Collins' shooting proved a big lift for a team that went into the game hitting only 25.4 percent of its 3-pointers (31 of 122). Collins became only the second Aggie this season to hit a trio of 3-pointers in one game. Thanks to Collins, A&M hit a season-high seven.
"[Teams] haven't seen enough of her on film to realize the kid is a pretty good 3-point shooter," Blair said.
Heck, Aggie fans haven't seen much of her.
Collins has fought an uphill battle for playing time since arriving in Aggieland, even though she was a two-time all-state guard from Cedar Hill and the nation's 44th best prospect in the Class of 2008 according to the All-Star Girls Basketball Report. Guards on A&M's 2008-09 roster included senior Takia Starks, junior college transfer Tanisha Smith, sophomores Sydney Colson and Maryann Baker, redshirt freshman Tyra White and fellow freshman Sydney Carter -- all who had or went on to earn all-conference honors.
Collins, who one day wants to work for an NBA team, did excellent work toward getting a bachelor's degree in marketing in her first three seasons, even earning All-Big 12 second-team academic honors. But when it came to playing, Collins averaged only 4.8 minutes and 1.5 points per game. She played 81 games, never earning a start but always trying to get better.
"She's a senior who wants to be a senior," Blair said. "She's very happy with her role. I just love the kid."
So do her parents, which made it tough on them watching their talented child spend so much time on the bench.
"I don't have meddlesome parents," says a laughing Collins. "I've talked to them. They learned this lesson in high school. [Don't] call my coach trying to get me more playing time because we will fight when I get home. I had to tell my dad during the games: 'Don't yell at me. Wait until after the game when we're in the car to talk to me.'
"My mom is so not athletic and doesn't understand sports that I don't have to worry about her commenting on the game, but I do have to worry about her being like, 'Oh, they should play you more,' or, 'You should do this more.'
"It's like mom, 'Let me handle it. I'm grown. I'm a big girl. I can do it."
She did just that against ISU.
"She brings effort and she brings energy, and that's what we really need," Carter said. "And she definitely brings the emotion on the court as well. If it's a bad call or a good call, she's definitely going to be screaming, either at the ref or her teammates in a positive or a negative way. She's just the spark player we need off the bench."
Collins is trying to follow in the footsteps of Baker, who earned the Big 12's co-sixth man award winner last season for her efforts to complement Colson, who battled injuries. Now Carter is limited by a right foot injury, a problem compounded by a horrid shooting slump. Carter hit 3 of 14 shots against ISU, missing all eight 3-point attempts.
Carter has been very limited in practice, allowing Collins to work more with the first team.
"Collins is getting all those reps right now at the two position and that's building up her confidence," Blair said.
It showed against ISU as Collins added two rebounds, two steals, two assists and no turnovers in a good all-around performance.
"She's coming in there and fixing problems instead of making things worse," Carter said. "And that's what we really need from somebody coming off the bench. We need consistency, and she definitely brings that for us."
Collins also played well in A&M's 71-69 loss at Kansas State to open Big 12 play. She played 23 minutes in that one, hitting all four field goal attempts for nine points.
Collins has impressive numbers in limited action. She's hitting 58.1 percent from the field (18 of 31) including 7 of 9 from 3-point range.
She credits associate head coach Vic Schaefer for working with her last season to change her shot. Schaefer, who is in charge of the defense, noticed Collins was too right-eye dominate when shooting.
"My focus this summer was having a more consistent shot," Collins said. "Last year, my shot could be hot one day then just cold the next."
She worked for hours on her form, but didn't forget the other parts of her game, especially defense. Collins was A&M's second-leading scorer against ISU, but she also helped hold ISU to a season-low 29.2-percent shooting and the fewest points in ISU head coach Bill Fennelly's 17 seasons.
Collins will get a chance to impress the hometown fans at 7 p.m. Wednesday when the 14th-ranked Aggies (11-4, 2-2) host Missouri (10-5 0-4). The visiting Tigers, picked to finish last in the league by the coaches, are struggling but are holding opponents to less than 30 percent from 3-point range.
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NOTES -- A&M has won seven straight against Missouri. ... Missouri's leading scorers, senior forwards Christine Flores (19.1 points per game) and BreAnna Brock (16.4) are from San Antonio. Flores came to Blair's camp, but he didn't have room for her on A&M's roster at the time. "Now you second guess yourself with how good she is," Blair said.
A&M WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Missouri (10-5, 0-4) at No. 14 A&M (11-4, 2-2 in the Big 12)
7 p.m. Wednesday, Reed Arena
TV: None. Radio: 1150 AM, KZNE
TEXAS A&M
Pos.NameHeightClassPPGRPG
G Adrienne Pratcher 5-7 Jr. 6.8*4.7
G Sydney Carter 5-6 Sr. 12.13.3
G Tyra White 6-0 Sr. 14.55.5
F Adaora Elonu 6-1 Sr. 11.5 7.2
C Kelsey Bone 6-4 Jr. 12.17.1
MISSOURI
Pos.NameHeightClassPPGRPG
G Kyley Simmons5-7Fr.3.9*4.3
G Sydney Crafton5-10Jr.6.95.7
F BreAnna Brock6-2Sr.16.48.4
G LienePriede 5-10Jr.7.5*3.3
F Christine Flores6-3Sr.19.17.5
*assists per game