The Missouri women’s basketball team has its niche players when it comes to scoring.
Sophomore forward Jordan Frericks has been very effective scoring from directly under the hoop but has admitted to needing to work on her range.
Senior guard Morgan Eye is the leading three-point shooter in the Southeastern Conference, but has never made more than two baskets from inside the arc in a game this season.
But following a career-high 23-point effort against Auburn with a variety of baskets scored, junior guard Maddie Stock looks like she has what it takes to fill in the gaps.
“It’s been great to see the versatility in her game and to see the growth not only in the way she’s scoring but also in her toughness, mentality and grit,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said. “She’s becoming more of a vocal leader for us and I think anytime you see that growth in your players and see them making such great strides, it’s really exciting.”
Prior to her past two games, Stock had only made seven shots for two points. She stuck primarily to shooting 3-pointers, much like Eye.
But the last two games had Stock draining eight shots from inside, more than doubling her efforts from the previous 22 games.
“When she’s getting on a roll, she knows it and she can maximize that,” said twin sister and fellow junior guard Morgan Stock. “If she’s going and she’s confident, and you can tell when she is feeling it, she can go out and do what she does.”
Maddie Stock’s 23 points against Auburn on Sunday tied for second-most points scored by a single player this season, just behind Frericks’ big 27-point performance against Bradley early on in the season.
Frequently one of the highest scorers on the team, Stock has scored more than 10 points in seven different games this season, averaging an even 8.0 points per game.
But Stock’s offensive efforts are even more impressive given that she has only started in two games, the last one being against Georgia on Jan. 8 and the other a month earlier against St. Louis on Dec. 8.
Stock scored a relatively low five and four points respectively in the two games she started, while her 23 points against Auburn came from her spot on the bench.
“Anytime your teammates have success, it feels really good,” Eye said. “It gets you fired up, too. I think Maddie really lit a fire for us in the second half. We just kind of feed off each other that way.”
Stock said that she owes her strong performances to the trust her teammates provide for her.
“Knowing my teammates and coaches trust me when I’m on the court gives me that confidence and comfort to just go out there and play basketball and not worry about making mistakes or letting the team down,” Stock said. “I know they trust me to do what they need done.”
The Tigers go up against the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Alabama this Thursday, and no matter where Stock is when the game starts, she will likely be able to continue her streak and do her best to get her team a victory.