Basketball is a game of instincts, and Iciss Tillis was simply thinking too much.
Coming off an impressive junior year that earned her first-team All-ACC honors and ACC Tournament MVP, Iciss Tillis began her senior campaign with a lot to live up to. However, it has been an ongoing battle at times this season, one that many have deemed disappointing.
Tillis began the season the way most expected her to, averaging 15 points and nearly eight rebounds in the team's first nine games. However, when the Blue Devils entered conference play, Tillis went into an uncharacteristic slump.
Tillis' scoring average fell to 11.4 points per game during the stretch--she averaged just over five points in that six-game span--down from 14.3 and 14.5 in her sophomore and junior campaigns, respectively.
She failed to score in double-digits in six consecutive games, and grabbed 10 rebounds just once. Her shooting was inconsistent, as she made just 22 percent of her attempts from the field during the stretch.
"There was just some mental aspects of the game I was struggling with like I was thinking too much," Tillis said.
During her funk, the Tulsa, Okla., native was not even able to take advantage of her traditional strengths. The ACC's leader in free throw percentage at better than 85 percent, Tillis got to the line only ten times during those six games and made only half her attempts.
Finally, in a late January home game against Maryland, Tillis relaxed and played more instinctively, as she scored 21 points and grabbed eight boards.
"I didn't think in the game. I went out there and played," she said following the victory.
Tillis followed that performance with what appeared to be a statistically impressive double-double against Tennessee, tying a career-high with 14 rebounds. However, Tillis' woes from the field continued as her 3-for-16 shooting performance hampered the Blue Devils' offense.
Lacking the confidence she needed in her shot, Tillis refocused on other aspects of her game, especially her defense.
"She does so many other things for us that help us to be successful with her rebounding and her defense," Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "She's just trying to help us in anyway possible. That's taken some pressure off of her to score the big numbers."
With less pressure on her offensively, the forward has been able to perform more like the Tillis that Goestenkors has been able to rely on the past three seasons.
"I think she's just relaxed, and she is trying to control the things she can," Goestenkors said. "She understands that the ball is not always going to go in the basket."
As the team enters the ACC and NCAA tournaments, it will need production and leadership from the seniors, especially Tillis, who has no intentions of repeating the past disappointments of two trips to the final four without a national title.
"I just want to go out with a bang," Tillis said. "I just want to go out playing hard, playing smart, playing my game, and playing the way I know that I can play. God blessed me with a lot of talent. I just want to show everyone the talent that I do have, and that it hasn't gone anywhere this year."
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