Miller heating up for No. 3 CU Buffs
Solid focus, faith helped her through mini-slump
Developing as a basketball player includes much more than putting up shots and working on fundamentals.
Off the court and between the ears is crucial, too, and that aspect of Quay Miller’s game has taken a leap this season.
The fifth-year senior is playing lights-out basketball for the third-ranked Colorado women, who visit No. 25 Oregon State on Friday (8 p.m. MT, Pac-12 Network).
In the past six games, the 6-foot-3 center/forward has averaged 13.2 points and 9.8 rebounds with four double-doubles. She’s also hit 3-pointers at a .471 clip (8-of-17) and free throws at .875 (21-of24) during that stretch.
It all started immediately after Miller’s most frustrating game of the season, when she failed to score — or even attempt a shot — while pulling down only two rebounds in a season-low 11 minutes during a win against Utah on Dec. 30.
“It bothered me,” Miller said of the Utah game, “but like I saw that glimpse of last year and when I went through that stretch where I wasn’t playing good. I don’t feel like I figured out how to get through that. And this time when I felt myself getting into that slump, I tried to go to a different thing.”
Last season, Miller was first-team All-pac-12 and was dominant much of the year. But, she got into a slump late in the regular season that carried into the postseason. For seven games, she couldn’t find her 3-point shot and during the two games at the Pac-12 tournament, she scored a total of two points — both on free throws. To her credit, Miller finished strong with back-to-back double-doubles against Duke and Iowa.
This year, Miller didn’t let one off game become a slump and she credits her faith in God.
“I just tried to pray and then just trust that whatever he wants me to do or perform, that’s how I’m going to perform,” she said. “So instead of fighting that I’m not playing well, I’m not making shots, just do what I can control. Be where my feet are and that’s all I can do. Once I just let go and let him have it, that’s just how I started playing.”
Even during the Utah game, she didn’t get down. She was smiling like the rest of her team when they beat the 12th-ranked Utes that day.
“In those games, it’s just like, I know I’m a good player, so play to my potential,” Miller said.
She certainly has been over the past three weeks. Six days after the Utah game, she had 14 points and nine rebounds in a 75-74 win at Arizona. In the five games after that, she’s had four double-doubles, including 19 points and 12 rebounds in a 6359 win against No. 6 USC on Sunday.
“It just feels free,” she said of how she’s played of late. “I don’t have to worry about playing good or bad because at the end of the day, like, this is what he wants me to do and these are the steps that he has for me. Whatever he wants me to do or however he wants it to go, that’s how it’ll go and I can’t be upset.”
Miller gets that daily reminder when she prays or reads scripture.
“I just have to remind myself that I can only do so much,” she said. “If I’m able to just trust what I’m reading in my devotions … I’m just trying to remember what I read and my prayers. And then after that, I don’t really think about anything else.”
Except her team, of course. Like the rest of the Buffs, Miller is determined to make this season as special as possible. She’s also got the attention of WNBA scouts, but that’s not a concern right now.
“I just think about where my feet are and in the moment,” she said. “I try not to think about the future or the past. I just think about where I am now and what I’m doing now and that’s all I can really do.”