Moore finding her footing
After shaking off stubborn ankle injury, freshman peaking at right time
Aaliyah Moore paused at the top of the key, going over all her options at hyperspeed. A second later, the freshman made her move.
Moore dribbled toward the right wing, seemingly intent on making a handoff to fellow Texas freshman Rori Harmon. That was part of the deception.
Instead, Moore barreled down the lane, using her left forearm to fend off Utah center Kelsey Rees as she headed to the rim. A weakside defender slid over to help the 6-5 Rees deter Moore. Didn’t work. The freshman forced the contested layup down anyway, her third in as many minutes.
Moore tallied 14 points in that second quarter and 21 total in secondseeded Texas’ 78-56 win over seventh-seeded Utah in the NCAA Tournament’s second round Sunday. And with the Longhorns set for a Sweet 16 game against sixth-seeded Ohio State on Friday at Spokane (Wash.) Arena, Moore is elevating at just the right time.
“I guess I’m the village idiot for not playing her a lot sooner,” coach Vic Schaefer joked after Sunday’s win at the Erwin Center. “She’s playing at such a high level right now.”
Moore’s been trying to reach this level for months, ever since she suffered a nasty ankle injury in the Longhorns’ third game of the season. The former McDonald’s AllAmerican from Moore, Okla., missed eight straight games over the next seven weeks, a devastating setback during a crucial developmental time.
Her return was slow-going and rocky. The rust was real, and it was stubborn.
“Her injury was pretty significant, and it really set her back,” UT coach Vic Schaefer said during Thursday’s news conference at Spokane Arena. “There’s other things that then compound just the injury and the comeback. All of a sudden she’s over there spending more time with your strength coach and trainer than she is with a basketball in her hands. You can build up quite a bit of rust. It’s hard to knock that off in a short period of time.”
Moore came off the bench those first four games back, then started the next six. But after consecutive losses to Baylor on Feb. 4 and 6, Schaefer shuffled his starting five once more, and Moore averaged just 6.9 minutes a game over the final eight games of the regular season and first two games of the Big 12 tournament.
Be patient, Moore told herself. Keep your head down. Keep working.
“That’s all you can do,” Moore said. “Be ready when your name is called.”
Schaefer called the 6-1 freshman’s name early in the Big 12 title game against Baylor after starting forwards Lauren Ebo and DeYona Gaston got into foul trouble. And oh, was Moore ready, scoring 10 points in the first half of a cathartic 67-58 win for the Longhorns.
That was the prove-it game. Since then, Moore has reaffirmed her status as an offensive world beater with a prolific bag of moves.
In NCAA Tournament wins over 15th-seeded Fairfield and the Utes, Moore averaged 19.5 points on 82.4 percent shooting and 7.5 rebounds over 20.5 minutes per game. And just like in Texas’ past three outings, Moore will play a pivotal role against a high-octane Ohio State team that just upset Kim Mulkey’s third-seeded LSU Tigers.
“She’s really learned to take criticism and to listen,” senior forward Audrey Warren said Thursday. “She’s so coachable. To come off the bench and score as much as she has been has really helped the team. Everything she’s been doing has helped the team. She brings so much energy before the game, during the game. I think we’re all excited to see what kind of player she’s going to grow to be, because she’s already at a high level.”
The ankle’s just fine. So is Moore’s confidence.
In fact, the entire Texas roster has played with that same sort of supreme self-belief while winning 13 straight. And as good as the Buckeyes are, Texas looks like a different sort of beast with a healthy Moore destroying everything in her path.
“When you’re a competitor, you want to play. It’s all you’ve ever known,” Schaefer said. “When you’re over there sitting on the side, mentally that can be a little bit exhausting and a little draining. I’m just really proud of her. She’s really, really figured it out.”