Bailee Owens will be the first to tell you that her shots aren't falling with the same regularity as they did in her sophomore and junior seasons at Siloam Springs.
But that's not going to keep the 5-foot-8 Lady Panthers senior guard from firing away, and that's exactly what the Siloam Springs coaching staff wants out of Owens.
"She's got a shooter's mentality," said Siloam Springs head girls coach Tim Rippy. "She wants to shoot the ball."
Rippy has said on more than one occasion this season that if Owens can get hot from behind the 3-point line, it has the potential to change the Lady Panthers' season.
"It makes defenses stretch," he said. "When she's hitting from the outside consistently, it really helps all our bigs on the inside not get so many double-teams and really makes our offense click."
Owens has hit 25 of 92 shots (27 percent) from behind the 3-point line, which is down from last year's mark of 49 of 144 (34 percent). She's averaging 7.3 points per game for the Lady Panthers, which is good for third on the team behind forwards Mayse Pippin (11.5 ppg) and Baily Cameron (10.4 ppg). Owens averaged 7.0 points as a sophomore in 2012-13 after transferring from Kansas, Okla. As a junior in 2013-14, she averaged 9.9 points.
But even while shots from the outside have not been falling as much this season, Owens has found other ways to get involved in the offense.
Her performance against Russellville on Feb. 13 is a good example. In that game, Owens did not hit a 3-pointer, but she still scored 13 points and hit 7 of 8 from the free-throw line. She also crashed the offensive and defensive glass well, Rippy said.
"Right before the game I actually talked to Coach (Kelley) Waters, and she said she wanted me to find different ways to do things other than your shot," Owens said. "I guess I went out motivated to do so."
On the season, Owens has excelled at the free-throw line, hitting 46 of 54 shots. She also has 58 rebounds and 54 steals.
"Really her rebounding the last couple of games has been really good, even on the defensive end," Rippy said."That's one way she's getting in the stat column more. She's blocked out and rebounded really well and then second effort on the offensive end, getting some stickbacks and some hustle plays."
But at the end of the day, the Lady Panthers want Owens firing away from the outside.
In a recent practice, the Lady Panthers were scrimmaging and Rippy yelled as Owens to shoot the ball even before a pass to get her the ball was completely in her hands.
"That's reinforcement that we want her to shoot the ball," Rippy said. "Once you release it you can't worry about the result. You shoot the ball and you're on to the next play."
Owens said her shot is better when it's more of a reaction to the flow of the game.
"I think that I think about it too much, and then I hesitate, and once I hesitate I don't make it," Owens said. "Actually it's weird, I feel a lot better with somebody flying at me rather than just being completely wide open."
Owens said that in years past she would have let a shooting slump affect how many shots she takes, but that's not the case this year.
"I just let them fly," she said.
Owens and the Lady Panthers have two more regular season games left to find their stride, both home games this week against Class 7A teams. The Lady Panthers host Van Buren on Thursday before celebrating Senior Night on Friday against Bryant.
Then, next week, the Lady Panthers will host the Class 6A State Tournament at the Panther Activity Center.
"Yeah it is exciting," Owens said. "We're hoping we can still find time to get the team together and bond before the games too, because we won't be far away and won't be staying together. It's really exciting because it's our home court. No one's played here more than us."
Sports on 02/25/2015