Moore Dominance: Sophomore forward quietly becomes low post force for Chippewas
After being benched because of a poor performance in a loss to Illinois on Dec. 12, Tinara Moore needed a spark to get back on track.
That spark came from a book Central Michigan women’s basketball coach Sue Guevara gave to Moore, which helped refocus the 6-foot-3 sophomore forward.
“I started reading a book called ‘The Secret’, that (Guevara) gave to me,” Moore said. “It changed how I was thinking. I wasn’t thinking the right thoughts, so I changed my mindset a little bit and it’s been working out great.”
"The Secret" claims positive thinking is the key to success. It was on The New York Times Best Seller List for 190 weeks and was featured on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Time (magazine) recognized author Rhonda Byrne in 2007 as one of the world’s most influential people.
For Moore, the book allowed her to visualize her success before it happened on the court.
“It’s because of my mindset, how I think about what I’m going to do and how I’m going to do it,” Moore said about her recent success. “It’s all in my mind. That’s a huge part of my game. It’s all mental for me.”
Guevara felt she wasn’t receiving the type of production she wanted out of the Southgate native. She called for her to step up. Moore has become one of the top players in the Mid-American Conference, moving into the top three in the conference in rebounding (offensive and defensive), field-goal percentage and blocks.
“It wasn’t that benching her was a bad thing,” Guevara said. “She wasn’t producing and she understood that. She has responded with consistency and she has really looked to be a difference-maker when she’s in the game. She’s a double-double machine right now, which is absolutely great.”
Following the Illinois game, Moore responded with back-to-back double-doubles as a reserve. She regained her starting spot Jan. 6 against Buffalo after coming off of the bench for five games.
During conference play, Moore has recorded a double-double in nine of the Chippewas 11 MAC league games this season.
Her most notable performance came on Jan. 9 when Moore scored a career-high 35 points, and grabbed a career-best 20 rebounds in a 97-77 win over Akron.
Moore was 16-for-16 from the field and became the second player in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history to complete a perfect shooting game in so many attempts.
It was that game where Moore finally realized her potential.
“When I got the record I was like, ‘You know what, if I can do this I can pretty much do anything,’” Moore said. “It was a stepping stone and just another pathway to my success.”
During the MAC season so far, Moore is averaging 16.7 points per game, and 11.9 rebounds per contest.
“I’ve seen someone who wants to take on more,” Guevara said. “When you want to take on more you have to do more, and she’s been more aggressive.”
Freshman forward Reyna Frost replaced Moore as one of the starting forwards following the Illinois game, and now both players start for the Chippewas.
Frost said she noticed a change in Moore’s approach to the game after she was taken out of the starting lineup.
“(Moore) has been really focusing on getting better mentally before the games and not messing around,” Frost said. “We need her obviously, she’s been a big part of us winning games, so she’s starting to understand that.”
Moore said she believes her record-breaking performances are far from over, and the best is still yet to come.
“I’m going to break another record by the time I get out of here,” she said. “I’m trying to go for more. I really want to go 17-for-17. If I don’t get that by the time I graduate it’s going to kill me. I just want to get maybe most points, blocks, rebounds or steals per game. Setting another record would be cool.”
A book, a benching and a change of attitude has flipped Moore’s 2015-16 campaign from a sophomore slump into to a potential All-MAC first team performance.
“I didn’t know what I could do, until I did it,” Moore said. “It’s not really a shock because I knew how much work I put into it. Freshman year I didn’t really play that much so I didn’t know what real goals to set. I just wanted to be the best person I could be, and now it’s really coming out.”
