Hamilton, ON- Amy Stinson is an overthinker.

Her coaches know that. She knows that. Stinson finds herself overthinking a lot during some games.

So, what was the fourth-year McMaster Marauders forward thinking when she stepped up to the free throw line late in the game against the Brock Badgers on Feb. 10? When the Marauders were clinging to a one-point lead in overtime with nine seconds remaining.

Don’t overthink it, Stinson told herself. It’s a free throw I shoot in practice. It’s a free throw I shoot in warmup. It’s a free throw I shoot in the middle of a game. It’s the exact same shot. Just a different meaning to it.

She took a deep breath. She centred herself. Stinson missed the first free-throw but drained the second one. She grabbed a defensive rebound on the next possession before being fouled and going to the line again.

Deep breath…Shoot…Swish. Deep breath…Shoot…Swish.

Seconds later, she and her Marauder teammates were on the court celebrating an 84-80 victory.

You can see how shooting was a major part of Stinson’s performance that evening – and during the season.

The Hamilton native tied her season-high with 19 points. She grabbed six boards, had two steals and a block as well. Marauders head coach Theresa Burns sees her getting better and better and better as the semester goes on. She’s a key factor in every game they’ve played.

Stinson’s shown how well she can shoot the ball – including from deep. She hit three triples against Brock. The more telling number might be the attempts: 15. Stinson kept shooting and shooting and shooting.

“A shot-first mentality,” Burns calls it. “When she’s shot first, she’s tough to stop. She’s got some pretty serious range.”

The type of range that would make defenders close out on her…but when they do, she’ll drive and attack the rim. Don’t guard her too closely off the ball either – she’ll go in for a backdoor cut, her head coach points out.

What goes through Stinson’s head as she prepares for a shot? She makes sure her feet are set and her body is balanced. She knows she has a quick release. She also knows she releases it quicker than she should sometimes.

“Take that extra half second, balance and then go up,” her coaches tell her. When Stinson does so, she finds it easier as she can hit the target more often.

You can see her mechanics. She used to shoot the ball very flatly – “basically chest passing it at the rim,” she calls it.

When she launches now, she tries to keep her elbow by her eye level. She uses her legs more – that’s where the extra second of balance really helps. She gets her arc up on her shots. When she does so, Stinson finds herself shooting better.

To understand Stinson’s performance further, you have to see her confidence.

First-year guard Ashley Guerriero sees how confident she is in practice. Stinson has the experience of playing in the system and she shares that experience with her teammates. She saw how confident and strong with the ball Stinson was when she snatched that late rebound. When she hit those free throws.

You can see how confidently she shoots the ball – how she’s not hesitating at all. That’s something fourth-year guard Deanna Mataseje noticed. Can you see how well she’s shooting it?

Can you see how hard she works at it? “She’s always looking for her shot, moving for her shot,” Mataseje said. “We find her and she knocks them down.”

Her long-time teammate also knows how she impacts the game beyond her shooting. “An incredible basketball player,” Mataseje calls her.

“I know she’s able to change the game – but like in a heartbeat,” she added. “Just with how hard she works and how skilled she is as a player – especially when she’s shooting as confidently as she is. I have full faith it’s going in every single time.”

To truly understand Stinson’s performance, you have to understand what she is thinking.

She knows she’s an overthinker but wants to simply things. She knows how difficult it can be though. Stinson feels it when she knows she can play better.

She realized that overthinking and worrying about it after the game wasn’t helping her. Leave it in the past, she’ll tell herself. Next game mentality. She’ll show up to the next practice, playing like it’s a game. So, when the next game comes, the performance will come easier.

“Don’t overthink. Don’t overthink,” Stinson will hear people tell her. When they do so, she’ll find herself overthinking even more.

However, when she starts talking to people, that helps her the most. She’ll talk to her coaches – including assistant coach and former teammate Mia Spadafora. She’ll talk to her current teammates about specific moments during a game – a certain foul or a missed shot for instance. They understand what she’s going through.

“I let it out,” Stinson said. “I get it out of my head and then I take the next step.” She’ll go to sleep that evening. By the time she wakes up the next morning, everything’s done and in the past.

Before then, she’ll talk with her parents Caroline and Keith. During a game, she tries to separate the crowd from her own game. However, she knows her parents are supporting her in the stands.

Afterwards, they remind her why she plays basketball. They remind her what she can do when she has fun playing the sport. It’s not that deep, Stinson will remind herself. It’s not the end of the world when I have a bad game.

“Just having that support around me all the time is definitely helpful,” she said.

You can see the product of her mentality in the numbers. She’s averaging more points, assists, blocks, steals and rebounds than last season. She’s shooting better as well. Burns can see the reason for that improvement.

“You can see a maturity in her game – and mature players keep it simple,” she said. “They don’t overthink it – and you can see that in her game.”

When Stinson simplifies things, she re-centres herself. She’s not overthinking, not forcing things and is just letting the play come to her. Things then come easier.

By the end of the evening against the Badgers, those at the Burridge Gym – her parents, teammates, opponents and coaches – saw the results of that simplification as well.

So, what did Stinson think after it was all done? She kept it simple.

“It was a fun team win,” she said. “Happy to get the dub.”

Featured Image: Kevin Lassel/McMaster Athletics