Women's Basketball WCC Columnist Jeff Faraudo

Maxwell Maxes Out On Good Habits From Dad

Gonzaga guard Brynna Maxwell thanks her Dad for helping her develop the skills to become one of the best shooters in women’s college basketball. But Steve Maxwell begs off from taking much credit.

“She has always led the way and kind of pulled me along,” said Maxwell, who set a school record by converting 49.5 percent of his 3-point tries during his career in the late 1980s at tiny Pacific Lutheran University. “I never had to push or wanted to push. She’s had an incredible love and passion for the game.”

So much so, in fact, that Steve Maxwell said Brynna brought along a basketball on every vacation the family ever took. “We went to Maui and looked for an elementary school that had a hoop so she could shoot,” he recalled. “On another trip there was nowhere to play because it was raining. She found an underground parking garage so she could work on ballhandling. That was all Brynna.”

Maxwell is now part of a balanced and efficient 23rd-ranked Gonzaga team (22-3, 12-1) that will battle Portland (18-6, 12-1) on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Spokane to determine sole leadership in the West Coast Conference. The Zags are led by senior point guard Kaylynne Truong (16.3 points, 5.4 assists) and junior forward Yvonne Ejim (16.9 points, 8.0 rebounds). Junior guard McKayla Williams (7.8 points) is an elite defender.

The Zags have thrived despite a series of injuries that have shrunk the roster. All-WCC guard Kayleigh Truong — Kaylynne’s twin sister — played just five games before sustaining a foot injury. Reserve forward Maud Huijbes has been on the shelf just as long with concussion symptoms. And starting forward Eliza Hollingsworth has missed the past three games, also due to a concussion. 

“What’s really cool about this team is how many different components there are to make this team what it is,” said Maxwell, who came to Gonzaga this season after three years at Utah. “It’s not like one of those one-man shows where you triple-team one player and they’re shut down. I’m really blessed to transfer into a program where I fit in like that.”

The Zags had recruited Maxwell out of high school at Gig Harbor, Wash., so when she entered the transfer portal last spring, head coach Lisa Fortier and her staff weren’t starting from scratch in their evaluations.

“We knew her character was high — that’s the scary part of the transfer portal, trying to figure out if someone is a good kid. Basketball is what you go to next,” said Fortier of the fourth-year junior who plans to return for a fifth season next year. “She’s trying to develop her game and trying to diversify, but I think we all know what she’s best at.”

She is best at shooting the basketball. In fact, Maxwell leads the NCAA in 3-point accuracy at 52.2 percent (72 for 138) and is 12-for-19 the past three games after a three-game stretch where she made just 4 of 16.

Maxwell also is converting 95.2 percent (59 for 62) from the free-throw line — which would be second nationally if she had enough attempts. She was above 98 percent until missing a pair of shots over the past couple weeks. Third on the team at 14.3 points per game, she enjoyed one of her best outings in the Zags’ 73-66 win at Portland on Jan 14, making 6-of-7 from deep and scoring 20 points.

Maxwell doesn’t pay attention to the numbers, as glittery as they are. She doesn’t celebrate a hot streak or sweat it when the ball doesn’t go in. In fact, she insisted she didn’t know her shooting percentages until informed during an interview this week.

“I actually try not to look at those stats,” she said. “To me, it just adds stress that I don’t need. I’ve grown up thinking the next shot is the most important shot. I can’t think of anything less important than the shots you took before. It just happens to be falling right now and it’s a blessing, for sure.”

Fortier said her approach is much the same way. The Zags’ staff charts shots during practice, but there is no hand-wringing over makes and misses as long as players are taking good shots.

Maxwell said her Dad was her coach from the start, supportive but not pushy “Ever since I could walk, he’s taught me how to shoot. He’s taught me everything he knows,” she said. “He just always made it fun.”

The two focused on fundamentals, footwork, hand position on the ball, details down to keeping the thumb from her left hand off the ball as she releases a right-handed shot. “He built habits in me where my form wouldn’t change. Those were building blocks,” Maxwell said.

Fortier noted Maxwell’s quick release, but Steve Maxwell said that’s a function of having her feet set properly so when she catches the ball there is no wasted time before she shoots.

Brynna also said her Dad discouraged her from shooting 3-pointers until she was old enough and strong enough to do it with proper form rather than with a heave. “It’s too hard to unlearn bad habits,” Steve Maxwell said.

Father and daughter routinely played H-O-R-S-E or other shooting games, and Brynna knows her Dad sometimes let her win. “The first time I actually beat him I was probably in high school,” she recalled. “He’s legit — he’s a good shooter.”

Brynna Maxwell is legit, too. But she knows she can’t make ‘em all. Not yet, anyway.

Her daily goal in practice is to swish 10 straight free throws, something NBA star Steph Curry does with inhuman regularity. 

“My record for swishes is 9 for 10,” she said. “I’m trying to get 10 for 10. We’ll get there.”

CLOSE-UP TO HISTORY: Former Santa Clara star Jalen Williams, a rookie with the Oklahoma City Thunder, was more than a spectator Tuesday night as LeBron James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time NBA scoring record. He drew the opening defensive assignment on James.

“That was a pretty surreal moment . . . a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing,” Williams told the Oklahoman. “It was pretty cool to get that challenge and that assignment.” 

James scored 38 points to push his career total above Abdul-Jabbar, but Williams had a nice game himself, contributing 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 steals to the Thunder’s 133-130 win over the Lakers on an historic night. 

ZAGS TO HONOR DICKAU: Dan Dickau, the centerpiece point guard and first-team All-American on Gonzaga’s 2001-02 team that won 29 games and reached No. 6 in the national polls, will have his jersey No. 21 displayed in the McCarthey Center on Thursday in a ceremony during the Zags’ game against San Francisco.

Dickau joins Frank Burgess, John Stockton, Adam Morrison and Kelly Olynyk as the only Gonzaga men’s players to have their jersey numbers retired.

ON THE RISE: Five WCC men’s coaching staff members have been recognized as part of “50 Next Up,” a listing of the “most talented support staff coaches in the country,” according to Silver Waves Media. Getting the nod are Dan Sheets of Saint Mary’s, John Impelman of Pepperdine, Jorge Sanz of Gonzaga and Ricky Muench of LMU — all directors of basketball operations — and Ralphie Ferrari, assistant to the head coach at USF.