As women’s basketball viewership continues to skyrocket after the last two years, you can never forget about the greats that came before. For Florida State women’s basketball’s guard Sydney Bowles, it’s Maya Moore.
Bowles idolized Moore growing up in Lithonia, Georgia, which is less than five hours north of Tallahassee.
When she was younger, she would watch and root for UConn basketball because of the four-time All-American. She even owns a pair of shoes autographed by the four-time WNBA champion.
“I feel like Maya Moore has been the player I have watched throughout the years as far as being a role model for Georgia and women’s basketball,” Bowles said.
In her early teenage years, Bowles had the pleasure of meeting Moore in person during an award reception in the metro area of Georgia. Of course, she was stars struck just being in her presence.
At 14 years old, Bowles also decided to take the game seriously. She would be responsible for attending multiple camps and training sessions.
One of the skills Bowles tried to emulate in Moore’s game is her midrange shooting, which some would say is a forgotten skill as the game developed into shooting from behind the arc or getting to the basket.
“Everyone said that midrange is a lost art.,” Bowles said.
“You’ll just see moreso layups and 3-pointers, but her midrange is something I feel like as I kind of grew up playing basketball, I definitley develop more of a midrange game as well, where it’s catch-and-shoot or off the dribble.”
Moore is not the only influential ballplayer she looked up to. She also enjoyed watching WNBA player and Douglasville, Georgia native Asia Durr.
She remembered watching Durr as a child and when the former New York Liberty guard was in high school in the Atlanta area.
“My mom and I used to drive over to St Pius (X Catholic) when she was in high school and watch her games, just seeing the crowds that she would bring and stuff like that,” Bowles said.
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What Sydney Bowles brings to FSU basketball after three games
In the first three games, Bowles has been impactful coming off the bench for the Seminoles, as they are 2-1 on the season.
Bowles is another scoring threat, as she averaged 11.3 points a game. Her season-high was 18 points in FSU’s season opener against North Florida.
Before joining FSU, she played her first two seasons at Texas A&M. The 6-foot guard was a day-one starter and made the SEC All-Freshman team. Last season she led the Aggies in with total points (264), 3-point field goals made (52) and minutes per game (29.4).
She considered herself a three-level scorer and a two-way guard and wants to continue to work on consistency and serving a veteran role.
“That’s really what I’m trying to build here, and I know that’s possible here,” Bowles said.
“I know that the staff and my team believe in me, and I know that, like every day, we just talk about how much every single player means something, and we got to bring it every day, and I’m excited to do that this year.”
Since joining the Seminoles this past summer, she has been comfortable. She loved the winning culture Brooke Wyckoff established and the chemistry she is making with her teammates.
“Overall, I feel like we’re a pretty close group working on getting closer every day,” Bowles said.
” I love the staff here. I’m closer to home, so it’s a lot of different aspects as to why I’m doing really well here, and I’m just super excited to see where the rest of the year takes me and the team.”
What’s next for FSU women’s basketball
The Seminoles will host the next three games at the Donald L. Tucker Stadium. They return on Thursday night when they take on Samford at 6 p.m, then North Carolina Central the following Monday.
FSU’s next big test will be next Friday against the Florida Gators.
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Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Here’s why Sydney Bowles is influenced by her favorite player Maya Moore
