Stats don’t always tell the story.

Take sophomore guard Taylor Tuck for example. The Bolingbrook, Ill., native is shooting only 28.4 percent from the field, 25 percent from behind the arc and 63 percent from the free-throw line. Yet, despite those underwhelming stats, Tuck has played in all 18 games this season and averaged 21.3 minutes per contest for the Illinois women’s basketball team, a significant bump from just 100 minutes spent on the floor all of last season. Head coach Matt Bollant sees qualities in Tuck that stats can’t.

“I think just the poise,” Bollant said. “She can handle the ball, she’s a good defender, she’s really long, she can create opportunities. She has a feel and has a good idea of what we’re trying to accomplish.”

The basketball IQ for Tuck runs in the family.

Taylor’s father, David, who was a standout basketball player at Ferris State University from 1986-90, got his daughters, Taylor and Morgan, to start playing basketball at the ages of 8 and 7, respectively. He began coaching them in a league for 8-to-11 year-olds. While his daughters’ teammates only practiced two days a week, David made sure they worked out at least four to five days a week.

“They (learned fundamentals) early ‘cause I made them work out everyday,” David said. “That separated them from an early age ‘cause most kids at their age don’t really put in the time everyday.”

In addition to the practice regimen, Taylor and Morgan routinely played basketball against each other.

“All the time,” Morgan said. “(Taylor) won every time when we were younger.”

“I did,” Taylor said. “When you’re younger, a year makes a big difference. … Sometimes she’d even start crying. When she got bigger than me and her game started developing to a whole other level, then she could beat me. It’s not a rivalry, but we played each other harder than anybody else.”

David said Taylor and Morgan weren’t the only ones in the family competing against each other.

“I used to have them play one-on-one with my wife (Lydia) and I on the driveway,” David said. “They realized they couldn’t beat me, but they would try to take advantage of their mother. It was just hilarious.” 

One-on-one games aside, Taylor and Morgan played organized basketball with each other up until high school. Taylor, being a year older than Morgan, entered her freshman year at Bolingbrook High School without the aid of her sister. Although the team reached the IHSA 4A state championship game, Taylor had a limited role. 

David sees similarities in Taylor’s freshman year of high school to her first year at Illinois.

“When Taylor came in, she had a lot of people at her position that were older,” David said. “The only thing we told her is be ready when your time comes.” 

Taylor took on a more prominent role as a sophomore for a squad that now included her sister and other members who would eventually play Division-I basketball. Her sister Morgan emerged as one of the best players in the state right away and received a recruiting letter from Northern Illinois before she played a high school game, averaged 18.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and two blocks per game. The breakout season earned Morgan Illinois’ “Ms. Basketball” — the first time a freshman had ever won the award.

The Tuck sisters helped Bolingbrook to a 25-4 record and the state title in their first year playing high school ball together. Bolingbrook defeated Whitney Young 53-29 in the state title game. Although Morgan thrived in the championship game, scoring 17 points, Taylor only played one minute. 

“I loved playing with her,” Taylor said. “We’re always so competitive. We play harder against each other than anybody else. When we play together, we play even better.”

The sister’s second year together in high school brought on even more success. Bolingbrook finished the season with a record of 29-1 and entered the state tournament as favorites. After playing sparingly in the state tournament a season prior, Taylor was ready when her number was called her junior year. She went on to score 18 total points in the tournament’s two games to go along with 14 rebounds. In the championship game against Whitney Young, Morgan was held to only 10 points, eight below her scoring average. Taylor, who went scoreless in her last two state title appearances, scored 10 points, grabbed six rebounds and also blocked a shot in 26 minutes of action. For her performance, Taylor was named to the All-Tournament team and chosen as All-Area by the Daily Herald.

Although Taylor was named team captain during her senior season for a Bolingbrook team ranked No. 2 in the USA Today Super 25, an ankle sprain during the last play of the semifinal game made her unable to play in the state title game. Morgan was ready to take on the added responsibility. 

“(Morgan) said she was playing for me so that made me feel so much better,” Taylor said.

Morgan more than made up for the loss of her sister, scoring 36 points in a 71-42 victory over Zion, the most points ever scored by a player in a 4A State Title game. The win gave Bolingbrook its third straight title, all with the Tuck sisters.

“It was a great experience,” Morgan said. “She’s the person that I love playing with the most out of anyone that I’ve ever played with. It made it a lot easier having her on the team and it was just really fun to be with her all the time.”

When deciding which college to attend, Taylor opted to stay close to home. Ranked as the No. 152 senior in the nation by Blue Star, Taylor was the first to commit to Illinois in its 2011 class. 

Despite entering her freshman season with high expectations, Taylor played in only 17 games, averaging 0.9 points and 5.9 minutes per contest. The first point of her career came on a free throw against Bollant’s Green Bay squad on Nov. 24, 2011. Similar to her freshman season of high school, Taylor continued to work hard, knowing that, once again, her time would come.

“Every player wants to play, so it’s frustrating,” Taylor said. “Coaches make their own decisions and all you can do is work harder in practice, so that was my mindset, to work hard in practice and do what I can do.”

Now in the middle of her second season at Illinois, Taylor is averaging 4.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 18 games under Bollant. More importantly, the lanky guard has played multiple positions this season, both on offense and defense.

On offense, Taylor has played point guard, but most of her time is spent at shooting guard and small forward. On the defensive end, she is capable of playing anywhere in Bollant’s Buzz defense. If she substitutes for guards Ivory Crawford or Alexis Smith, she plays at the top of the zone, and if she replaces guards Adrienne GodBold or Amber Moore, she moves to the bottom of the Buzz.

Lately, Tuck’s greatest asset has been her ability to avoid fouling, as she averages only 1.6 fouls per game. In comparison, GodBold and Penn average 4.7 and 3.6 fouls per game, respectively; Tuck has received extra playing time at the end of games to replace players with foul trouble.

On Jan. 17 at Nebraska, Tuck had what Bollant called “her best game of the year.” Tuck helped replace the team’s leading scorers, GodBold and Crawford, who fouled out. Although Tuck only scored three points, she nabbed four steals in 28 minutes of playing time. One trait stood out in particular for Tuck against Nebraska.

“Her poise,” Bollant said, once again referring to Tuck’s ability to keep calm in pressure situations. “There’s times in other games where she was sped up and didn’t make the right decisions, and … she made a lot of really good decisions. It just seemed like she was more calm offensively, and then defensively she was really active.”

Poise isn’t the only area where Taylor has shown improvement this season.

“I worked on my ball handling a little bit more,” Taylor said. “Just getting in the gym, shooting more, that just comes from repetition. Stuff like that makes a difference when you’re in the game.”

Along with Taylor, fellow sophomore guards Crawford and Smith have also shown considerable improvements in their first season with Bollant at the helm. The insurgence of the sophomore class, along with the mainstays of Penn, GodBold and Moore, has given the Illini 10 wins this season so far, one less than all of last year.

As Taylor continues to improve at Illinois, Morgan is almost 1,000 miles away trying to win a championship for a different team for the first time in their lives.

In a decision she described as “difficult,” Morgan opted to play for Connecticut’s storied program, ending the possibility of playing organized basketball with her sister again. The decision has paid off, as Connecticut is the No. 3 team in the country. Morgan has played a bench role for the national powerhouse as a freshman, playing 14.3 minutes per game. 

Despite the sizable distance between them, Taylor and Morgan talk over the phone after every game to give each other advice. Maybe even one day the sisters will face each other in an organized basketball game for the first time.

“We talk about that a lot,” Tuck said while laughing. “It would be pretty interesting. I mean, hopefully we wouldn’t guard each other ‘cause we play each other pretty tough. We’d get on the floor, we’d play hard, and then after the game I’d give her a hug.”

Michael can be reached at [email protected] and @The_MDubb.