Monique Billings stands in front of the mirror. The UCLA forward needs some practice.
Shoulders down. Back straight. Eyes up. Squint.
She’s working on her “smize.”
That would be smiling with your eyes. Supermodel Tyra Banks coined the term on her TV show “America’s Next Top Model.” It’s a model’s secret to a perfect photo, one Billings is determined to perfect the same way she has refined her face-up game and footwork because the 6-foot-4 senior from Corona refuses to let the dimensions of a 94-by-50-foot court limit her potential.
“She’s a renaissance woman,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said. “She’s an incredible model. She’s an incredible passionate teacher of youth. She’s a trailblazer.”
Billings, who earned her second straight All-Pac-12 and All-Defensive Team honors Tuesday, is climbing to the top of the UCLA record books as the No. 9 Bruins start postseason play Friday in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament in Seattle.
The record-setting forward, who already owns the school’s all-time blocks record (218) and is third in rebounds (1,109), grew from an insecure fourth-grader with big feet who towered over her classmates. On the court, she found a place to celebrate her height.
She found role models in former Stanford standouts Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike and Tennessee superstar Candace Parker. To nurture her off-court passions, Billings looked to model-turned-mogul Banks, who has inspired Billings the way she hopes to inspire other young girls.
“(Banks) just inspired me that it’s OK to be different,” Billings said, “and I can inspire other people to be different and that different is cool.”
Billings stands out from her basketball peers with her potent combination of athleticism and skill. Fellow senior Jordin Canada calls Billings the most athletic post player with whom she’s ever played.
As her four-year UCLA career winds down, Billings, who dunked in a warm-up last year, has added a mid-range jump shot and impeccable footwork to counter the double teams in the paint. She’s shooting a career-high 70.1 percent from the free-throw line this season, up from the 47.7 percent clip she is embarrassed to admit she shot as a freshman, and has 34 assists on the year, already matching a career-high for a single season.
“The athleticism has always been there, I just had to put the talent with that and that just came from work and reps,” Billings said. “Just really beating on my craft.”
The extra work earned her a tryout with Team USA last summer. She had just averaged a double-double (16.7 points, 10.5 rebounds) and grabbed a spot on the final U.S. roster that won gold in the Under-24 Four Nations Tournament in Tokyo. She wasn’t a McDonald’s All-American like many of her peers. It didn’t stop her from wearing her red, white and blue USA jersey.
“This was her chance to show really anyone in the country that she could compete at the highest of levels,” said Close, who was a court coach at the training camp. “Don’t overlook her.”
Between trying out, making the team and winning the tournament, Billings did an internship at Ivan Bitton Style House last summer, working behind the scenes to style Hollywood celebrities. She even got to model a few items, putting her “smize” into action.
Billings bristles when people ask her whether she prefers basketball or modeling. To her, there’s no need to choose.
“That concept was important to me, coming into college, not just being a basketball player, but to do more than one thing,” she said. “Something we always say in our program is basketball doesn’t define who we are.”
Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament
Quarterfinal: No. 4 seed UCLA vs. No. 5 Cal/No. 12 Washington
When: 2 p.m. Friday
Where: KeyArena, Seattle
TV: Pac-12 Networks