As a young player, sophomore guard Lauren Taylor wasn’t strong, she wasn’t quick and she didn’t have hops. To compensate, she used her smarts.
“Growing up, I was always the slowest — not able to jump as well as everybody else,” Taylor said. “I didn’t have the quickness. So I had to develop something else. I had to be just a little bit smarter to make up for those physical areas that I wasn’t blessed as well in.”
Over the years, Taylor developed into a six-foot player who has become one of the strongest on the floor, head coach Don Flanagan said. But she hasn’t forgotten her roots as a smart, fundamentally sound player.
“She is quicker, stronger and handles the ball better,” Flanagan said. “She shoots more constantly, and she has really developed into a very smart player. She has put all of those things together — her intelligence that she naturally has along with some basketball intelligence.”
Flanagan said he is even intimidated by her intelligence off the floor.
“She skipped a grade when she was in middle school,” he said. “She really should be a freshman this year. She is probably going to graduate in three years. She is probably a heck of a lot smarter than I am. So I don’t talk to her about anything but basketball — I do have an edge on that.”
As a freshman, Taylor played an average of nine minutes through 33 games. She hit 16 three’s throughout the season, and she had her best game against Colorado State late in the season, racking up 13 points in 10 minutes.
This season, she finished her first exhibition game Tuesday with a perfect stat sheet, ending with a career-high 20 points. She hit all seven shots from field goal range, including four three pointers. She also threw in a pair of free throws.
Granted, the stats came in an exhibition game against Eastern New Mexico, and the Lobos scored 100 points.
“I had no idea I was perfect in that game,” Taylor said. “You just get so caught up in the game — playing defense and offensively just doing the right things. I didn’t realize until people told me.”
No one expects Taylor to do that again on Friday against Northern Colorado, Flanagan said. But he wants her to play with the same kind of mindset she had in the Eastern New Mexico game.
“Usually they are comfortable and they are usually not pressing to make a shot,” Flanagan said. “What they are doing is letting the game come to them. Now I don’t expect her to not miss a shot in this next game. I wouldn’t think that. But I don’t think you should leave her open.”
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And to think, Taylor almost didn’t get a chance at her perfect game. Senior guard Georonika Jackson was slated for Taylor’s position in the Tuesday’s exhibition game.
“I really didn’t want to start her the other night,” Flanagan said. “Georonika was going to start in that position. She got hurt then (Taylor) shoots a perfect game — she is starting again now. I’m not a dummy.”
