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team. "I had never done it before and didn't practice much, but I ended up getting third place in the state in the high jump," she said. Taylor also made her mark playing AAU basketball, teaming up with Lucas in the backcourt of the Philadelphia Belles. At the Nike Nationals in 2009, the Belles upset DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth), a team that featured two future Baylor standouts – 2012 NCAA Player of the Year Brittney Griner and Odyssey Sims – as well as Nikki Greene, now a senior center for the Lady Lions. "They were heavy favorites in the game, but we played pretty gritty," Taylor said. "Maggie was shooting un- conscious. We got a pretty big win. The gym was packed, and everybody was watching our game." Following her senior season, she was named to the prestigious McDonald's All-America Team and was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Delaware. Penn State coach Coquese Washing- ton tried to sign Taylor out of high school. The Lady Lions were among her final two schools, but she ultimately chose Maryland. Taylor started 27 of 34 games for the Terrapins her first season, setting a school record for freshmen with 171 assists. But her playing time dwindled the following year. After averaging near- ly 27 minutes per game as a freshman, she averaged 13.7 as a sophomore, making only one start and handing out 71 assists. The 5-foot-8 Taylor began rethinking her basketball career and decided to transfer. "I just realized I wasn't quite working out to be the fit that I was looking for," she said. " Nothing against Maryland, the coach or the team, noth- ing like that. It was just that growing up, playing basketball, you have a feeling and you have a vision of what you see yourself doing, how you see yourself playing." That's when Penn State came back into the picture. "Luckily, I had an opportunity to come to a place that was going to make that vision happen for me," she said. "Coquese was very willing to welcome me into this team, the family. I'm very blessed to be here now, and I'm very excited for the sea- son." Washington, a talented point guard at Notre Dame and in the WNBA, has boosted her team's backcourt depth by gaining Taylor. A year ago, Penn State had only two ball-handlers in Bentley and Lucas. When Bentley got in foul trouble or needed a break, Lucas moved over to the point. That took Lucas away from what she does best – scoring points. "Playing at Penn State is ideally suited for someone with Dara Taylor's skill," Washington said. "We place a premium on playing a fast-paced game. We like to get up and down the floor as much as possible. In order to do that, you need players with speed, and Dara Taylor certainly fits the bill. Dara is one of the fastest players – if not the fastest player – I have ever coached. Her speed is explosive and electric, and when you combine it with her exceptional ball-handling and pass- ing skills, at times she is truly un- stoppable with the ball." Taylor has always played point guard and has plenty of experience with Lucas on the court. "We grew up in AAUs," she said. "We've always kept in touch, so when I decided I was going to transfer, Maggie's family defi- nitely played a role, saying, 'We would love to have you here. It would be like old times.' " Lucas and Taylor will be teammates for the next two years. Penn State begins the season with high expectations. The Lady Lions were ranked eighth in The Associated Press's preseason poll and are the top choice by the coaches and media to win the Big Ten. Taylor is one of the reasons for the team's optimism. In addition to her stellar high school credentials, she Ninth-ranked Penn State sprints to 3-0 start Lady Lions' class ranked 6th in nation Penn State hopes to go deep into the postseason in 2013, which is why it challenged itself in the nonconference season. The first of those big early-season tests came on Nov. 14 when the ninth- ranked Lady Lions visited 16th-ranked Texas A&M. The Aggies are only two years removed from a national championship and had won 57 nonconference home games in a row heading into the matchup with the Lady Lions, a streak dating to De- cember 2003. That streak ended against Penn State. The Lady Lions held the Aggies score- less over the final 6 minutes, 23 sec- onds en route to a 63-58 victory. Alex Bentley scored 14 of her game-high Penn State's seven-player 2013 recruiting class has been ranked No. 6 by Collegiate Girls Basketball Report and No. 7 by Blue Star Basketball. It fea- tures guards Lindsey Spann (Laurel, Md./Good Counsel) and KeKe Sevil- lian (Goodrich, Mich./Goodrich), swing players Jenny DeGraaf (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro), Kaliyah Mitchell (Stone Mountain, Ga./Stephenson) and Peyton Whitted (Suwanee, Ga./North Gwinnett), forward Alex Harris (Lo- rain, Ohio/Lorain Southview) and center Infiniti Alston (Baltimore, Md./Digital Harbor). It's the largest class in school history and includes six players who are in the Collegiate Girls Basketball Report Top 100. 21 points in the second half, while Maggie Lucas added 18 points. The trip to College Station followed a season-opening 72-61 victory over Howard on Nov. 11 and preceded a 75-34 romp over Lafayette Nov. 18. All 10 Lady Lions on the roster scored against the Leopards, with Lucas and Mia Nickson leading the way with 12 apiece. –MATT HERB

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