Jan. 27, 2014
By Mike Esse, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Dara Taylor didn't know she had 10 assists to complete her second career double-double Sunday after Penn State's (15-4, 6-1) 83-53 win over Minnesota (13-8, 2-5). Head Coach Coquese Washington didn't know either.
Both know, however, how much better of a team they are when Taylor is dishing and multiple Penn State Lady Lions are swishing. They did just that on Sunday.
Led by Taylor's 15 points and 10 assists and 49 combined points from Maggie Lucas (25), Ariel Edwards (16) and Talia East (8), Penn State was nearly unstoppable offensively against the Golden Gophers.
And the more names involved in the scoring column, the better the Lady Lions are.
"We are much better," Washington said. "It opens up the floor for everybody, especially Maggie (Lucas), when everyone else is scoring and I think it gives everybody on our team confidence. We have a lot of confidence as a team right now."
Confidence was certainly on display in Penn State's fourth consecutive victory as they shot 44 percent both from the field and from three-point range. Nineteen bench points completed what was one of their better scoring performances of the conference season against an upset minded Minnesota.
The Gophers struggled where Penn State thrived. For over the first 30 minutes of the game, only three Minnesota players were in the scoring column and they finished with only three players scoring more than two points. Penn State totaled eight players in the scoring column, all of which scored four or more.
It goes back to the assist-minded Taylor and her ball distribution.
"I thought Dara was really in control of the tempo of the game and really had a good handle of our team offensively, so I am not surprised she got 10 assists," Washington said. "Her control of the game was the best we have seen this year. She is growing in that area and really managing the game and managing the team and making sure that things are flowing on the offensive end."
Taylor managed the game well and her team converted on the plays she set up. Take Taylor's creating ability and pair it with the shooting of Maggie Lucas and Penn State was rolling quickly against Minnesota.
As Lucas' shots were falling, more Minnesota defenders came to her area thus allowing Taylor to further penetrate the defense and get more players involved.
All of the sudden, Minnesota had more than one or two players to pay attention to. Taylor credits the mindset of her teammates prior to the game as to why they were able to have such a diverse scoring attack.
"I think everybody came in really focused and very confident," Taylor said. "We executed our game plan. Our game plan was to exploit the defense where we could. Everybody came to play and everybody hit shots."
That confidence, according to Washington, is what Penn State needs to be an elite team in a tough Big Ten Conference.
"I think when we get contributions from everyone and everyone is starting to feel confidence in their roles, it is a really good place for us to be," she said.
That confidence has picked up since an 84-74 loss at home to Purdue (14-5. 4-3) on Jan. 12 and the Lady Lions now are mentally prepared for a rematch against the Boilermakers Thursday in West Lafayette at 6 p.m.