With her orthotic pads and her basketball shoes on, Taylor Lilley barely measures in at 5 feet 6 inches.
But despite her size and the chip on her shoulder from all the height-related ribbing she’s taken from teammates and opponents over the years, Lilley’s got some hops and she’s out to prove it.
“Most of the time, what’s annoying more than anything is how people always doubt the shorter players,” Lilley said. “Especially because I’m not that big or that muscular either.
“They’ll be like, ‘You play basketball? Really?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I do.’ They make a big deal about me being short. And I don’t think (basketball) is really even about that. It’s about your passion for the game. It’s about how hard you work.”
Oregon assistant coach Phil Brown would readily attest to the value of Lilley’s conscientious work ethic.
“She’s really got that winning mentality,” Brown said. “She’s the first to practice and the last to leave. I think she’s brought that work ethic to the team, and that’s why we’re so excited about the next three years with Taylor. She’s going to be a a leader.
“In many ways, she’s a leader now by being fundamentally sound, working on the fundamentals in practice.”
Rookie status aside, Lilley has made a significant impact on the floor for the Ducks this year. Despite starting only three games this season and being plagued by both hand and foot injuries, Lilley has become one of Oregon’s most reliable players.
Lilley is averaging 23.7 minutes per game, and her .515 field goal shooting percentage is the highest on the team. Lilley has also gained a reputation as the Ducks’ three-point specialist: Her 29-of-53 mark on the season leads the team from beyond the arc.
Lilley says she honed her long-range accuracy partly to compensate for the disadvantage that her height presents under the basket, and partly because shooting the long ball is something that’s always been pretty intuitive for her.
“When I first started playing, I just liked shooting the ball,” Lilley said. “And it just came naturally to me once I got the right shooting form. It’s something I really liked and I just learned to specialize in it and kept working on it.”
Her three-point marksmanship has earned her comparisons with another diminutive Oregon hoopster this year. Freshman Tajuan Porter on the men’s basketball team has started 18 games for the Ducks this year, and he’s tied with Aaron Brooks for the team lead in three-point shooting. He’s also the same height as Lilley.
So who would win a three-point shooting duel?
Porter says he would let Lilley win.
Lilley’s reaction was a blend of amusement and outrage.
“He’d let me win? I think that’s BS, right? I hate that. I think that’s another stereotype that you have to deal with being a girl: ‘(Guys say) ‘yeah I’ll let her win.’ So then he can use that as an excuse if I do actually beat him.”
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