Taylor Lilley
Sophomore guard
Oregon Daily Emerald: Are you a veteran on this team now with six freshmen on the roster?
Taylor Lilley: I guess you could say that. I’ve had just a lot of experience with basketball in general so I feel like, yeah I guess you can say I’m a veteran. I’m not really an upperclassmen quite yet, but I have had a year more than a lot of the other girls so I’m kind of a year up already.
ODE: Is it a different feel going into your sophomore year compared to last year?
TL: Yeah, I feel a little bit more confident in myself and now I know what to expect. I know how much it takes and how hard it is to play in the Pac-10 and I feel like I prepared myself a lot better than last year.
ODE: Are you able to share some perspective with the freshmen on what to expect?
TL: They’re working hard already and they just need to keep on that. They just need to control what they can control I think and that’s how they practice and mentally and physically as well.
ODE: What was the biggest thing you have been working on?
TL: Just becoming more of a well-rounded player. Not just a three-point threat because I know a lot of the teams, they know who I am now and so I’m going to have to show some different sides of my game to them and that’s what I’ve really been working on. Extending my range three-point wise not just on the three-point line but a little bit further than that (and) just being aggressive to the basket and finishing.
ODE: How do you replace some of that long distance shooting you lose with Carolyn (Ganes) and Cicely (Oaks)?
TL: We still have quite a few shooters on this team like Micaela (Cocks) and Kaela (Chapdelaine), even with our freshmen. Even Tamika (Nurse) can shoot the three. So I think in that aspect we’ll be fine.
ODE: What’s it been like being with Tatianna Thomas again? (The pair played together for a year at Hart High in Newhall, Calif.).
TL: It’s been awesome ’cause we already had that one experience together for that one year and we kind of know how each other plays. It can only get better from there.
ODE: How did you spend the summer? Did you play basketball or did you get away from the game?
TL: This summer ’cause of my shin splints – they were kind of acting up a little bit – so I needed to take some time off for myself but I was still working hard when I could out there.
ODE: Did you go back to California?
TL: I went home for a month and a half. It was a nice little refreshment. Just somewhere else and just being back home and it was just really nice to be with my mom for that month and a half.