Taylor Brown's recent buzzer beaters that have propelled the Patriots to two Atlantic 10 victories have come on the road and at home, from the outside and from the inside, when she was hot and when she was not.
They illustrate why the redshirt junior point guard, 5-foot-7 and 125 pounds she says “on a good day,” is one of the top scorers in the country.
She's got a complete offensive repertoire. “She can flat out score,” says Mason coach Nyla Milleson. “I'm not sure she has a weakness. She's got a great pull-up; she can shoot the three; she can get to the rim; she can go off one foot or two feet; she can step you through.”
Brown wants the ball at crunch time. “She's not scared,” says senior Sandra Ngoie. “Whenever it gets tough, she embraces it. Whenever it's a close game, she's not uncomfortable with the ball in her hands.”
In a Jan. 11 game at La Salle, Brown drove the right side for the winning layup in traffic as time expired for a 73-71 win, finishing with 22 points on 9-for-17 shooting plus four assists.
Despite her slight frame (“It may not look like it,” she says, “but I actually do lift weights.”), she excels in the paint, challenging bigger opponents. “Trust me, I'm her teammate and don't understand how she does it,” says Ngoie, a 6-1 forward, more comfortable on the perimeter. “I'm confused because she does stuff I've never seen before.”
On Jan. 14 against St. Bonaventure, as both Brown and the Patriots (11-7, 3-2) struggled at times during regulation, Brown hit a fade-away three-pointer from the right wing, falling down in front of the team bench as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. The Patriots won going away, 68-55, sparked by Brown's 25 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Even though Brown was 1-for-6 on threes, Milleson drew up a play going to her for the tying three pointer. “I think the bigger the moment, the more she shines,” says the coach. “A lot of great scorers and maybe great players don't always want that responsibility. She's made the majority of them in the big moments. Even if she doesn't, she's not afraid to take the big shots.”
Brown, a former All-Met Player of the Year from Bishop McNamara, has been playing basketball since she was six and competing against 9-year-olds on her older sister Shwana's team in Bowie, Md. Their father, Bill, trained them and instilled a love for the game.
“My dad taught me to play. My big sister is my inspiration,” says Taylor, seventh in the country in scoring at 22.8 ppg. “Basketball kind of runs in the family. My little sister (Jordan) and brother (Jonathan) play. My dad had us watching AndOne mixed tapes growing up, Hot Sauce and all those players. I played against guys a lot at Bowie City Gym.”
That background helps explain Brown's flair. Yet she has a team game, too. “I've had to learn how to play in several different systems,” she says.
There's a little laugh with that statement. Besides different AAU teams and coaches, she had four coaches in four years at McNamara. Then she had one year at Georgetown before transferring to Mason, where she was recruited by Jeri Porter and has played for Milleson for two years. That's seven coaches in eight years.
No matter the coach, she always has been able to score. “Scoring is just part of my game,” Brown says. “I know it's going to come if I just play hard from the jump and set the tone. As a leader offensively and defensively, if I just go out and play hard, the points will come. There are some games when I'm in a zone, like the one I had my career-high 35 (against UMass last season). Flat out from the beginning of the game, all my shots were going in.”
Brown is shooting 42.1% from the field overall, 30.3% from the arc and 79.7% from the foul line while also averaging 5.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
While she has taken the most shots on the team (335), she doesn't shoot a lot for her point production, taking about 18 attempts per game.
Milleson is trying to work on Brown's discretion: “Sometimes she makes really tough shots when maybe she needed to pass. It's such a fine line because she makes so many of those tough shots. In games where she's struggling and we're struggling, she maybe could get teammates more involved.
“That's hard. That's hard as a coach. That's hard as a teammate. That's hard for Tay. She continues to try.”
Brown, aware of being increasingly double teamed this year, says she's at her best when playing on instinct: “When I just play, it comes to me. I'll know when to dish, know when to score.
“I like playing well and having a good game. But what I really love is when we're playing well as a team. That's the best feeling in basketball. The last couple of wins, we've played well as a team. If we play well as a team, I feel I've done my part as a leader on the team. That's the best part.”
Brown said she worked on her leadership skills and being more vocal during her redshirt year in 2012-13 as well as last summer when a deep bone bruise prevented her from playing in summer games and workouts.
The Sports Management major, due to graduate this semester, found time last summer to intern for a company that produced prep sports highlight videos for the Washington Post website. Brown, who had a 3.5 GPA for the fall semester, now plans to earn a Master's in film and video study next year.
“My ultimate dream is to own a sports complex center,” she says. “I realize that's going to take years and money. I really want to give back to the community and give girls and boys some opportunities I didn't have.
“I played a lot in my driveway. Now there's nothing wrong with that. But it would be nice to have a facility that's affordable where kids can play pickup or train when they want to train. You could run camps and tournaments, allowing young kids to achieve their goals.”
Maybe Brown will conduct a session on buzzer beaters.
