Idaho women’s basketball head coach Jon Newlee remembers the exact moment he first saw freshman guard Taylor Pierce on the court.
“I knew when I first saw her play, I’m not kidding you,” Newlee said. “I thought, ‘I want that kid on my team.’”
Pierce was a junior at La Costa Canyon High School in California at the time.
“She didn’t know it probably, but I put a big target on her back,” Newlee said. “She’s a baller. She was just lighting it up from three, a pure shooter.”
Pierce has already provided 161 points for the Vandals during her freshman season.
Newlee first placed Pierce on the starting lineup against Northern Arizona and Southern Utah last week, which marked the first two official starts of her college career. She led the team with 14 points against Northern Arizona on Jan. 14.
On Nov. 28, Pierce came off the bench to hit nine 3-pointers, a new single-game program record. Her team-high 27 points helped Idaho pull off a 97-65 win against Iowa State during the Cancun Challenge.
“That was crazy,” Pierce said. “You’re in the game and you don’t know how many 3’s you’ve hit. I thought ‘I think I’ve hit four or five.’”
Pierce said that Newlee maintains a “green light” policy with his team. If the players are open, he expects them to shoot the ball.
“I know he’s not going to get frustrated with me if I take a shot,” Pierce said. “He actually gets mad at me when I don’t shoot the ball.”
Pierce began her basketball career in junior high.
“I got pretty competitive in sixth, seventh and eighth grade,” Pierce said. “And then high school really picked up with club basketball. I’ve been playing for a really long time.”
Pierce credits her dad, Eric Pierce, a former basketball player, for her love of the game.
“I think since I played for so long, it was always so much fun, I knew I wanted to keep going with it,” she said. “Practicing was actually fun and that was a good sign, so I stayed with it.”
Originally from Carlsbad, California, Pierce drove to Northridge last year to watch Idaho play California State-Northridge.
“I watched and played against the same girls that played last year,” Pierce said. “It was kind of weird being on the other side of it but it was really fun.”
An eye-opening moment for the freshman came when the Vandals faced Duke in the Cancun Challenge.
“I was like, ‘Woah, we’re playing Duke. These girls are on TV like every other night,’” Pierce said. “I’m at a pretty high level of basketball.”
The freshman said she believes that playing at the collegiate level has lived up to her expectations.
“You really can’t prepare yourself for anything that’s going to come,” Pierce said. “It took me a while to adjust to everything.”
Pierce said that being thrown into the game without explanation can be terrifying, but it reinforced some of the best advice she’s been given: never be afraid to ask for help.
“Coaches throw you into things and say ‘Figure it out,’” Pierce said. “You learn to ask teammates and coaches and everyone around you.”
Pierce said she sought advice from the upperclassmen, specifically senior guard Christina Salvatore.
“I see a lot of myself in her coming in as a freshman,” Salvatore said. “She has a good stroke. She’s lights out when she shoots and we all trust her to make shots.”
“Whenever I miss a few, (Salvatore) looks at me and she says ‘Hey just keep shooting, stay in it, you’re good,” Pierce said.
Pierce knew when she arrived in Moscow that her defensive game was her weakness.
“Defense was never my thing in high school,” she said. “It’s still a challenge now. I’m just trying to get better every day.”
Newlee said that Pierce has been working tirelessly to improve on the defensive side of the ball.
“She’s putting in the work, I see her defense getting better every day,” Newlee said. “Last game was her best defensive effort against Southern Utah, which is great to see her keep progressing.”
Salvatore has also enjoyed helping Pierce on improving her defensive play.
“It’s been fun helping her to adjust to everything and see her grow,” Salvatore said. “I’ve seen her grow a lot this season.”
Pierce is majoring in exercise science with hopes of attending medical school to specialize in orthopedics.
“She’s going to be a great Vandal when it’s all said and done,” Newlee said. “The sky is the limit for Taylor.”
Tess Fox can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @tesstakesphotos