After the Lady Wolverine’s defeat of Longwood University Tuesday night, UVU Review sports writer Colin McGrath got a chance to catch up with freshman guard and three-point specialist Taylor Huber. A true freshman, Huber scored 17 points against Boise State and logged her first start against San Jose State.
Q) What are the strengths of the UVU women’s basketball team so far this year?
A) We work really well as a team. We don’t just play, we play for each other.
Q) How does Coach Cathy Nixon motivate and light the fire for the team?
A) She’s actually pretty calm. She’s never mean, but always constructive in a good way, motivating us when we know we can do better.
Q) Last semester, for a communications class you created a blog titled “The Real Sportscenter” in which you wrote about female athletes not getting deserved attention from major media outlets such as ESPN. What did you learn from researching and writing about that topic?
A) Honestly it opened my eyes about how little women are covered in the news. But it probably won’t change because women just aren’t the focus. I don’t really know why, maybe because they can’t dunk.
Q) Which WNBA player would you say that you look up to most?
A) I don’t know…I met Diana Taurasi [of the Phoenix Mercury] once while at a tournament for the Amateur Athletic Union.
Q) Who controls the locker room?
A) There are a couple of girls. Probably Erika [Newbold] and Abbie [Beutler].
Q) Any favorite pump-up music played in the locker room before games?
A) Definitely “This is How We Do It,” by Montell Jordan.
Q) With the game on the line, who do you trust most shooting that final shot?
A) That’s tough, though I would say Sammie [Jensen].
Q) OK then, Sammie Jensen takes on Isiah Williams of the men’s team, who wins at one-on-one?
A) No comment [laughing], they both play so different it’s hard to say.
Q) What has been your fondest memory of basketball thus far in your career?
A) When I was in high school in Virginia, I broke our school record for points.
Q) Were you scouted by any other college teams?
A) Yeah, actually I was scouted by some schools back east. Longwood was one of them, which is weird because we just played them and I actually knew most of the girls on their team from visiting the school on recruiting trips.
Q) What helped you choose UVU?
A) Mainly the girls on the team, I also really wanted to come out and live in Utah.
Q) What aspect of your own game has improved so far through this season?
A) I would probably have to say defense. Coming in to the season, I knew that I had to work on my defense and I have definitely shown improvement.
Q) Which away game are you looking forward to most in terms of traveling?
A) New Jersey, to play the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Q) Really…Jersey?
A) Yeah! Well, my whole family will be coming up from Virginia to watch us play there at the end of the month, so I am really excited to see them.
Q) OK, final question. Do you think that UVU deserves more than Great West Conference?
A) Oh yeah, you need conferences because if there weren’t any then the weaker teams would just get killed, but I can say that we play just as hard as teams in other, bigger conferences.
The next match-up for Taylor Huber and the UVU Lady Wolverines will be Walla Walla University on Jan. 17 at the UCCU Center.
