Tag: Celeste Taylor

WNBA team waives former Ohio State player

Hopefully, she’ll land on her feet with another opportunity. #GoBucks

Getting drafted isn’t quite the same in the WNBA as the NBA. Generally speaking, being a high draft pick in the NBA almost guarantees a roster spot, but with limited spots available in the WNBA, that’s not a done deal.

Former Ohio State guard, Celeste Taylor, found that out on Tuesday when the Indiana Fever announced there move to waive the 5-foot, 11-inch playmaker.

Of the 18 games played this season, Taylor appeared in just five of them and played just a total of 16 minutes, collecting three points, one rebound, one assist, and one block.

Taylor was selected in the second round of the WNBA draft by the Fever after playing two seasons at Texas, two at Duke, then transferring and finishing her career with the Buckeyes last season. She was a stout defender, winning the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Year last season while averaging 10.1 points, 3.4 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game. She also won the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year.

She will now be looking for a way to further her career, but you have to think there’s a place somewhere in the basketball universe for such a well-rounded player.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.

Who is still in the transfer portal that might make sense for the Iowa Hawkeyes?

Fresh off a trip to the national title game, Iowa wants to retool. Here’s several transfer portal targets the Hawkeyes should consider.

What an offseason this has been for women’s college basketball.

After one of the greatest tournaments in history, the race is on for these teams to reach even bigger heights in 2023-24. A number of top players hit the portal this offseason, looking more like the football version of the transfer portal.

From established stars Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow to talented youngsters waiting for a breakout such as Lauren Betts, there’s something for everyone in the portal!

Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, they haven’t brought in anyone yet even though some of the portal’s top players have made their way to greener pastures.

Just like one of the worst snubs in American Idol history Chris Daughtry said in his hit song “It’s Not Over,” it is definitely not over yet for the Hawkeyes. There are many talented players still looking for a new home to ply their trade. Plenty of potential Hawkeyes out there!

As we get ready to leave the month of April, here is an updated look at the crazy women’s college basketball transfer portal.

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

Ohio State women’s basketball get a commit from top graduate transfer

A BOOM for the OSU women’s hoops team #GoBucks

After a run to the Elite 8 for [autotag]Ohio State women’s basketball[/autotag], there is plenty of buzz around the program. Head coach [autotag]Kevin McGuff[/autotag] has his team trending in the right direction.

Even though they lost leading scorer Taylor Mikesell to the WNBA, a majority of their large contributors will return.

The shoes to fill Mikesell’s void are large but McGuff went to the transfer portal and found a replacement in former Duke guard [autotag]Celeste Taylor[/autotag]. The graduate transfer averaged 11.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.2 steals for the Blue Devils this past season.

The addition of Taylor puts the 2023-24 squad in good hands and should make another run at a Big Ten title along with a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

[mm-video type=video id=01gtajaxyc7pqfs9byt6 playlist_id=none player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gtajaxyc7pqfs9byt6/01gtajaxyc7pqfs9byt6-d30d3b4d1f5c2019c0ce7e037a914198.jpg]

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on Twitter.

Notre Dame falls to Duke, slips to second in the ACC

The Irish have ceded control of the conference.

SOUTH BEND – It would be a shame not have Notre Dame and Duke battle in next month’s ACC Tournament. After the thrilling battle for first place outright in the conference, the programs deserve to meet again. For the Irish, it would be a matter of getting revenge against the Blue Devils as they lost, 57-52, in front of a raucous crowd at Purcell Pavilion. It was the second loss to a team from the Tar Heel State in as many Sundays for the Irish after dropping a contest to NC State the previous week.

Although the Irish (18-4, 9-3) now are looking up at the Blue Devils (20-3, 10-2) in the ACC, this game was close throughout. The Irish took an eight-point lead late in the first half, but the Blue Devils refused to concede. Using their trademark tough defense and just enough offense, this game was destined to come down to the fourth quarter. That it did, and it wasn’t what the Irish were hoping for.

Neither team could score much in the final frame as during one stretch, they combined to miss 14 straight shots, keeping the score at 51-49 in favor of the Blue Devils. When the offense did somewhat pick up again, it was the Blue Devils that made just enough shots, and they held a 55-52 lead with 15.4 seconds left.

Given a chance to tie the score, the Irish instead turned the ball over when [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] lost it, and it was picked by Reigan Richardson. With the Irish forced to foul to try and extend the game, Elizabeth Balogun made two free throws to ice the game with 5.6 seconds left. That prompted the large crowd at Purcell Pavilion to head for the exits.

Celeste Taylor was the top Blue Devil with 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] led the Irish with 15 points and seven rebounds, [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] scored 14, and Miles added 11. Miles’ final six were the Irish’s only points in the entire fourth quarter.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz1mmy7gev0xbr player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Texas Women’s Basketball: Domination in Vic Schaeffer’s debut

The 2020-21 women’s basketball season got off to a hot start. Charli Collier and Celeste Taylor led the way in a 90-51 victory over SMU.

A new era began on Wednesday in Austin, Texas. For the first time since 2012, Karen Aston was not courtside for the Texas women’s basketball team. Vic Schaeffer made his debut as the head coach for Texas. He came over from Mississippi State and the team couldn’t have looked better in his debut.

The Longhorns led from tip-off, after one quarter it was 20-8. By halftime that lead ballooned to 42-22. Early on for the Longhorns, it was sophomore Celeste Taylor leading the charge. Taylor led the team in scoring for much of the game until Charli Collier starting rolling in the second half of this game.

The Longhorns forced 30 SMU turnovers in this game. Schaeffer stated that they wouldn’t sit back and play zone defense this year. After one game, it appears that he very much wants to put the pressure on offenses. The defense forced 15 steals and eight total blocks in the game. They also outrebounded the Mustangs 39-30, including 21 offensive rebounds.

Quite the start for Schaeffer and company. DeYona Gaston came off the bench and provided a ton of energy for the team. She came close to a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. She also led the team in blocks with five. The Texas women’s basketball team won by 49, 90-51. That was the largest margin of victory for them since 1987.

That year the women’s team finished 32-3. They opened with a 94-34 victory over Northern Arizona.

Final Stats:

Player Shooting Points Rebounds Assists Steals Blocks
Charli Collier 8-13 26 12 0 2 0
Celeste Taylor 9-18 24 3 0 8 2
Audrey Warren 4-11 12 7 3 0 0
DeYona Gaston 5-11 10 9 1 2 5

Contact/Follow us @LonghornsWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas news, notes and opinions.

Download the USA TODAY SportsWire app to follow Longhorns Wire and your other favorite teams in the Apple Store for iPhones and Google Play for Android devices.

Celeste Taylor and Longhorns take care of Oklahoma

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team hosted the Oklahoma Sooners in their final regular season matchup. The final was 86-76.

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball returned to the Frank Erwin Center in Austin to host their long-time rivals, the Oklahoma Sooners. Coming off a 10-point victory over the top 25 Texas Christian Horned Frogs. The trio of Celeste Taylor, Charli Collier and Joyner Holmes led the way in that game and did most of the damage against the Sooners.

The Sooners and Longhorns were all tied up after the first quarter before Texas would put some distance in the middle two quarters to head into the final quarter up 62-48 in front of the home crowd. Taylor was feeling it early on and it carried throughout the game when she nailed a three to get the game started for Texas.

Collier carried the offense in the first with 10 of her 14 points to open the game. She finished with yet another double-double in points and rebounds. Taylor and Collier combined for 41 points and 17 rebounds in this matchup. In her final game against Oklahoma, senior forward Joyner Holmes added 16 points, six rebounds and four steals.

After a Tatum Veitenheimer free throw made it 29-25 Oklahoma, it became the Taylor show heading into halftime. The freshmen showed why she was a participant in the McDonald’s All-American game with 10 points in the final six minutes of the quarter. She finished with a game-high 27 points, coming off her 22 point performance against TCU.

The Longhorns were outscored in the fourth quarter by four but the damage was done as they beat Oklahoma, 86-76. After sweeping the season series with OU, the Longhorns look to upset the second-ranked Baylor Bears on Thursday.

Watch: head coach Karen Aston and Celeste Taylor address media

Following the 77-67 victory over TCU, head coach Karen Aston and guard Celeste Taylor met with the media.

Following the Texas Longhorns’ 77-67 victory over the TCU Horned Frogs, head coach Karen Aston and freshman guard Celeste Taylor met with the media. Aston was very complimentary of her player and even credited her for her energy. Taylor is a player who always seems to be out-hustling every other player on the floor.

Taylor had a career day against the Horned Frogs with 10 rebounds which match her career-high that she first set against UT-San Antonio early on in the season. Celeste has averaged 9.1 points per game this year but set another career high with her 22-point performance. It marked her first double-double of her career and one of three Longhorns who recorded a double-double against TCU.

Texas goes on the road, beats No. 25 TCU

UT was in desperate need of a win against TCU Wednesday night. UT pulled off the upset against the 25th ranked team in the country, 77-67.

After losing three out of their last four games, Texas was in desperate need of a win on the road against TCU Wednesday night. Backed by double-doubles from three different players, the Longhorns pulled off the upset against the 25th ranked team in the country, 77-67.

Celeste Taylor led the team in scoring, recording 22 points on 8-14 shooting. She caught fire from behind the arc, leading the team with four made three-pointers on seven attempts. To go along with her scoring, Taylor grabbed 10 rebounds. Four of them offensive, the guard out of New York recorded her first double-double of the season.

The leading rebounder of the game was Charli Collier, recording 16 total boards. Dominating down low, she also blocked five shots, a season-high for her. From the field, she only shot 5-14 but was 5-7 from the free-throw line, finishing with 16 points. Ending with as many points as she did rebounds, Collier was the main contributor for the Longhorns.

The third and final player to record a double-double for the Longhorns was Joyner Holmes. She had 15 points while shooting 6-11 from inside the arc. Securing 12 rebounds, she split them evenly on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Holmes and Collier’s combined 12 offensive rebounds were more than the entire Horned Frog team combined.

Next for the Longhorns will be arch-rival Oklahoma on Saturday before traveling to Waco to face No. 2 Baylor. Currently sitting in third in the Big 12, Texas will be looking to end the season with some momentum going into the conference tournament.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Red Hot Texas Hands Oklahoma Fourth-Straight Loss

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team won their fifth-straight game while handing rival Sooners their fourth-straight loss.

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team remained hot in their red river rivalry matchup with the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman. The Longhorns improved to 14-6 and 6-2 in Big 12 play while the Sooners drop to .500 with a 10-10 overall record and 3-5 in the conference after a fourth-straight loss. The Longhorns won their fifth-straight game. A big second quarter sparked the 70-53 victory for the Horns.

The game got off to a slow start in their matchup on Tuesday night. It wasn’t until almost three minutes into the quarter before the Sooners broke the scoreless tie with a Mandy Simpson layup gave Oklahoma a 2-0 lead. The two teams would trade buckets throughout the first quarter of the game. Celeste Taylor and Charli Collier each scored four points as Texas closed out the quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 18-15.

In the first Texas found themselves down 13-15 before the run in the first, that run continued in the second quarter for the Longhorns. Texas would go on a 16-0 run to increase their lead to 29-15. The Sooners wouldn’t find an answer until 4:46 left in the second when they finally got on the board. The 14-point margin would be their largest of the quarter and Texas took a 37-23 lead into the half. Charli Collier would lead all the starters with eight points and three rebounds. Lashann Higgs came off the bench to provide nine points and she would lead all scorers at the half.

Collier started up the scoring in the third with a layup and Taylor would extend the lead to 41-23 early on in the quarter. That gave the Longhorns an 18-point lead, Oklahoma immediately took a timeout to try and slow the Texas momentum. Sooners would answer with six straight points to get within 12 points before Joyner Holmes, Taylor and Higgs would fire back with six of their own to get the lead back to 18. Texas led 47-29 with 3:42 to play in the third. The Longhorns took a 51-35 lead into the final quarter after outscoring the Sooners 14-12 in the quarter.

In the fourth quarter it would be more of the same from Texas, after a Liz Scott layup got Oklahoma within 14 the Longhorns would go on another run. Higgs and Taylor would give Texas their biggest lead of the game to this point at 20 with 5:41 to go but it didn’t stop there. A 10-0 run would balloon the lead to 67-41 before OU could answer. The Sooners went on a 11-0 run to close out the game but it was too little too late.

Fourth Quarter Surge Gives Texas Longhorns Fourth Straight Win

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team improved to 5-2 in conference play thanks to a late surge to steal one on the road.

The Texas Longhorn women’s basketball needed a huge fourth quarter in order to secure their fourth straight win and fifth win in last six games. The women improved their conference record to 5-2 in conference play after defeating Oklahoma State 61-56.

Despite the fact that Texas shot just 21-63 (33.3%) from the field opposed to the 26-59 (44.1%), the Longhorns were able to keep the game close. Oklahoma State never led by more than eight points throughout the game. Texas was able to get key shots from three going 5-9, while OSU shot 4-16. Live by the three, die by the three holds true once again.

The Longhorns did have the edge in free throws as the Cowgirls only attempting one shot which missed. Texas shot 82.4% from the charity stripe with 17 attempts landing 14.

The women’s team was able to get second-chance opportunities with 13 offensive boards of the 40 total snagged by Texas. Charli Collier once again was the driving force on the boards, she finished the game with 14 points and nine rebounds. Joyner Holmes was a key in getting second opportunities with three offensive rebounds.

Heading into the fourth quarter, Texas trailed 50-42. The defense held up their end of the bargain by limited OSU to just six points After the Cowgirls were able to go up 54-48 on a Bigue Sarr layup. OSU would go the next five minutes of the game on a scoring drought. That is where the Longhorns made their run and stole the victory in Stillwater.

Celeste Taylor and Collier would score the next eight points for Texas to finally take the lead in the fourth with just 2:26 remaining in the game. Taylor scored six of her 13 points in the that last five minutes of the game as they finished off Oklahoma State.

Next up on the schedule, Texas will take on the Sooners in Norman before returning home to host second-ranked Baylor on January 31st.