Freshman Taylor shows she's ready to fill the Terps' void at point guard

Her No. 2 jersey might not have the additional ‘0' of her venerable predecessor, but on Tuesday night, Dara Taylor did her best Kristi Toliver impression yet.

Taylor, a freshman guard from Wilmington, Del., paced the Terps on both ends of the court in their 101-43 exhibition blowout of Catholic, scoring 14 points, dishing out seven assists and leading the Terps' defensive assault against the Cardinals.

"I was saying on the bench, ‘We can do some special things with Dara on the floor,'" coach Brenda Frese said.

Frese recruited Taylor to help lessen the inevitable blow of losing Toliver, one of the program's all-time greats.

Taylor's work started on the defensive end Tuesday. Her supreme quickness and the Terps' frontcourt length made the Cardinals' offense a headache just to run. Midway through the first half, Taylor forced Catholic's Brianna Peterson into a double dribble violation and then, a minute later, plucked the ball away from Peterson before taking it coast-to-coast to give the Terps a 28-10 lead.

"From the defensive end, her ability to harass your opponents from one end to the other … she's just all over the place," Frese said.

When she found herself in charge of the offense, she spread the wealth with equal ease. With just a flick of the wrist, Taylor found her post players feet from the rim. A Catholic frontline with no player taller than 6 feet could only stand and watch as the Terps' relative giants, such as Lynetta Kizer (eight points) and Diandra Tchatchouang (16 points), picked their spots.

A stifling defense sprung Taylor and the Terps for fast break after fast break, where Taylor easily found cutting forwards or open shooters. After last week's exhibition against Bowie State, in which several of the freshman's passes skidded through or bounced off unsuspecting hands, Taylor's recipients were often ready this time.

"Offensively, I thought she did a tremendous job being a leader from the point guard position," Frese said. "She attacks, she makes us go and I thought she was very fundamental. … She's got to get comfortable with the right passes at the right time to our centers, and they've got to always have their hands ready."

"We've been practicing for a while and really starting to come together," said Taylor, who committed just one turnover and went 6-for-7 shooting from the field. "I know who I can pass to in certain situations."

After scoring the first three points of the game, Catholic never threatened again. The Cardinals trailed 57-19 at halftime, and shot 26.2 percent from the field for the game. While the blowout capped the Terps' preseason slate, the early part of the regular season — featuring games against North Carolina Central, New Hampshire and Old Dominion — should also give Taylor and her teammates plenty of chances to look like the stars they're expected to replace.

"If we can compete that hard for 40 minutes when we step out on the floor, good things are going to happen for us," Frese said.

shaffer@umdbk.com