Former Highland hoops standout Taylor enjoys freshman season at Lincoln Land College

Kirsten Taylor went from a leading role on the court to learning to play a supporting one during her freshman season last winter at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield.

Taylor, a standout point guard at Highland High School who graduated in 2021, took her talents to the Loggers last fall and enjoyed a challenging and busy freshman year on and off the court.

In 29 games played, the 5-foot-8 sophomore-to-be averaged 4.6 points per contest while logging 6.4 minutes a game per appearance.

While pleased with how she competed, Taylor realizes there’s room for improvement.

“I feel like I could have performed better, so I’m just excited for (my) sophomore year to play a little bit better and perform to the best of my ability,” she said.

Taylor admitted making the transition from playing point guard in high school to playing at the NJCAA Division II level was an eye-opening experience. Overall, the biggest challenge, she noted, was adjusting to the intense pace of the game.

“College basketball just has a whole different speed to it,” Taylor said. “The shot clock really has nothing to do with it — it’s just that the game is so much faster and everyone is so much stronger and all the players are so much better than in high school.”

Continuing, she noted the competition level is dramatically higher in college than what she faced at Highland.

“There’s a whole different level of competitiveness once you get to college (basketball) and that’s the biggest change that people have to make when they get to college,” she said.

Reflecting on year one, Taylor said she needed to improve her speed, strength on the floor, ball handling and shooting to be a more productive part of the Loggers lineup heading into next season.

“I think getting faster and learning how to play fast — I think those are the big changes I have to make,” Taylor said. “I think my ball handling needs to improve and I need to get my shot down (better).”

On the academic side, Taylor also had a strong year, posting a 3.26 grade point average. She is majoring in business.

“The classes went well and the class sizes are smaller and the teachers can really be more hands-on and help you with everything, so I liked that part of it,” Taylor said.

Over the summer, she has been in Springfield working in retail.

When she isn’t working, Taylor can be found working out most every day either lifting weights, conditioning, or shooting in the gym.

“I have full access to the gym whenever I need it, so I work out usually four times a week and then I’ll go and shoot every once in a while. And we have open gyms every Monday with our whole team and the incoming freshmen,” Taylor said.

Looking ahead to 2022-23

Moving forward, Taylor is preparing herself to be more involved in the playing rotation for the Loggers and help them have another outstanding season in 2022-23. Lincoln Land turned in an impressive 28-5 record in 2021-22 and finished runner-up to Illinois Central College of Peoria in the Region 14 Tournament last March.

Although the Loggers lost three key players to transfer, Taylor believes their returning core will give the squad a strong chance to excel and challenge for a regional championship this winter.

“I think we have the capability to (do it), so we just have to get to work early and put in the work and we can get there again,” Taylor said.