By: by Matthew Farhadi
The importance of freshmen in college athletics is sometimes overlooked by most average spectators, but without a doubt they are one of the most crucial factors to building a successful college basketball program. Not only do you need freshmen to develop over the course of a season, but at the same time they need to step up and become key contributors right away. That is exactly what the Kennesaw State women’s basketball team has gotten from its freshman backcourt of Taylor Mills and Kristina Wells as they look to lead the Lady Owls to their first-ever Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament victory on Thursday.
Before Taylor and Kristina even stepped out onto the KSU Convocation Center court for the first time together the journey of how the two ended up at KSU is unique in and of itself.
Taylor, a Knoxville, Tenn. native, was a very highly recruited high school player after concluding a successful career at Gibbs High School where she scored over 2,000 points. When it came to her recruiting process Kennesaw State was not initially on the top of her list as she had offers from Coastal Carolina and Lipscomb. However, Kennesaw, and head coach Colby Tilley, grew on her and eventually she decided to become a Lady Owl. Once she joined the team in the 2010-11 season, Mills only got to play in seven games as she was forced to take a medical redshirt due to a foot injury.
Kristina, a Douglasville, Ga. native, came from a very successful high school program at Douglas County High School where her team won the 4A regional championship. While she was in high school she was looked at by several powerhouse programs, including Ole Miss and Louisville. However, Kristina suffered a horrible ankle injury during the beginning of her senior season which scared away a lot of the other programs. Kennesaw State was one of the lone schools that stuck by her, and supported her through that entire process, so ultimately she decided to come play for coach Tilley at KSU.
Coach Tilley talked about the recruiting process for both girls and how they fit the mold perfectly for what they were looking for.
“In the recruiting process at that time we really needed two guards in a point guard and a wing player,” coach Tilley said. “Taylor filled the point guard spot perfectly because she is a smart player who could also shoot the three which is something we had needed in the past. We spent a lot of time recruiting her and after she came here for a few visits we knew she liked us. We were very fortunate that we were able to sell her because we knew she had other offers on the table.
“With Kristina we were able to see her play more often because she lived right down the road. We really like the way she did things with her defense and driving the ball to the hole, and her athleticism was a big draw as well. Overall, we were very happy when we got both of them to commit to us, and since then they have not disappointed us at all and I look forward to watching them develop in the coming years.”
Since Mills and Wells got to KSU the impact has been immediate, and the energy and passion they bring to every game has captured the attention of Owl Nation. The Lady Owls finished the regular-season with a +4 overall wins improvement from last season (9) to this season (13). This marks the most drastic change in overall wins by any team in the A-Sun this season.
Taylor and Kristina talked a little bit about their first full season of college basketball and what it has been like to play with each other in the backcourt.
“It has gone by so fast and our team has gone through a lot of ups and downs, but we have accomplished a lot this season and I look forward to us making a deep tournament run,” Mills said. “Kristina’s development has been a big lift for us this year, and she is so athletic and skilled that she makes it very easy to play with her. We are going to spend a lot of time in the gym together this offseason so it will be fun as we always push each other to be better.”
“This season has been a lot of fun for sure and I have learned a lot in my first year, but with that being said we still have some work to do and I am looking forward to the conference tournament,” Wells said. “Playing with Taylor is a lot of fun because she always is full of energy so no matter what the situation is she never lets us slack off. The thing that I like most playing with her is that she always preaches confidence to all of us. If I hesitate on a shot that she knows I can make she will come up to me and tell me to shoot it because she knows that I can make it and that is what a good point guard should do.”
Both players affect the game in different ways with Mills being a shooter and floor general, while Wells is a deadly-slasher and lockdown defender. The pair has put up some jaw dropping numbers in their first full seasons at Kennesaw State.
Mills is a three-time A-Sun Newcomer of the Week and she leads all A-Sun freshmen in seven different categories. She leads in points (12.3), assists (4.3), free throw percentage (.782), steals (2.2), three-point field goals per game (2.6), assist/turnover ratio (1.2) and minutes (38.4). Her 38.4 minutes per game ranks 3rd in all of Division I, while she also ranks 34th in three-point field goals per game and 75th in assists in the NCAA.
Wells is a two-time A-Sun Newcomer of the Week and she ranks second among all A-Sun freshmen in six different categories. She is second in points (9.2), rebounds (5.5), field goal percentage (.426) free throw percentage (.741), steals (1.8) and offensive rebounds (2.4). Her .426 field goal percentage ranks her 10th among all A-Sun players, and she has also stepped up her play as the regular-season came to a close averaging 11.2 points per game in her last six games.
After seeing what this duo has done in their first full season together one thing has been made very clear. With Mills and Wells standing side-by-side in the KSU backcourt the sky is the limit and the future of Kennesaw State women’s basketball will be fun to watch.
