RUSTON - Louisiana Tech senior guard Erica Taylor experienced quite a story book senior season and on Saturday afternoon she wrote another chapter by being selected in the 2005 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics.
Taylor, who married unbeaten middleweight boxer Jermain Taylor in the summer of 2003 following her sophomore season, was taken with the seventh pick of the second round (19th overall) by a Mystics team that finished just out of the playoffs last year at 17-17.
The Wheatley, Ark., native was considered a lock for a first round pick before missing half of her senior season while giving birth to daughter Nia Jay Taylor on Dec. 15. Taylor returned to the court in mid-January and played the final 16 games of the season, averaging 11.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game despite not ever reaching her old form.
Mystics general manager Linda Hargrove said the team took that into consideration when making the decision to select Taylor in Saturday's draft.
"We thought given the circumstances of recently having a baby that she was not in the best game shape," Hargrove said Saturday. "However, we thought she played well at the pre-draft camp (in New York last weekend). We've been watching her for a few years so we didn't base (our decision) on just this year."
Taylor, who at best reached about 80 percent of her old form that saw her average 23.7 points per contest in the 2004 NCAA Tournament, showed signs of coming on late in the season, earning Western Athletic Conference All-Tournament honors after averaging 20.0 points a game while leading the Lady Techsters to the championship contest.
Despite the questions surrounding Taylor, Tech head coach Chris Long said it was the 5-foot-11-inch guard's multi-dimensional talents that helped her cause.
"I'm excited for her," Long said. "No question she has the ability (to compete at the WNBA level). She has a ways to go to get into shape but she knows that. They don't draft you if they don't think you can play."
During her four-year Tech career, Taylor scored 1,246 points while hitting 112 three-pointers. Taylor's ability to shoot from the perimeter and score in the paint makes her the type of prospect that most WNBA teams are searching for.
Taylor becomes the 13th Louisiana Tech player to be selected in nine WNBA Drafts. At least one Tech player has been selected in seven of the nine drafts.
Washington used its first round draft pick to select LSU point guard Temeka Johnson. Taylor, who was unable to be reached for comment, will join Johnson and former Lady Techster guard Tamicha Jackson on the 2005 Washington Mystics roster.