Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Porter leaves lasting legacy with women's basketball program
3/6/2019 5:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball, Word on the Herd
Five student-athletes will be recognized before Thursday's game
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Taylor Porter took a charge, as she has done many times before. This time, however, when the Marshall women's basketball guard got up from the court at Old Dominion, she and her Thundering Herd teammates were down by 34 points late in the third quarter.
Why? Why, in the twilight of her senior season, would the 5-foot-8 native of Louisa, Kentucky, sacrifice her body in a game that was likely out of reach?
"That's leadership," said Tony Kemper, Marshall's second-year women's basketball coach. "She is trying to make sure this group grows and evolves and learns how to fight the right way. She's the driving force behind us being a tougher, more resilient, higher energy team.
"That comes from how she is wired, and it has stretched throughout our team and how we operate."
Porter will play her final home game Thursday night at the Henderson Center. Marshall, 15-13 overall and 9-6 in Conference USA, hosts FIU at 6 p.m. According to the C-USA preseason poll, this is when Porter's career was supposed to end. The Herd was picked to finish 13th in the 14-team league, which means voters predicted Porter and her teammates would not qualify for one of the 12 spots at the league tournament in Frisco, Texas.
Instead, Marshall has a chance for its first 10-win season since joining C-USA. This will not be the last time Porter and the quartet of others who will be honored Thursday – Tana Driver, Logan Fraley, Shayna Gore and Jovana Vucetic – will play basketball together.
What Porter did at ODU, enduring the pain of the collision in a game that was all but decided, is the foundation for why the 2018-19 Marshall women's basketball team has defied the naysayers. It is why this team's fate is not all but decided.
"I just go out there and play," Porter said. "Coach says he likes my effort and how I play, but that's how I've played my whole life."
Porter's journey began in Fort Gay, West Virginia, and then she moved across the bridge to Kentucky in the sixth grade. She has played basketball since the age of 5, and she developed into a high school star in four seasons at Lawrence County High School. She eclipsed 1,000 career points as a junior and averaged 25.3 points as a senior, the third-highest in Kentucky. She was a first team all-state selection, and started her collegiate career at Murray State. She was an Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer in 2013-14 before transferring to Marshall.
Who Porter was at that moment is not who she is today.
"I was on an emotional rollercoaster," she said. "I did not have a good attitude."
Porter turned 24 on March 3, and her maturation on and off the court is evident. She has 772 points in three seasons here – more than 1,000 when the one season at Murray State is added – and is seventh on the MU career 3-pointers list with 119.
But her individual accomplishments pale in comparison to what she has given to the program. Porter is a foundational piece for Kemper, who has watched his team go from cellar dweller to upper half of the league in one season.
"Her competitive fire will be missed," Kemper said.
Porter said that edge has been there since she began honing her skills on the court. Her father placed a glass background hoop at home, and she'd spend hours shooting in her concrete driveway. When her parents tried to call her in after dark, Porter pointed to the light above the basket.
"This week has been really emotional because it's all coming to an end," said Porter, who is an aspiring nurse. "Basketball has been my life for 20 years. This is sad and bittersweet, but I'm proud of my team for putting us in a position to play after senior night."
Porter is quick to credit others. One of those people is her daughter, Storm Asher, who was born Nov. 14, 2017. Porter missed the 2017-18 season for Storm's birth, and worked to come back for one more season.
"When I had her it mellowed me out," Porter said. "I focus on the right things and let everything else go."
The charge at ODU is an example of Porter's tough exterior. Her daughter is proof there's a softer, gentler person underneath her on-court persona.
There was a time when Porter was playing basketball in Lawrence County and she coveted the jersey number 22, but an older girl already had that uniform. Porter thought she would compromise, and chose No. 11.
"They said that uniform wasn't available," Porter said.
A 12-year-old girl from Fallsburg, who was a seventh grade student at Louisa Middle School and a promising basketball player, died on Sept. 4, 2001. The girl wore No. 11, and while the uniform was not officially retired, coaches did not allow others to wear that number.
When Porter arrived at Marshall, she requested No. 11 in remembrance of the girl, whose name was Storm Cassady. When Porter had a daughter of her own, the first name was an easy choice.
"That's the type of person she is," Kemper said. "She's thoughtful, loyal and once she's in your corner, she's not going to leave."
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Porter is one of five players who will be honored as part of the senior night festivities. The others are listed below alphabetically by last name, along with their accomplishments and comments from Kemper:
Tana Driver, 5-0, redshirt junior, Irving, Texas
Driver has played in 71 games in three seasons, and has 81 points and 63 assists. She played 21 crucial minutes in a homecoming game last season, helping the Herd win at North Texas, 62-54. Her career high in points was 12 and she once had a seven-assist game.
Kemper: "Tana will be remembered around here for her diminutive size, but played big in crucial spots throughout her career. She was tremendous in a return trip home to Texas by leading us in the fourth quarter to a win last year against North Texas. She is an excellent passer who always enjoyed making a play for a teammate."
Logan Fraley, 5-10, senior, Ashland, Kentucky
Fraley did not play this season, but was a valuable contributor on and off the floor since she arrived on campus in 2015. She saw action in 83 games (24 starts) and scored 272 points, drained 74 3-pointers and collected 33 steals. Fraley ranks No. 14 in program history in career 3-pointers made, and is currently No. 3 in career 3-point percentage (37.0).
Kemper: "Logan's career was cut short by injury, but she was still able to make an impact our 2018-19 season with her positive attitude and communication within our team. Logan is an excellent 3-point shooter, a smart player with a great understanding of the game, she was a calming presence at all times when she was on the floor."
Shayna Gore, 5-8, senior, Logan, West Virginia
With 9 points Thursday night, Gore will become the third player in MU women's basketball history with 2,000 career points. She is a legendary shooter, ranking second all-time in field goals made (686) and No. 1 in 3-pointers (293). Sikeetha Shepard-Hall, who ranks second all-time in 3s with 146, could double her career total and still trail Gore.
Gore also has 304 career assists, which ranks No. 7 in program history, and if she can reach the 2,000-point milestone, she will be the only player in program history with 2,000 points and 300 assists. She needs 11 steals to reach 200 for her career, which would make her the sixth player at Marshall to accomplish the feat.
Kemper: "Tremendous basketball talent in all phases. She is a gym rat who is always working on her game, that hard work shows in her accomplishments on the floor. She will go down as one of the best scorers in Marshall women's basketball history. She loved playing here at Marshall in front of her home state fans, and that passion for playing will be hard to replace."
Jovana Vucetic, 6-1, junior, Loznica, Serbia
Vucetic saw action in 31 games in three seasons, scoring 23 points and grabbing 27 rebounds. She also had five career blocked shots.
Kemper: "One of the hardest working people in our program on and off the floor. Improved every year she was in at Marshall and was instrumental in helping this team grow with her positive energy. She has graduated in three years and is one of the best students we have ever here."
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a seven-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill) and Instagram (wordontheherd).
