Penny Taylor

Penelope Jane "Penny" Taylor (born 24 May 1981) is an Australian retired professional basketball player. During her 19 year career, Taylor spent the most time with the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association, where she won three championships. She also won the Women's National Basketball League with her first club, the Australian Institute of Sport, and played in China, Italy, Turkey and Russia. As part of the Australian woman's national team, Taylor won two Olympic medals and led the Australian Opals to a gold medal at the World Championships, winning tournament MVP honours ahead of teammate Lauren Jackson.

Personal

Penny was born in Melbourne, Victoria to English parents Michael Taylor and Denna Noble. She has a younger brother named Phillip and an older sister named Heather. As both her parents are tall, they thought Penny would inherit their height and put her in the Belgrave South Red Devils basketball club at the age of 4. The camaraderie helped Taylor overcome her shyness, and eventually move to the Nunawading Spectres. Penny attended Upwey High School in Upwey, Victoria, and after graduating earned a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.^[1]^[2]

Taylor posed nude in an Australian magazine, Black+White, that featured Olympic athletes who were set to compete in Athens in the 2004 Summer Olympics. The expensively printed magazine/book has been produced for the last three Olympic Games and, by the 2004 edition, was considered relatively uncontroversial in Australia with its "artistic" approach to nude photography and its equal coverage of male and female athletes.

She also holds a UK passport due to her parents' origin.^[3] Taylor was married in 2005 to Brazilian volleyball player Rodrigo Rodrigues Gil, but they have since divorced.^[4]

WNBL career

Taylor debuted in the Women's National Basketball League playing for the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) starting in 1997-98, winning the WNBL title the following season. Afterwards she moved to Dandenong Rangers, where she remained from 1999 to 2002. Taylor led the league in scoring with 25.5 points per game and steals with 2.5 steals per game during the 200-1 season, being named the WNBL MVP in that season and the next.

After 12 years away from the Australian league, Taylor signed with the Rangers for the 2014–15 WNBL season. Her main intention for the return was to stay close to her family, playing in front of her nephews while also tending for her cancer-ridden father.^[5] She scored 20.2 points a game from 17 matches in qualifying the Rangers for the playoffs.^[6] During the semifinals against the Sydney Uni Flames, the Rangers were 15 points ahead when Taylor injured her ankle with eight minutes remaining, and her absence was enough for Sydney to take over and win the game.^[7]

WNBA career

She was selected by the Cleveland Rockers in the first round (11th overall) during the annual WNBA Draft on 20 April 2001. She starred for the Rockers for three seasons.

In January 2004, the WNBA held a dispersal draft, where the league's existing teams selected former players from the Rockers team. Taylor was selected as the first overall pick by the Phoenix Mercury.

In July 2007 she was chosen as a reserve for the WNBA All Star game. On 16 September 2007, Penny Taylor along with Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter led the Phoenix Mercury to the WNBA championship defeating the Detroit Shock in the final game 5 of the finals, 108 – 92, they became the first team to end out a finals series at an away venue in the WNBA.

Taylor sat out most of the 2009 season after having ankle surgery that required nine weeks of recovery, but returned to the Mercury mid-season and averaged 10.7 points off the bench. The Mercury went on to win the WNBA Championship that year, beating the Indiana Fever 3 games to 2, with Taylor making 2 clutch free throws down the stretch to help clinch the decisive game 94–86.

In 2012, Taylor suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury of her left knee playing in Turkey during the WNBA offseason, and was forced to sit out of the Mercury's season. Her year-long recovery in Australia had Taylor going through three knee operations, including one to remove floating cartilage revealed in an magnetic resonance imaging exam, and seeing her mother die of cancer.^[8] Taylor's return to the Mercury in 2013 eventually had her other knee give in after six games, leading her to further surgery.^[9]

Penny Taylor (number 13) with the Mercury during her final season with the team.

Taylor spent the 2014 pre-season working with both the Mercury and the Phoenix Suns health staff to make sure her return to basketball worked.^[10] Under new coach and former Australia teammate Sandy Brondello, Taylor saw limited minutes during the first eleven games of the 2014 WNBA season. Once Brondello saw her recovered enough, Taylor returned as a Mercury starter, and the team would then go on to win the following 16 games, the longest win streak in WNBA history and not lose again at home for the remainder of the 2014 season. Taylor's return helped lead the team to the best result in the Western Conference with an average of 10.5 points a game for 33 game, as well as the best record in league history with 29 wins and 5 losses, only one of whom had Taylor as a starter.^[11]^[12] The Mercury returned to the WNBA Finals, winning the title against the Chicago Sky.^[13] An unsigned free agent in 2015, she decided to sit out the 2015 season for personal reasons after the loss of her father. The Mercury re-signed her on February 8, 2016, and Taylor was present right at the first game to start her thirteenth season at the WNBA.^[14]^[15] Prior to the August break for the Olympics, Taylor announced she would retire at the end of the season.^[16] Her last career game happened on October 2 in Phoenix, as the Mercury were swept by the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA semifinals.^[17]

International basketball

Taylor (number 7) and the Opals at the podium for the 2006 World Championship, where she was chosen Most Valuable Player.

Taylor has been a regular member of the Australia women's national basketball team, the "Opals", since 2002, when she got a bronze medal in the 2002 FIBA World Championship for Women. Her biggest accomplishment was winning the 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women in Brazil, where Taylor was named Most Valuable Player of the championship. Taylor has also won two straight silver medals in the Olympic Games tournament, in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.^[18] She wound up out of the Opals for the 2012 Summer Olympics after injuring herself playing in Turkey for Fenerbahçe.^[19] Taylor was named Australian Opals captain for the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women on the Australian team, helping the team win the bronze medal. Taylor was named to the All-Star Five, the best five players for the entire tournament.^[20] Her last tournament with the Opals was the Rio 2016 Olympics, where Australia fell in the quarterfinals.^[21]

During the WNBA offseason, Taylor has played in Italy, Russia and Turkey, winning each league at least once.^[18] The 2015-16 offseason had Taylor in the Shanxi Flame of the Women's Chinese Basketball Association, averaging 23.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists.^[14]

WNBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career high		League leader

WNBA regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2001	Cleveland	32	0	17.5	.382	.301	.783	3.5	1.4	1.0	0.3	1.1	7.2
2002	Cleveland	30	26	30.3	.416	.342	.853	5.3	2.3	1.2	0.3	1.9	13.0
2003	Cleveland	34	33	26.4	.421	.343	.821	4.4	2.4	1.1	0.2	1.7	11.7
2004	Phoenix	33	33	32.6	.484	.427	.861	4.8	2.5	1.5	0.4	2.4	13.2
2005	Phoenix	29	29	29.4	.464	.404	.864	4.1	3.2	1.3	0.3	2.6	13.2
2006	Phoenix	20	8	26.8	.445	.369	.864	5.7	2.6	1.4	0.4	1.4	13.9
2007	Phoenix	34	34	29.7	.499	.378	.884	6.3	2.9	1.5	0.6	2.2	17.8
2009	Phoenix	14	1	20.2	.463	.400	.896	2.4	2.3	1.2	0.1	2.2	10.9
2010	Phoenix	32	32	30.0	.509	.442	.893	4.4	5.0	1.4	0.2	2.3	15.9
2011	Phoenix	29	29	29.8	.511	.402	.874	4.9	4.7	1.6	0.3	2.2	16.7
2013	Phoenix	10	3	16.1	.472	.421	.963	2.1	1.7	0.8	0.1	0.6	8.4
2014	Phoenix	33	24	23.4	.479	.357	.848	3.1	3.1	1.2	0.4	1.7	10.5
2016	Phoenix	25	25	25.7	.488	.396	.907	3.8	3.6	1.5	0.4	1.6	12.5
Career		355	277	26.8	.466	.382	.868	4.4	3.0	1.4	0.3	2.0	13.0

WNBA Postseason

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2001	Cleveland	3	0	19.7	.320	.182	.750	3.0	1.0	2.0	0.3	1.6	7.0
2003	Cleveland	3	3	33.0	.444	.300	.833	4.3	1.0	2.0	0.3	2.0	15.0
2007	Phoenix	9	9	34.6	.464	.400	.912	7.9	3.8	1.7	1.1	2.7	19.3
2009	Phoenix	11	0	24.1	.527	.484	.863	3.5	3.4	0.3	0.1	1.0	14.3
2010	Phoenix	4	4	31.8	.474	.556	.882	4.8	6.8	2.0	0.5	2.2	14.0
2011	Phoenix	5	5	30.8	.478	.308	.833	5.2	3.0	0.8	0.2	1.8	11.6
2013	Phoenix	2	2	20.0	.500	.333	.500	2.0	4.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	6.0
2014	Phoenix	8	8	27.7	.492	.263	.903	5.1	4.9	1.7	0.3	1.1	11.4
2016	Phoenix	5	5	26.1	.368	.313	.958	4.4	3.0	1.6	0.8	1.8	11.2
Career		50	36	28.1	.466	.364	.887	4.9	3.6	1.4	0.5	1.7	13.4

References

External links

Phoenix Mercury current roster

3 Taurasi 4 Dupree 5 Petrović 8 Bass 10 Harding 12 Harden 13 Taylor 20 Harrison 21 Xargay 24 Bonner 42 Griner 45 Bone Head Coach Brondello Assistant Coaches Hairgrove Troxel

East ATL CHI CON IND NY WAS West DAL LA MIN PHO SA SEA

Awards and Achievements

2001 WNBA Draft

First Round	Lauren Jackson Kelly Miller Tamika Catchings Jackie Stiles Ruth Riley Deanna Nolan Svetlana Abrosimova Marie Ferdinand-Harris Coco Miller Katie Douglas Penny Taylor LaQuanda Barksdale Kristen Veal Kelly Schumacher Amanda Lassiter Camille Cooper

Second Round	Semeka Randall Tammy Sutton-Brown Niele Ivey Jenny Mowe Georgia Schweitzer Jae Kingi-Cross Erin Buescher Michaela Pavlíčková Tamara Stocks Brooke Wyckoff Jaynetta Saunders Janell Burse Ilona Korstin Jackie Moore Tynesha Lewis Nicole Levandusky

Phoenix Mercury 2007 WNBA Champions

0 Olympia Scott 2 Kelly Miller 3 Diana Taurasi 5 Teana Miller 11 Kelly Schumacher 12 Belinda Snell 13 Penny Taylor-Gil 21 Jennifer Lacy 23 Cappie Pondexter (Finals MVP) 24 Jennifer Derevjanik 33 Kelly Mazzante 50 Tangela Smith Head coach Paul Westhead

Phoenix Mercury 2009 WNBA Champions

2 Temeka Johnson 3 Diana Taurasi (Finals MVP) 11 Ketia Swanier 13 Penny Taylor 21 Brooke Smith 23 Cappie Pondexter 24 DeWanna Bonner 30 Nicole Ohlde 33 Kelly Mazzante 43 Le'coe Willingham 50 Tangela Smith Head coach Corey Gaines

Phoenix Mercury 2014 WNBA Champions

3 Diana Taurasi (Finals MVP) 4 Candice Dupree 8 Mistie Bass 10 Anete Jēkabsone-Žogota 11 Ewelina Kobryn 13 Penny Taylor 14 Shay Murphy 23 Tiffany Bias 24 DeWanna Bonner 31 Erin Phillips 42 Brittney Griner Head coach Sandy Brondello

Australia women's squad – 2004 Summer Olympics – Silver medal

4 Poto 5 Tranquilli 6 Brondello 7 Taylor 8 Batkovic 9 Fallon 10 Harrower 11 Summerton 12 Snell 13 Porter 14 Sporn 15 Jackson Coach: Stirling

Australia women's squad – 2006 World Championships – Gold medal

4 Phillips 5 Bevilaqua 6 Screen 7 Taylor-Gil 8 Randall 9 Grima 10 Harrower 11 Summerton 12 Snell 13 Whittle 14 McInerny 15 Jackson Coach: Stirling

Australia women's squad – 2008 Summer Olympics – Silver medal

4 Phillips 5 Bevilaqua 6 Screen 7 Taylor 8 Batkovic 9 Grima 10 Harrower 11 Summerton 12 Snell 13 Randall 14 Cox 15 Jackson Coach: Stirling

Australia women's squad – 2014 FIBA World Championship – Bronze medal

4 Lavey 5 Mitchell 6 Allen 7 Taylor 8 Richards 9 Burton 10 Jarry 11 Hodges 12 Snell 13 Phillips 14 Tolo 15 Francis Coach: Joyce

Australia women's squad – 2016 Summer Olympics – 5th place

4 Lavey 5 Mitchell 6 Talbot 7 Taylor 8 Cambage 9 Burton 10 Jarry 11 Hodges 12 Ebzery 13 Phillips 14 Tolo 15 George Coach: Joyce

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