Lone Senior Taylor Agler Honored With Others on Special Night
< < Back toTaylor Agler, number 0, doesn’t like being the center of attention.
That may seem contradictory when she’s a starting guard for the Lady Cats, leads the team in assists (129), was named Academic All-MAC and is the only senior on the team.
So, for Senior Night on Wednesday, Agler asked to be recognized alongside honorary captain Adyn Bucher and the senior student managers.
“It’s been an amazing ride and I’m so happy I got to finish it up here at Ohio,” Agler said after the game against Miami.
From her hometown Westerville, Agler’s college career began at Indiana University where she started all 34 games as a freshman and became recognized as one of the best passers.
Agler transferred to Ohio University as a sophomore but couldn’t compete during the 2015-16 due to transfer redshirt.
Then, she played in all 31 games the next season.
“I think, more than anything, I’ve been reflecting on how much I’m gonna miss being a basketball player,” Agler said.
She said she’s going to miss the grind of being a student athlete, the thrill of being on the court and even being yelled at by head coach Bob Boldon.
The friendships she’s made the past two years as a Bobcat have been like no other, Agler said – friendships with athletes like junior Katie Barker who shed tears when she hugged Agler after the loss to Miami, 78-56.
The Bobcats seemed to be fighting an uphill battle against the Redhawks after leading scorer Cierra Hooks was benched after taking a hard fall in the first two minutes of the game.
Agler had 9 assists during the game but said she and her teammates could have won if they were more aggressive.
“I completely believe we are more talented than Miami,” she said. “They played a lot harder than us tonight and effort always beats talent.”
Had OU beaten Miami, Wednesday night would have been Agler’s last game at the Convocation Center.
Because of the loss, she and her team will compete at home again in the playoffs Monday night.
Agler said the team just needs to work on cleaning up their defense, even after she’s gone.
But Agler leaves her mark on OU Women’s Basketball: She scored over 440 points and dished out more than 230 assists during her time playing for Ohio.