It is widely clichéd in the realm of sports that “defense wins championships”. Occasionally, you’ll come to find out it’s more false than true. And other times just the opposite. For one Oklahoma City University women’s basketball player, Taylor Booze is hoping you’ll hear it – and identify her and the Stars with it – in just a few short weeks.
Booze, this week’s Super Star Athlete of the week, is doing her best to bring that mentality to the hardwood at Abe Lemons Arena, night in and night out. She doesn’t necessarily thrive on a gaudy stat line, but more on gritty determination to make sure the opponent doesn’t score more than OCU does. Her drive to defend has worked pretty well thus far this season as the Stars are 21-2 and ranked second in NAIA Division I women’s basketball.
OCU coach Rob Edmisson is quick to point out that Booze can alter the course of a game, change the complexion of the competition and wreck havoc on opponents’ offensive mentality. Booze sees how that defensive pressure can be a game-changer too.
“I just take pride in my defense. I like locking the opponents down and getting to their heads so they feel like they can’t do anything with the ball or without the ball,” Booze said. “I think when you defend like that, it frustrates the other team and it gets them out of the game and gives us more of an advantage.”
The Stars have a trio of transfer guards that help Booze out on the defensive hardwood. The triplets of Booze, Desiree Jeffries and Donica Cosby are enough to make anyone cringe when they see a bevy of guards barreling down on them, trying to snatch the ball.
“On the court we just have this connection,” Booze said. “When we get ready to link up and lock down defensively it just changes the whole tempo of the game.”
But it’s more than just the three, it’s the dozen that makes the difference.
“When the whole team gets involved it’s crazy because we’re so deep,” Booze said. “Our defense is a key part of our game plan. No matter who is in the game it’s the same thing – same intensity, same drive, same push, same effort. When we play it as a team, it’s ridiculous.”
It’s so ridiculous that Booze and the OCU women allow their opponents to score but 56 points per game while putting up 86 of its own. The Stars hold teams to 38 percent shooting from the field, and a shade under 30 percent from beyond the arc. OCU forces its opponents into 27 turnovers a game, collecting 13 steals each night.
There are just a handful of regular season chances before the quest for the title begins as the Stars host the conference championship. But the drive to a conference title is not the end for these women. Jackson, Tenn., and the site of the NAIA Division I Championships is the destination that’s been playing in their minds as of late.
“I know my team, me and my teammates we’ve practiced hard, we’ve prepared hard, we’ve focused, all that,” Booze said. “I think once we put all that together and we really bring it – if we bring the defensive and the offensive on both ends then I don’t know who can stop us.
“Everybody sees that it’s not just about that one game, it’s about where we’re trying to get to. I think these last few games will prove that. We’ll show it. Our big picture and what we’re striving for in the long run is a national championship.”
For Booze, a chance to say “defense wins championships” and really mean it.
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