It is the final seconds of the game, and the score is tied. The crowd is glued to their seat, the atmosphere is tense as they wait to see which team will score next.

Senior Taylor Stevens, then a sophomore, and her team are speeding down the court to set up offense for a fast score.

Her teammate throws a pass in her direction, sweat flying off the ball with the extra force given to it. Stevens catches the pass, and with a calm and collected nature, steps past the defender and attempts to lay the ball in.

As the final buzzer sounds, she celebrates with her team as the shot goes in, and the squad defeats crosstown rivals Matoaca.

It is moments like this that Stevens says makes her love the game. Approaching her last season, she now has a chance to take on the next chapter of her athletic and academic career.

This past Wed., she committed to Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina, in a signing event for her and two other senior athletes.
Stevens was honored and relieved to find out she had received the offer.

“I was very grateful to receive the offer but I knew I needed to decide where to go so it was kind of stressful,” Stevens said via Instagram.
Girls varsity basketball head coach Shavohn Curley shared in her player’s excitement.

“I was excited. That’s what you hope for, for any of your players playing varsity,” Curley said. “You want them striving for a scholarship – that’s the main goal.”

Queens offers her the chance to do something she always wanted: to study internationally, while having a chance to play the game she loves.
“I chose Queens because I can travel abroad and it won’t interfere with my basketball schedule,” Stevens said. “And my relationship with the coaches was unmatched.”

Stevens contributes her opportunity to play at the next level to her vision and ability to spread the ball on the court.

“I feel that my court awareness is very strong so I can pass the ball to open teammates,” Stevens said. “Also, when I drive I like to pass to the post player.”

Curley says one of Stevens’ strongest attributes is her intelligence and her leadership ability.

“She’s a natural leader, she leads by example on the court,” Curley said. “She gets her players involves and puts them in their spots. Off the court, she’s a heck of a student, like basketball, she is putting in that extra time, which is what paid off for her getting that scholarship.”

Aside from her abilities on the court, she thanks her family for getting her this far. She says they are what push her to be a better player.

“My family is what inspires because they always want me to do my best,” Stevens said. “If I don’t I feel like I’m letting them down.”

Entering her final season playing at the high school level, she hopes to leave a lasting mark, not only in the record books, but by taking home some hardware.

“I want to score a thousand points and lead my team to a state championship,” Stevens said.

Curley is excited to see what Stevens will do once she steps into her role at the next level.

“I hope to see her grow, I think she has a lot of room to get better, to learn more about the game,” Curley said. “Even for me, as I got older, I learned more and more about the game. I thought I knew a lot when I was in high school, but there is another part of game that she’s going to learn, and I’m excited for her to learn, and I’m excited for her game to step up to another level.”