Kirkwood Coach Kim Muhl went on a recruiting trip to the Chicago suburbs last year to scout a player at Rich East High School who ended up going to Monroe College in New York.
It turned out to be a fruitful trip, however, because Muhl landed a talented point guard from Rich East instead.
Hello, Tay Tay Wilson.
Wilson made three 3-pointers tossed in 20 points Saturday to help the top-ranked Eagles gun down the DMACC Bears, 82-57, in an ICCAC Conference game at Johnson Hall.
"We were actually recruiting another kid from her high school," Muhl explained. "I liked Tay. She hit shots. Point guards that can hit shots are fun."
Wilson made it a fun day for Kirkwood as the Eagles raised their impeccable records to 26-0 overall and 10-0 in the league with four games left in the regular season.
Wilson, a 5-foot-6 freshman, is averaging just 6.5 points and 3.2 assists for Kirkwood, but don't be fooled by those modest numbers. She's the floor general on a deep and balanced club where the points, rebounds and assists are spread around.
Wilson can score 20 points and help her club win a ballgame, or she can score no points and help her team.
"I really don't care about scoring," she maintained. "All I care about is the win and having fun.
"I like setting me team up, making sure everybody is where they're supposed to be and doing what they're supposed to do."
Muhl can be a tough taskmaster, but he thinks Wilson has done an excellent job this season.
"She's running our stuff, she's passing the ball, she's hitting shots," he said. "She's doing what I recruited her to do.
"I think she's really come a long ways. She played a great floor game today. Hit shots, too. And she'll guard you. I think she's done a nice job."
"The other day in practice," Wilson related, "my coach pulled me to the side and said I haven't been performing well and I need to pick it up. And I was motivated to do better."
Kirkwood led 49-28 at halftime on the way to its 25-point victory over a DMACC team that is ranked No. 7 in the country at 22-4 overall. Last month, the Eagles walloped the Bears by 37 points in Boone.
DMACC has the second-best record in the conference at 8-2, but there's quite a gap between the No. 1 team and the No. 2 team in the league this year with Kirkwood on top.
"Honestly, I knew we were going to be a good team," said Wilson. "The first day we came to practice, I thought everybody had a different vibe to bring to the team, everybody was good at something different.
"So I knew we were going to be a good team, but I didn't know it was going to be THIS good. We're having a great season."
Shaneequah Watkins had a big day for Kirkwood with 18 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two assists. Simone Goods finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
The Eagles played their second game without Awal Ajak, a key reserve who injured her left knee against Southwestern last Saturday. Ajak is scheduled for an MRI on Monday, but the prognosis does not appear favorable, according to Muhl.
DMACC (57): Cartney 2 0-0 5, Dean 2 0-0 6, Pretz 2 0-0 5, Agoth 2 1-2 6, Hughes 4 1-1 10, Clark 3 3-7 9, Shockley 0 0-0 0, Atwood 1 0-0 2, Brown 3 0-1 7, Mitchell 1 0-2 2, Kallas 0 0-0 0, Ira 1 0-0 3, Meehan 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 5-13 57.
KIRKWOOD (82): Harris 2 5-6 9, T.Wilson 8 1-2 20, Watkins 7 3-4 18, Goods 5 1-2 11, Usher 3 2-2 9, Puok 0 0-0 0, Hedges 0 0-0 0, Axcell 1 0-0 2, Taylor 1 0-2 2, Voss 2 1-2 5, Cotton 3 0-1 6, C.Wilson 0 0-0 0, Achenbach 0 0-0 0. Totals 32 13-21 82.
Halftime - Kirkwood 49, DMACC 28. 3-point goals - DMACC 8 (Dean 2, Cartney 1, Pretz 1, Agoth 1, Hughes 1, Brown 1, Ira 1), Kirkwood 5 (T.Wilson 3, Watkins 1, Usher 1).
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