Hill City’s Maggie Taylor heads into third season excited to take on a bigger role with Drake women’s basketball

By Matt Gade 

605 Sports 

DES MOINES — After a breakout sophomore season, Hill City’s Maggie Taylor is even more excited for her third year with the Drake University women’s basketball team. 

During the 2025-26 season, Taylor became one of the Bulldogs’ top players off the bench, averaging just over 20 minutes per game. 

Taylor scored 270 points for an average of 8.4 points per game, grabbed 216 rebounds, averaging 6.8 per game, along with 53 assists, 18 blocks and 17 steals. 

At Hill City, standing 6’2”, Taylor stood above most of her competition, but once the former Ranger got to college, she knew she had to really focus on her basketball skills if she was going to compete. 

“I think just gaining experience overall-it's definitely a transition coming from high school to college basketball, the pace of play, the physicality, and I think getting that under my belt was really important to allowing me to have more minutes in my sophomore season,” Taylor said. “It is definitely an adjustment. I'm kind of the average height now compared to what I was in high school. But as the years go on, you do a lot of strength and conditioning work, and talk a lot about diet and stuff like that.  

“I think all that really helps too, and just growing into your position. I think last year that helped a lot, and I think it's also going to be really important going into this year. I think you also learn your advantages against people the same size as you, or bigger than you, or smaller than you. You always have an advantage over someone in some way. Everyone does. So I think it's really important to learn what that is and then emphasize that from game to game.” 

In her first year at Drake, Taylor saw action in 33 of the team’s 34 games that season, averaging 1.8 points and 3.0 rebounds a game.  

That season, the Drake women finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference with an overall record of 22-12.  

Last year, the Bulldogs finished sixth in the MVC with a 12-20 record and went 10-10 in conference play. 

This year, the Bulldogs were picked fifth in the conference preseason poll. 

Taylor says she and the team have expectations to make a run for the conference championship. 

Now in her third year, Taylor said she expects to be an even more integral part of the Bulldogs' system. 

“I think at Drake we talk a lot about this kind of positionless basketball. Everybody has the opportunity to kind of play every role, really. Obviously, a little bit within reason, but I think that overall, that has definitely helped my game develop and be very well-rounded, and just give me the confidence, kind of in every aspect of the game to go for it,” Taylor said. “The first year, first year and a half is just a lot of learning, and I feel like this year, definitely, I understand our system pretty completely. 

“Going into my third year of playing here, I've been in the positions of everyone in the underclassmen realm right now, and so I think just my biggest goal as far as leading is just letting them know I'm always there for them, and that it does get easier. You start to understand more, you start to get more confident in everything, and so I really am just trying to embrace that.” 

Taylor said she also hopes she can be a role model for kids back in Hill City, that if you put in the work you can compete at the collegiate level in sports. 

She also said she’s grateful to have gone to school in Hill City, because the community still supports her despite being more than 600 miles away. 

“I just really hope I inspire every athlete in Hill City to you know chase the dreams that you want and know that if you work hard and you're consistent, you're going to get there,” she said. “I'm really proud of where I grew up, where I went to elementary, middle school, and high school, and I feel the support from them all the time. I mean, anytime I'm home, I get asked about it. We talk about games, and so I definitely feel the support. I'll get texts from people too during the season, watching games and just cheering me on. So it really means a lot, and I think it speaks to a lot to how great the community is in Hill City.” 

One of the big reasons Taylor said she chose Drake from the very beginning was not only the basketball culture, but the quality of education she’s getting too. 

“We have the opportunity to get a very good education while playing at a high level, which I think is really important. The culture and community here was really important to me,” she said. “The team is super close, which is something that I was really looking for in a program. And you can just see the chemistry also between the coaches and the athletes when I was being recruited. And since being here, I know I've mentioned it before, but we are just surrounded by really, really good people, and I think that's important in life overall. Is to surround yourself with good people to make you a good person.” 

At Drake, Taylor is majoring in finance, where she says the Drake community has allowed her to see numerous avenues she could pursue with her degree. 

Since the NCAA’s adoption of the 5-for-5 eligibility rule, Taylor said she hasn’t really thought about whether she’ll take advantage of an extra year of basketball or not. 

Rather, she’s just taking it one year at a time. 

Right now, Taylor and the Bulldogs are focused on their 2026-27 season, which opens up tonight with Drake hosting Eastern Illinois.  

“I'm extremely excited,” Taylor said of the season. “I think I always have a lot of confidence in the group of people I'm around, so I'm really excited to just see the work we've been putting in since the season ended last year to now, and just see how that transpires on the court, and then how we just continue to grow throughout the season.  

“I think it's going to be amazing. So I'm really looking forward to it, and super excited to get back on the floor and start playing some different teams and more competition.”