[ By HOUSTON BAPTIST UNIVERSITY ]
HOUSTON — HBU head women’s basketball coach Donna Finnie announced the hiring of Taylor Stahly as the program’s new director of operations on Monday morning. Stahly is a former Hutchinson Blue Dragon women’s basketball standout originally from Newton, Kansas.
“I am thrilled to add Taylor to our staff,” Finnie said. “I was a big fan of Taylor as a basketball player and she is coming from Louisiana Tech where she played for a great coach in Brooke Stoehr who teaches her players how to do things the right way, on and off the court. It was evident during my conversations with Taylor that her passion for the game and her commitment to excellence will help her adjust quickly to being on a coaching staff and she will be a great addition to the HBU family.”
Stahly recently concluded her playing career at Louisiana Tech, where she played for two seasons after spending her first two years of collegiate eligibility at Hutchinson Community College. As a senior, she earned Google Cloud Academic All-America third team honors. In her two seasons with the Lady Techsters, Stahly climbed to fourth on the program’s all-time made three-pointers list with 148. Her 85 threes as a junior fell one shy of the program single season record.
“Congratulations to HBU and Coach Finnie on the hiring of Taylor Stahly,” Stahly’s former coach Brooke Stoehr said. “She will be a great addition to their staff and represent their program and university in a first-class manner. Taylor’s attention to detail and work ethic will benefit their staff and help make a positive impact on the students each day. I look forward to watching her grow as a young professional and following their program.”
“I am very blessed to be joining Coach Donna and her staff at HBU,” Stahly added. “I am excited to learn from this experience and grow as a person spiritually, academically and athletically each day. Basketball has been my passion from a young age and I am very thankful that I can give back to the game that has given so much to me as a player.”
Stahly also earned recognition from Conference USA as the recipient of the Air Force Reserve C-USA Winter Spirit of Service Award. The award recognizes community service efforts among the league’s student-athletes. Stahly was heavily involved in the Ruston, Louisiana, community, volunteering her time with a number of local causes.