Peacocke bounces into Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame jersey display

Former Inglemoor High standout Taylor Peacocke tore it up on the court during her senior season at Western Washington University (WWU), and now her jersey is part of a display at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, according to the WWU website.

In recognition of her outstanding play during the 2016-17 season, the guard’s No. 3 jersey is among those currently hanging in the Ring of Honor at the hall in Knoxville, Tenn.

During her senior season, Peacocke — who graduated on June 10 — helped guide the Vikings to the semifinal round of the NCAA Division II West Regional and a 26-6 overall record. She scored 745 points during her senior year to become the first player in Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) history to exceed 700 points in a season, setting the WWU single-season scoring record as well and leading all of NCAA Division II with a 23.3 points per game average.

The Ring of Honor features jerseys of the top college and high school players from the previous season with a display of more than 100 jerseys hanging from the rafters of the back rotunda at the hall.

“This honor means more to me that I can even express in words,” Peacocke said on the WWU site. “Some of the players who have been honored in the American Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in the past are players I have looked up to since I first started playing and discovered my love and passion for the game of basketball.”

In past years, featured jerseys have included basketball greats Candace Parker, Brittney Griner, Sue Bird, Candice Wiggins and Breanna Stewart.

Peacocke — who thanked her parents and family for their solid support over the years on the WWU site — concluded her collegiate career with 1,940 career points, ranking second in WWU history behind Jo Metzger (1,990 points, 1977-81) as well as second in GNAC history behind Simon Fraser’s Erin Chambers (1,946 points, 2011-2015). Her career points total ranked eighth among active Division II players and her career scoring average of 16.3 points per game ranks second in WWU history behind Metzger at 18.3 points per game. She holds the GNAC record for points scored in league games with 1,244 points.

Following her senior season Peacocke was named a First Team All-American by both the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and Division II Bulletin, as well as a Second Team All-American by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA). After the season, she participated in the 20th Annual Women’s Pro Combine and Free Agent Camp hosted at the University of Texas at Dallas during NCAA Final Four weekend.

“I can say whole heartedly that my experience at WWU and the women’s basketball program at the university have been life changing and hands down the best experience of my life,” Peacocke said on the WWU site. “I owe every single piece of success to the program, the community, my teammates and my incredible coaches who have supported me throughout every step in my journey. I owe so much about the person and the player I am today to my coaches. I cannot express how grateful I am for their dedication, passion, knowledge and genuine care to not only develop me as a basketball player but as a strong, independent woman as well.”

She added on the WWU site that she entered the college’s program expecting to leave a better player, but left an even better person.

“This program taught me the core values of selflessness, humility, family and the value and voice that us women athletes have in a society that is primarily male-dominant in the world of athletics,” she said on the WWU site. “I won’t always remember the wins or the statistics, but what I will always remember are the relationships I’ve been blessed with along the way, the values I’ve been taught and ingrained within the framework of my own belief system, as well as the feeling of being able to represent a program and university that represents and values so much more than just athletics, but people and diversity as well.”