From Downtown goes behind-the-scenes with an SMC Women's Basketball player to get an in-depth look at the story of each Gael.
 
To Gaels fans, there is nothing "little" about New Zealand. Yes, it might geographically be the 76^th-largest country in the world, but its pipeline to Saint Mary's is quite large.
 
One of the more recent products of that pipeline is guard Tayla Dalton, about to enter her sophomore season, who hopes to leave a big impact on the Women's Basketball program.
 
"I'll do anything I can to help some others come through the program."
 
There are no shortages of challenges in completing a freshman season as an international player during a global pandemic, but that is what Dalton was faced with in advance of year one. For her, waiting became the name of the game, and like the rest of the world, she had no idea how long it might last.
 
"I didn't know if I was actually going to get [to Saint Mary's]," recalled Dalton. "It was such a long waiting game. We put a plan in place, we were ready to book the flights…and then nope, the borders were still shut and we couldn't fly. When you've been waiting for a moment for so long and it gets ripped away from you, it can be pretty hard."
 
"When I could get on a flight, I literally took the first flight I could, got over there and did my quarantine. That's a pretty rough way to begin your college experience, but we got through that!" Dalton said with a laugh, going back on her 14 days of what was essentially isolation.  "Once I met the team though, it already felt like home."
 
For someone who did not get a chance to meet the team until a relatively short while before the start of the season, Dalton got a lot of playing time from the first game. She played 26 minutes in the Gaels season opener against VCU, scoring 16 points on 16 shot attempts, while also registering three steals. In non-conference games, she scored 10+ points three times, including a season-best 18 points in her first home game as a Gael against Nevada on December 21. At that point, things were cruising for the Auckland native. 
 
Conference play was a different beast for Dalton, where she averaged just 3.4 points per game over the 18-game conference slate. The Gaels also got deeper during the season, with the addition of Hannah Rapp and the return from injuries by West and Emily Codding, so there were fewer chances for Dalton on the court. It was a bit discouraging for Dalton, who likes to play with confidence.
 
"Being someone with high expectations, I was pretty gutted with how my freshman year went," Dalton said candidly. "I think I could have contributed more than I did, and there are a lot of reasons why that happened. But I have a year under my belt now. I know my conference, I know what my teammates want to play like, and I know what the coaches expect of me. I lost a lot of confidence in my ability in year one. So for me, it's about re-growing my confidence."
 
International experience is a great way to get that confidence back, and Dalton has ample experience overseas. Not only is Dalton working with the Gaels, but she is also in camp with the Tall Ferns, the national women's basketball team for New Zealand. Among those she is playing with, former Gael great Stella Beck is one of the players she is honing her craft with.
 
"Stella and I are good mates, so it's really cool catching up with her," said Dalton. "She would ask me 'how's the cafeteria?' and 'is this professor still there?' How cool is it that I can come home and someone knows where I've been? But what an awesome player and amazing person she is, so getting to learn off of her in camp was pretty special."
 
With the ultimate goal of playing on an Olympic team one day, Dalton has been training for that for years. She's been on the age-teams for New Zealand throughout her life, and that has given her the chance to play in tournaments and World Cups around the world. Even working with the Tall Ferns has helped her grow and become a more confident player.
 
"What's amazing about it is that it's any age, the top of the top," Dalton explains about those she plays with. "I remember my first camp a few years back when I was in high school and there were mothers there with their babies!" She started laughing as she explained her thought process: "Oh my goodness! But then they get on the court and it's incredible."
 
"That's what is so special about playing for ol' New Zealand…you play everyone here. But every country has a different style of play, and I've played them in World Cups and Asia Cup Qualifiers. Japan, they have the fastest players I have ever played against and they can shoot the lights out of the ball. In Australia, they are all so gifted and skilled…every player has a different style and that was huge for me before coming to college because if I didn't have that international exposure, I really would have had a shock."
 
If the experience she has gained from New Zealand hoops isn't enough for making a big impression, her experience with her mother's foundation certainly will be. In 2017, Dalton's mother Tania, who was a well-renowned Silver Fern and part of the 2003 Netball World Championships for New Zealand, passed away due to a ruptured internal carotid artery aneurysm. Her father set up the Tania Dalton Foundation to help young female New Zealanders lead their biggest life – and Tayla is on the board.
 
"We are trying to help keep them in their sport and we have programs and mentors and financial support as well," explains Dalton. "We want them to reach their full potential. It's cool that I get to help give back and keep [my mom's] legacy alive by being able to help contribute to these young girls and their sports."
 
It should come as no surprise that Tania was the reason Tayla got into sports – such as basketball, netball, and surf livesaving (those were the three big ones that Tayla did growing up). Surprisingly, however, Tania was all for Tayla going the basketball route. "It was actually my mom that suggested that maybe I focus on basketball," Dalton recalled. "Which is kind of nice because then I was doing my own thing and I wasn't getting compared to anyone. But she loved that basketball was aggressive and she would love to be able to see what I get to do at Saint Mary's."
 
With fans in the stands, hopefully this season, and with extra eyes from above, we will all watch Dalton as she runs the point guard position for the Gaels next season, taking that leap "as a little baby" as she called herself "from little ol' New Zealand," into another fantastic Gael guard from overseas.

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