Natalie Taylor (née Purcell; born 24 December 1982) is a New Zealand professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. She was a member of

New Zealand women's national basketball team The New Zealand's elite women's basketball team is affectionately known to their home fans as the Tall Ferns. The team has been coached by Guy Molloy since 2018. The assistant coaches are Aik Ho and Jody Cameron. The Tall Ferns have a FIBA worl ...

at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. She scored five points in the game they played against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, which they were defeated 80–63. Taylor has been re-signed for the BDS Logan Thunder in the

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the pre-eminent professional women's basketball league in Australia. It is currently composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the women's counterpart to the National Baske ...

(WNBL) for 2011/2012. She played for the University of Limerick in the Irish Superleague in the 2010/2011 season after previously playing for the BDS Logan Thunder in the 2008-09 & 2009-10 WNBL seasons. In 2007 Taylor returned to New Zealand to debut for the New Zealand Tall Ferns national basketball team and play for the inaugural

Christchurch Sirens Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

in the WNBL. She was

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

for New Zealand's Women's Basketball League (WBL) in 2007. She captained her Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team in the 2004-05 & 2005-06 NCAA seasons and broke school history by making the NCAA tournament for the first time in 2006 with an opening game against Stanford University. Taylor is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. She is the younger sister of fellow New Zealand female professional basketball player and Latter-day Saint

Charmian Mellars Charmian Mellars (; born 7 January 1979 in Papakura, Auckland) is a New Zealand female professional basketball player. She was a member of New Zealand women's national basketball team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She scored six points and gr ...

. She is married to Ezra Taylor (former

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union club competition ...

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

player now playing in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

Sources

''Mormon Times'' article, 13 August 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Natalie 1984 births Living people New Zealand women's basketball players New Zealand Latter Day Saints Southeast Missouri State University alumni Olympic basketball players for New Zealand Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games medallists in basketball New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Australia Small forwards Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games