Standing at only 5-foot-9, you wouldn’t expect Taylor Rinn to dominate underneath the glass. But, that’s the beauty of heart over height in basketball. The senior forward came into this season with 731 rebounds, just 234 boards short of the school’s rebound record. Rinn made it her goal to make that record hers.

Averaging 14.9 boards per game through 14 matches, Rinn had a countdown to breaking the record on her phone and she knew if she stayed in her zone throughout the season and focused on her craft she would seal her fate as the school’s all-time rebounder.

But disagreements with her coach almost stopped her from holding the title.

Earlier in the season, first year head coach Dave Scarborough excused Rinn from the team, which almost took away the opportunity for her to grab a hold of the record. Rinn missed three games in December before she was reinstated due to administrative action and used this as an incentive to succeed.

“It was definitely tough missing those three games,” Rinn said. “But it also gave me motivation as three less games that I had in the season three less games to achieve my goal. So I knew that I really had to lock down in the remaining games that I had to make sure that I achieved what I wanted to achieve.”

Coach Scarborough briefly mentioned the situation but told The Globe wanted to keep the matter “private to the team.”

“We just had some issues, some team issues. Our visions weren’t aligned and we weren’t able to work through that,” said Scarborough. “Since the situation we’ve been seeing eye to eye moving forward and been on the same page again. I think that’s what kind of motivated her to break some of these goals.” 

According to Scarborough, the two began communicating with each other better and having heart-to-hearts get back on track. He would not elaborate as to why he briefly kicked Rinn off of the team. 

“My teammates were my biggest support,” Rinn said when asked about having to miss three games. “They’ve had my back and whatever decision that I ended up making, I knew they were going to support me. When I did return for the next game, it was a very exciting atmosphere and we were all kind of ready to get a win.”

 Once she got back on the court, Rinn quickly found her groove again, notching double-doubles in more than half of the games she started in. The Akron, OH native snagged 16 boards against Indiana University East on January 21st to pass Angie Dawson (1985-89) with 969 rebounds in 78 games and write her name in the history books. 

“I was counting down the boards on the bench when she broke the record. This is something she and I talked about daily, so I was so happy for her to reach these achievements,” said Tanner Hoffner, a teammate of Rinn’s. “The second I saw her grab the ball both times, I was on my feet cheering and yelling as loud as I could. I am so proud of her for what she did.”

 Scarborough also expressed his excitement when she got the record, stating he has “the utmost respect for her and what she’s done here.” 

After setting the rebound record, Rinn’s work was not over quite yet. She had her eyes on another prize — being the first female athlete at Point Park to score over 1,000 points and snag more than 1,000 boards.

“One thousand rebounds would definitely be like a nice little ending to a career here,” said Rinn. “So I’m going to keep pushing and hopefully in the next few games, I’ll be able to get 1,000 [rebounds].” 

Two games later, she suited up against WVU Tech with 999 rebounds under her belt. Before the game, there was only one thing on her mind:

“Obviously, get the board,” Rinn said. “I think I was four or five minutes into the game before I actually got it. It was a little nerve racking because it’s like, am I actually going to get it? But once I did, the rest of the rebounds came easy.”

Rinn snagged 20 rebounds against the Golden Bears and told The Globe how nice it was to have her family at the game and be able to accomplish her goal on the home court. When she originally broke the record, it was an away game. 

“It feels really special. When I came to the school originally and I committed here that wasn’t even on my radar as something I wanted to accomplish,” Rinn said when asked about being the all-time rebounder at Point Park. “As I progressed through my career here it became one of my goals and to finally beat that makes it a little more special.” 

At the time of publication, Rinn had 1,062 boards and 1,253 points, making her the ninth leading scorer in PPU women’s basketball history. Rinn surpassed 1,000 rebounds Nov. 12 in a match-up against Bryant and Stratton – Buffalo and accomplished the feat in 66 games. 

Rinn is not only the leader in the stat category, she is a leader on the court.

“Anyone on the court knows they can count on her to put up a tough layup or rebound their missed shot. It’s comforting to know we have such a valuable player underneath the hoop,” said Hoffner, who mentions how she is a great person off of the court as well and is always putting a smile on someone’s face. “She is someone I have looked up to every year that I have been here. She is a quiet leader, but I respect how she leads by example. I admire her leadership skills because she is someone that gets stuff done on and off the court.“

Coach Scarborough believes he has helped Rinn with her leadership skills this season.

“I think I’ve challenged her to be a better leader and role model, especially for the younger generation at Point Park,” Scarborough said. “We haven’t always seen eye to eye but we are [now] and I think it’s my job to challenge her in that role. It’s so much bigger than basketball.”

Rinn takes pride in being a Pioneer and amplifies what she thinks it means to hold that title.

“Being a Pioneer is being a leader on and off the court. I came in my freshman year and I had three really good players who kind of set the bar of what it’s like to be a leader,” Rinn said. “Being a leader doesn’t always mean scoring the most points or getting the most rebounds or breaking records. It’s about how you motivate your teammates, even when a loss happens. Being able to be supportive of all of your teammates, no matter if it’s a good game or a bad game is what it really means to be a Pioneer.”

Rinn’s next goal is to win a playoff game with Point Park. The Pioneers have a half game advantage over Ohio Christian University to hold fourth place in the RSC East division. If they stay in fourth, they will have a first-round home game.