Fullerton Inexperienced, Irvine May Lack Depth in PCAA Women’s League

No longer will the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. be known in women’s college basketball circles as that “other conference out west.”

The addition of nationally ranked Cal State Long Beach (No. 11) and San Diego State (No. 16), along with existing member Nevada Las Vegas (No. 20), makes the PCAA the best conference in the west.

For years, PCAA teams played in the shadow of the Western Collegiate Athletic Assn., which annually sent two to four teams, such as USC, UCLA, Long Beach and San Diego State, to the NCAA tournament, while second-place teams from the PCAA would feel fortunate to receive a Women’s National Invitational Tournament bid.

But when USC, UCLA, Stanford, Arizona and Arizona State left the WCAA after last season to form what is now known as the Pac-West and in the process sent Long Beach, San Diego State and Cal State Fullerton packing, the PCAA welcomed the three castoffs with open arms.

And what they have now is a much more competitive conference with traditionally strong teams that have reputations as national powers--which is great for those teams with the tradition, the reputations and the power.

But it’s not so great for teams such as UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton.

By all accounts, UC Irvine had an excellent season last year. The Anteaters went 21-7 and nearly upset UNLV in the PCAA tournament championship game before losing, 61-60. A win would have meant a trip to the NCAA tournament for Irvine.

But that same team would have had trouble finishing fourth in the PCAA this year.

Anteaters Coach Dean Andrea knows that, and he’s trying to deal with it.

“We’re in a super conference, and the bottom line is that we’re gonna have to gear up to it or bear the brunt of the rest of the schools,” he said. “There isn’t much room for mistakes.”

“It’s gonna be frustrating at times, but I’m a competitive person. I’ll enjoy it. You just have to be realistic. You can’t say off the bat that we’ll win 20 games and compete for the title every year.”

Cal State Fullerton had an excellent 1984-85 season, when the Titans went 19-11 and finished fifth out of eight teams in the WNIT. But they only finished fifth in the WCAA.

Two of the teams that finished ahead of Fullerton, Long Beach and San Diego State, are in the PCAA this year.

Long Beach, which lost to Georgia in the 1985 NCAA West Regional Final, returns leading scorer and All-WCAA first-team selection Cindy Brown (20 points a game) and is considered the conference favorite, while UNLV, which returns five starters, including leading scorer Misty Thomas (20 points a game), should challenge the 49ers.

San Diego State was picked to finish third in the coaches’ preseason poll, while Irvine and Fullerton were rated fourth and fifth. Hawaii, UC Santa Barbara and Pacific round out the poll.

Chapman College, coming off the best year in the team’s history, in which the Panthers went 25-4 and advanced to the Division II West Regional Finals before losing to eventual national champion Cal Poly Pomona, returns All-American Leone Patterson and is expected to challenge Pomona, Cal State Northridge and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship.

Southern California College, coming off an 11-23 season, should be improved and may be able to challenge NAIA District 3 powers Biola and Azusa Pacific this year. Here’s a closer look at Orange County’s women’s college basketball teams:

CAL STATE FULLERTON: Returning Starters--Robin Holmes (5-11, G).

Top Newcomers--Jill Guthrie (5-11, F), Stacy Hunt (5-7, G), Sheryl Jones (5-6, G), Alayna McGee (6-1, F/C), Laura Satorius (6-2, C) and Amy Torczon (6-0, F).

Outlook--The Titans lost starting point guard Jennifer Latta for the season when the 5-5 sophomore tore ligaments in her knee and underwent surgery several weeks ago. Holmes averaged 12.5 points last year, but the combined production of the other five lettermen amounted to 10 points a game. “We figured if we play Robin and four others, we’d score 22 points a game,” Jeremiah joked. Fullerton’s inexperience, however, is no laughing matter. “This is the youngest team I’ve coached in my whole life,” said Jeremiah, who replaced Chris Gobrecht after serving five years at Indiana University. The Titans will probably start a lineup of Holmes, Guthrie, who redshirted last year after transferring from Golden West College, Torczon, a sophomore from Taft Union High, Satorius, a junior from Oakmont High in Roseville, and Jones, a freshman from Toronto. McGee, sister of former USC stars Pam and Paula McGee, will be the first forward off the bench. The Titans open the season tonight in the Big “O” Tournament at Oregon State and will play nine road games before returning for their home opener on Jan. 4 against Pomona.

UC IRVINE: Returning Starters--Cheri Graham (6-3, C).

Top Newcomers--Erin Higashi (5-7, G), Valerie Dehn (5-8, G), Natalie Crawford (6-6, C), Zalina Walton (5-10, F) and Nadia Burks (5-11, F).

Outlook--Graham, who led the Anteaters in scoring with 18.3 points per game and added 7.5 rebounds, is Irvine’s only proven player. She’s a good perimeter shooter who can also score from inside. Andrea hopes to receive some offensive support from seniors Higashi and Dehn, who will start at guards and are good outside shooters. Crawford, a sophomore from Leuzinger High, will be the center and Walton, a junior from Anaheim High, will play forward. One of Andrea’s top recruits, freshman forward Amy Hughes, who averaged 25 points and 19 rebounds for L.A. Jordan High and was expected to see plenty of action, quit the team Wednesday for personal reasons. Irvine’s strengths are shooting and defense, but the Anteaters won’t have much depth. “Last year, we went to the bench easily, but that will be a problem this year,” Andrea said. The Anteaters open tonight at the New Mexico State Tournament, travel to the University of San Diego on Wednesday and return home Saturday, Dec. 7, to play Fresno State.

CHAPMAN COLLEGE: Returning Starters--Leone Patterson (6-0, C), Susan Bergendahl (5-6, G) and Tami Brewster (6-0, F).

Starters--Leone Patterson (6-0, C), Susan Bergendahl (5-6, G) and Tami Brewster (6-0, F).

Top Newcomers--Tammy Gordon (6-0, F), Mary Gainey (5-4, G), Sherry Williams (5-6, G), Shanna George (5-6, G), Valerie Hartsfield (6-0, F) and Karen Hirsch (5-8, G).

Outlook--Panther Coach Brian Berger can’t seem to say enough about Patterson, a senior from New Zealand who averaged 13.7 points and 7.1 rebounds and was a Division II All-American selection last year. “She’s the most complete Division II player I’ve ever seen,” Berger said. “She’s a great passer, scorer and defensive player.” Patterson, who covers the opponent’s best offensive player, was one of the main reasons Chapman led the nation in team defense last year, allowing an average of 51.6 points a game. No men’s or women’s college team, Division I or II, allowed fewer points per game. Brewster, a senior from Tuscon, Ariz., will play the other forward position, while Bergendahl, a senior who averaged 7 points a game last year, Hirsch, a junior transfer from College of the Marin, and Gainey, a freshman from Mater Dei High, will start at guards. Williams, a freshman from J.W. North High in Riverside, will be the first guard off the bench and is Berger’s best defensive guard. Chapman has no players taller than 6-foot. “We’re gonna have to run, because we’re not big,” Berger said. The Panthers opened the season last week with a 59-42 victory over Loyola Marymount and are currently hosting the Chapman Doubletree Tournament, which enters the semifinal rounds tonight.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COLLEGE: Returning Starters--Connie Brazell (5-4, G), Mary Sullivan (5-5, G) and Lisa Touzet (5-9, F).

Top Newcomers--Kim Nidey (5-8, F), Angela Smith (5-8, F) and Gail Brown (5-9, C).

Outlook--Vanguard sports information director Brian Tagney said that this could be the best team SCC has ever had, but there isn’t much to compare with. The Vanguards’ best season was in 1978, when they went 12-11. SCC has split two games this season, defeating Occidental, 88-60, and losing to La Verne, 73-70, but the Vanguards should receive a big boost when Nidey, a transfer from Mesa College in Colorado, becomes eligible. Nidey, an all-state performer who averaged 25 points a game for Grand Junction High last year, began the year at Mesa but decided to transfer to SCC and should be able to play in Tuesday’s game against Claremont Scripps. Coach Mike McGuire begins his second season at SCC with a group of good outside shooters, but the Vanguards lack height and strength inside. Touzet averaged 12 points a game last year, while Brazell and Sullivan each averaged 9. Smith, a transfer from Rancho Santiago College, is the other forward, and Brown, a freshman from Little Rock, Ark., is the center.