Team That’s Going Places Beats CSUN With Accent, 79-51

When Ray Tomlinson first met his wife, Sandra, in a basketball gym at Elbert Park, Australia, it was evident their relationship was going places.

It’s currently traveling through California.

Tomlinson is the coach of the Melbourne Tigers, a women’s basketball team, which has been barnstorming the state for the past month.

On Wednesday night at Cal State Northridge, the Tigers stormed to a 39-23 lead at the half and continued to a 79-51 victory over the Lady Matadors. The victory was their 10th in 11 games in the state.

Center Debbie Slimmon paced Melbourne with 21 points and 16 rebounds, while Christine Frangos had 12 points and Kerryn Henderson added 11. Sandra Tomlinson scored six points. Northridge forward Regan O’Hara led Northridge with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Sandra, 38, is the oldest member of the team and a starting forward. Their oldest daughter, 12-year-old Samantha, is already 5-9 and warms up with the team before every game. But two other daughters, Clarissa, 8, and Priscilla, 4, are still at least a couple of years away from international competition.

“One game, when we were beating a junior college team late in the game, my wife wanted me to put Samantha in,” Tomlinson said. “But I’m the one who makes the subs on this team.”

That’s OK with Sandra.

“We used to really have our moments,” she said. “Now, I’m older and a little more reserved. I try to keep my mouth shut.”

Both Tomlinson and his wife have impressive credentials.

He played on three Australian Olympic teams and she participated on the national team. Olympic basketball did not exist for women when she was in her playing prime in the early 1970s.

The trip to the United States was not the first for them. Tomlinson estimates that they have each toured here about 15 times.

Tomlinson says he arranged the tour in January.

“This is mainly for the younger kids,” he said. “We have three high school kids with us and they are coming along rather nicely on this trip.

“When we were in Fresno, the fans were booing and hissing at us. It was quite an experience. That’s what it’s all about, to get experience under pressure.”

For most of the players, who had to pay $1,200 to make the trip, it is their first opportunity to see the United States.

They are trying to get their money’s worth.

The Tigers’ 12-game tour began at UC Davis and has taken them through San Francisco and Fresno, among other places. They have not missed many of the tourist attractions along the way, either. On Tuesday, they wore themselves out on a movie studio tour before narrowly beating Cal State L.A. that night.

“They were pretty tired,” Tomlinson said. “It took us until the second half to get our legs back.”

After the game, they hopped on a bus and headed for UC Riverside, where they will finish their schedule against the Highlanders. But that doesn’t mean they’re heading home.

“A lot of us have never been here before,” said forward Jenny Breen. “When we’re finished playing, some of us are going to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.”

In Riverside, as in the rest of the cities they have visited, the Tigers will be housed by the families of the host teams.

They stayed with members of the Cal State L.A. team on Tuesday night.

“It helps make the trip a little shorter for everyone when they’re staying with other families,” Tomlinson said. “Making new friends is important, especially to the younger kids. It also helps keep them from getting homesick.”

That’s something Tomlinson doesn’t have to worry about.

MELBOURNE--O’Connor 5; Henderson 11; Slimmon 21 and 16 rebounds; Breen 7; McMahon 6; Tomlinson 6; Collins 9; Biddau 2; Frangos 12;

CSUN--Powell 2; Nino 2; Middleton 10; Costello 10; Loch 4; Blum 1; O’Hara 12 and 8 rebounds; Sitton 1; Mallett 2; Flanagan 7.