COLLEGE BASKETBALL ‘86-87 : Southland Women’s Preview : With Cheryl Miller Having Graduated, It’s Cindy Brown’s Time

This season, for a major change, the best women’s basketball player on the West Coast will not be found at USC. This will hardly amount to a major change of scenery, though, since she will be found at a school in the immediate vicinity.

Cindy Brown of Cal State Long Beach, a 6-foot 2-inch forward, will be the center of attention, and not only in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn., where she was named player of the year last season after averaging 24.4 points and 10.2 rebounds a game. A Kodak and Naismith All-American last season, she has already been named to Street & Smith’s preseason team after playing in international competitions for two straight summers.

“I’ve had other good players and other All-Americans, but I’ve never had anyone who works as hard as Cindy,” 49er Coach Joan Bonvicini said. “So many others have come in with a lot of acclaim from high school--as she did--but Cindy kept working hard and improved so much between her sophomore and junior years.”

Not that Cal State Long Beach is ready to overtake USC as the area’s top team. Most pollsters still give the nod to the Trojans, even without the graduated Cheryl Miller.

A capsule look at the area Division I teams:

USC ‘85-86 record: 31-5

The Trojans are pushing senior point guard Rhonda Windham for postseason honors, but 6-6 center Monica Lamb, who has yet to play a game for the school, has been getting most of the attention. A two-time All-Southwest Conference pick as a freshman and sophomore at the University of Houston, Lamb transferred and then redshirted last season, only to be named a preseason All-American by Street & Smith.

“She’s probably the premier center in the country,” UCLA Coach Billie Moore said recently. “She gives them a dominant big player inside that other teams will have to contend with. There is no question that their starting five could contend with any in the country. If they have a question mark, it’s depth.”

An improved and more finesse- oriented sophomore Cherie Nelson, who averaged 13.3 points and 8.7 rebounds a game, and junior Holly Ford join Lamb in the frontcourt, with Windham and sophomore Karon Howell the guards. They will, of course, have to make up for the loss of Miller and Cynthia Cooper, but Coach Linda Sharp doesn’t seem too concerned.

“I feel this year we are going to have a good team and I think the players feel that way, too,” she said. “I think you will see some other stars start to shine.”

Indeed, Howell averaged 14.8 points and 5.3 rebounds a game when Miller missed four games last season with injuries. That included a 20-point, 10-rebound effort against San Diego State in the first start.

CAL STATE LONG BEACH ‘85-86 record: 29-5

The clear favorite to take the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. title, the 49ers have three starters from the team that won it with a 14-0 mark in 1985-86. Back are Brown, senior forward Carol Brandt, who averaged 15.5 points and 7.3 rebounds, and senior guard Margaret Mohr, 5.8 and 5.5.

Beyond that, they will go with sophomore Penny Toler, a transfer from San Diego State, at the other guard and either Shannon Smith, Cheryl Dowell or Bettina Turner at the other forward. There is depth, too, making this a top-10 team in most polls.

“Other teams and other years, I might have had eight players and three others who would just sit,” said Coach Joan Bonvicini, now in her eighth season. “It’s not like that this year. The toughest thing is for me to decide who is going to play when. And it’s the type of team that may get better as it goes on.”

First, though, the 49ers will be tested by a tough nonconference schedule with games against top-ranked Texas and either USC or Old Dominion in Saturday’s second round of the USC Tournament, and later Louisiana Tech and Texas A&M.;

SAN DIEGO STATE ‘85-86 record: 14-17

From the school on Montezuma Mesa comes what could be a season of revenge for the Aztecs, who, after going 24-6 and 21-9 in Coach Earnest Riggins’ first two seasons, finished 7-9 in the PCAA last season and missed the NCAA playoffs. Transfer Chana Perry of Northeast Louisiana is not playing this year, but three starters and two others who played a lot are, and they may be good enough to get the team back in the top 20.

“With Chana Perry, we would have been a great team,” Riggins said. “Without her, we’ll be very good.”

Riggins has both forwards back--Shelda Arceneaux and Jessica Haynes--as well as point guard Lisa Stevens. There also is depth at both positions. Brooke Meadows and 6-9 Connie Waikle will play in the frontcourt, and the addition of freshman Alison Smith, the prep player of the year last season in Missouri, gives the Aztecs the option of a three-guard offense.

“We’ll have to do a better job protecting the ball,” Riggins said. “Last year, we averaged 25 turnovers a game. We out-shot teams from the field and out-rebounded teams. We did everything but out-score them, and you can look at the turnover category and see that’s where improvement is most needed.”

UCLA ‘85-86 record: 12-16

Last season’s losing mark was the first in 17 years for Billie Moore, the eighth-winningest active coach in the nation. In 1986-87, with the deepest team in Moore’s 10 seasons at UCLA, a preseason coaches’ poll predicted that the Bruins would finish fourth in the inaugural Pac-10 race behind USC, Oregon and Washington.

Four returning starters--guards Kristi Moore and Jaime Brown, forward Shari Biggs and center Sue Mead--and swing player Dara Dome, who has played in two Olympic Festivals, give Moore plenty of experience. Brown, Dome and Biggs had scoring averages in double figures last season, Brown and Dome at 11.6 and Biggs at 10.

At the same time, this will be a young team, with four freshmen, including Sandra VanEmbricqs, a three-year member of the Netherlands’ national team, expected to play a significant role.

“But I’ve always said that if I had to chose between talent and experience, I’d take talent,” Moore said.

Some fast learning wouldn’t hurt, though. The Bruins will play national power Tennessee in Knoxville, San Diego State twice and Cal State Long Beach--all in December.

UC IRVINE ‘85-86 record: 14-14

Talk about your tough starts.

Freshman guard Jenny Lee is sidelined with a bad back, and junior forward Zalina Walton is out with an ankle problem. Six starters have graduated in the last two years, and there is only one back this season, second-team All-PCAA center Natalie Crawford, who averaged 13.6 points and 8.7 rebounds.

Still, there is reason for optimism. Crawford and sophomore guard Kippie Brown each have another year’s experience, and there is a group of talented newcomers. Coach Dean Andrea brought in junior guard Cheryl Hoffman from Cypress College and sophomore center Cheryl Eiland from Saddleback to go with freshmen Lee of Eugene, Ore., Sharon Warmus of Anaheim Esperanza and Shurrell Johnson of Southern Section 4-A champion Lynwood.

“We’re going to be a pretty exciting team,” Andrea said. “In the years past, we’ve been a little conservative and I want to get away from that situation and go up and down the court more. Bill (Mulligan, the men’s coach at Irvine) has had a big influence on me in terms of opening things up and letting the players run more.”

CAL STATE FULLERTON ‘85-86 record: 11-18

The Titans, in Coach Maryalyce Jeremiah’s second season, have lost scorer Robin Holmes, No. 2 in the PCAA at 21 points a game, but have gained a better passing guard in freshman Jill Matyuch and a balanced lineup. Another freshman, Yolanda Kelley of L.A. Crenshaw, may already be the second-best shooter on the team.

“A lot of people feel that we’ve lost almost everything and that we will not recover from the loss of Holmes, but I really believe we’ll be a lot better because of more balance,” Jeremiah said. “No one can replace that experience, but we had a good recruiting year and (the freshmen) can step in and play right away. A couple of (opposing coaches) will be real surprised at the way they play.”

Maybe sooner than planned. Sophomore forward Felicia Benson sprained her ankle in a recent scrimmage and has a possible ligament injury. Junior guard Jane Hentzen hurt her knee a month ago, and junior Jennifer Latta, the starting point guard last season, is still able to play only four or five minutes a game after having reconstructive surgery on her knee. Jeremiah doesn’t expect them all to be back at full strength until the start of conference play.

Instead, Sheryl Jones and Stacey Hunt will play the point, juniors Wendy Anae and Amy Torczon will be the forwards and Bethel Lauder, a junior college transfer from state champion Riverside, and Kathy Hall, a scholarship softball player, will get plenty of playing time.

UC SANTA BARBARA ‘85-86 record: 6-22

Coach Darla Wilson is 21-63 in her four years with the Gauchos, and the way things have started this season, relief is more than just a swallow away.

Kira Anthofer and Rebecca Rehder, the Nos. 1 and 3 scorers from last year, left the team in September, and No. 2 scorer Kristen Nicholson is also gone, leaving junior guard Therese Puchalski, a reserve last season, as the top returnee.

At 6-1, freshman Mia Thompson is the tallest player on the team, and Mary Reilley is the lone senior.

USIU ‘85-86 record: 24-9

The only significant loss of the team that went 11-1 in the West Coast Athletic Conference last season is player of the year Toya DeCree, the leading scorer and rebounder. Otherwise, three starters and seven letter winners return, including sophomore guard-forward Sonya Carter, an all-conference pick as a freshman after averaging 15.8 points.

Coach Cassie Macias also brought in junior Carolyn Davis, a junior college All-American last year at Central Arizona, and has point guard Yvonne Sanchez and forward Amanda Spry returning, along with 6-4 Fiona Murray, who started some games in the second half of 1985-86. If they’re good now, things should only get better. The team has no seniors.

“We’ll be tested early,” Macias said. “We’ll see if the youth really is young or if they’ve matured some already. I think we’re more solid all the way around, offensively and defensively, than last year.”

USIU has spiced its nonconference schedule with games against top-20 teams--Mississippi in the opener, Louisiana Tech in a tournament in Dallas in two weeks--mostly in the hope of playing well enough to impress NCAA officials, since the WCAC champion gets no automatic entry into the tournament.

PEPPERDINE ‘85-86 record: 7-21

“In practice, we have looked a lot better than last year, which is not saying a whole lot when you go 7-21,” Coach Ron Fortner said.

But it is a start. The Waves, who finished fourth in the WCAC at 5-7, have seven new players with four freshmen, two junior college transfers and a redshirt. They look especially strong at guard with Stephanie Meneze, Kari Christensen, Jani Fullerton and Shannon Boyd.

The transfers both come in with solid credentials, Ernesta Grace having been named All-American at Blinn Junior College of Brenham, Tex., and Cindy Sanders having earned all-conference honors at Utah Tech. Moreover, Sharon Clark, one of the freshmen, comes to Malibu after a highly successful prep career in Denver.

“I don’t want to be overly optimistic, but I think we have to improve on both records,” Fortner said. “This is definitely the best club, talent-wise, that I’ve had in my three years here. And with the exception of Jani Fullerton, everyone is returning next year, and that’ll be the first time that has happened to me.”

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT ‘85-86 record: 3-25

Coach Todd Corman has only two players back from his first year, and neither will be starting when the Lions open Friday on the road in the Kansas State tournament. Center Chris Connolly has leg problems but is expected to miss the first game or two, during which time the rest of the team can get acquainted.

One guard, Sylvia Bauer, came in from El Camino College; the other, Chris Hagemann came from Newbury Park High. One forward, Amy Atkinson, played at Napa Junior College last year; the other, Stephanie Fleischaker, played at Santa Ana Foothill High. Michelle Bettencourt, who will start in place of Connolly, was at Hughson High in Modesto.

“We’re two years away from being a real factor in conference (WCAC play), and we will be,” Corman said. “We will be a factor in the conference.”

U. of SAN DIEGO ‘85-86 record: 16-13

Four starters return from the team that finished second to USIU in the WCAC, including leading scorer Julie Evans (13.5-point average), Kelli Behrens and Cathy O’Brien. Coach Cathy Marpe will also now have shooting guard Jane Gitlin, who redshirted last year after transferring from Penn State.