Small Colleges : Hard Work Is Paying Off for Quintana

Fran Buckless, Cal State Los Angeles women’s basketball coach, says that her center, Lupe Quintana, is the closest thing there is to a female version of Kurt Rambis.

Quintana doesn’t wear horn-rims during games and there are no Quintana Youth parading in the stands at her games, but the 6-foot sophomore shows the same hard-working attitude toward rebounding and diving for loose basketballs as the Laker forward. And, like Rambis, she didn’t make the cut the first time she tried.

Quintana graduated from Lincoln High three years ago and turned down a recruiting bid from Cal State Northridge. She decided to try out at nearby Cal State L.A. without a scholarship--and was cut.

The next year, Buckless was hired and gave Quintana a chance to try out again. It turned out to be a good pairing--a willing student for a coach who needed some height up front. The walk-on Quintana went on to rank among the rebounding leaders in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

This season, she has continued to improve, helping boost the team to a top-20 ranking. She also played a leading part last week when the Eagles became the first CCAA team in two years to defeat Cal Poly Pomona. Quintana scored a career-high 22 points to go with 13 rebounds. The next night against UC Riverside, she tied her career high in rebounds with 18.

Quintana is averaging 11.8 rebounds, 12.3 in conference games, this season. She also scores 10.5 points a game. In her two seasons, Quintana is already third in school rebounding and 16th in scoring. Her rebounding average is on a pace to exceed 1,000 over four seasons.

Buckless said the numbers are a reflection of Quintana’s grit and acceptance of coaching. “She gets stronger each game,” Buckless said. “She’s kind of like a Rambis as far as her attitude, that not-to-be-denied (approach).

“She’s got a lot of heart--you can’t teach that. That fits in well in our team philosophy. She’s just got a great, positive attitude. I think she works to her maximum each time on the court. As a basketball coach, that’s a trait I want to see in all my players.”

Jim Newman, men’s basketball coach at Cal State L.A., is awaiting the outcome of his grievance against the athletic department for not renewing his contract. Newman, who is black, was informed of his firing before the season and has since filed charges of discrimination. Newman said he expects a state arbitrator to rule on his grievance in about three weeks.

The team, meanwhile, has not fared well under a lame-duck coach. The Eagles are 7-16 going into the final weekend of play and are 2-10 in the CCAA.

Newman, who was hired three years ago and appeared to have turned the program around after a 9-19 first season, said: “The last two years (18-10 and 16-8) were the two greatest years in school history. (Eagle teams won 20 games three times in the 1950s but had not won 18 since 1970). I was looking for an even better year, but with all of the things that have gone on, especially becoming a lame-duck coach before the season started, it threw our players completely for a loop.”

Newman said he has been distracted as well. “Naturally, it has caused me to stay up many, many hours at night, along with the time spent with attorneys and all that. It’s been a very awkward time for me.”

Meanwhile, senior guard Marty Heede, who was involved in a scuffle between campus police and his two brothers at a game two weeks ago, had a hearing with the school’s intercollegiate athletic board last week but was not reinstated for this weekend’s games. Heede is seeking a temporary restraining order to allow Heede to play Friday and Saturday and is also filing a lawsuit against Cal State L.A. Athletic Director Dennis Keihn.

The tight CCAA basketball race could go down to the wire Saturday, with five teams fighting for the four postseason tournament spots and four teams still in the running for the title and the right to play host for the tournament.

UC Riverside (9-3) holds a one-game lead over Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, both 8-4. Cal State Northridge is two games behind at 7-5. Chapman College is the other playoff contender at 6-6.

Riverside can clinch at least a tie Friday at Chapman, while Dominguez Hills is at Pomona (4-8). Cal Poly SLO, which moved into the tie for second by winning a four-overtime game Saturday over Cal Poly Pomona, 94-93, plays at home against Cal State L.A., and Northridge is at Cal State Bakersfield (4-8).

Saturday’s big showdown has Riverside at Dominguez Hills. The other key game is Northridge at San Luis Obispo.

The women’s title has been decided, Cal Poly Pomona having clinched its sixth straight crown last weekend. Chapman, Cal State L.A. and Northridge are still playing for playoff position. The women’s tournament will be held at the site of the men’s champion.

Small College Notes Steve deLaveaga of Cal Lutheran and Jon Haar of Southern California College are battling for the scoring title in Golden State Athletic Conference basketball. Haar has led most of the season, but deLaveaga, who scored a league-record 38 points against Azusa Pacific recently and has had seven 30-plus games, has taken over with a 19.8 average. Haar is at 18.5. . . . Claremont-Mudd’s 17-4 start in men’s basketball is its best ever. Stag Coach David Wells recorded his 150th victory last week. . . . Elroy Moses, a 6-4 junior forward at Cal State San Bernardino, set a school record with 25 rebounds in an overtime loss to UC San Diego. . . . Center Sherrie Atteberry of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo set a school record for women’s basketball with 24 rebounds against Cal State Dominguez Hills. . . . The Cal Baptist women’s basketball team set a school record for highest victory margin by defeating Pacific Christian College, 99-8.