Greenberg Thrives Outside at Pepperdine : Freshman Guard Makes Waves a Contender in West Coast Athletic Conference

For Kristy Greenberg, life as an outside shooter in the West Coast Athletic Conference was mighty fine at Pepperdine.

The 19-year-old freshman led the conference in three-point goals and the Pepperdine women’s basketball team to a 16-11 season that concluded with a 73-60 victory over cross-town rival Loyola Marymount.

Greenberg’s impact at Pepperdine was obvious. In the 1985-86 season, the Waves lacked perimeter shooters and finished with a 7-21 record.

“Our production from outside was terrible,” Coach Ron Fortner said of the 1985-86 season. “This year, with Kristy, it’s definitely improved. She led the conference in three-point shots, which tells you that our outside game has been a lot better.”

Greenberg arrived at Pepperdine just in time for Fortner. He lost his best returning guard, Kari Christensen, a 60% shooter, to torn knee ligaments early in the season. In addition, a few players quit the team for undisclosed reasons. That left Fortner with eight players.

But fortunately for Fortner, he still had Greenberg, to whom he had offered a scholarship almost as an afterthought.

“I was after a big kid from Kansas, and when we lost her, I had a choice: Give the scholarship to Kristy or just keep it,” Fortner said.

“It boiled down to that last-minute decision because we hadn’t had a chance earlier to get into the picture with Kristy. She was committed to Chapman.”

Greenberg, who was Most Valuable Player in the Sierra League as a small forward at Walnut High in the San Gabriel Valley, had committed to Chapman College because it has one of the strongest Division II programs in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

In 1985, Chapman reached the final of the NCAA Division II Western regionals with a 25-4 record, and the year before tied for first place in the conference with national champion Cal Poly Pomona.

Greenberg wanted to be a part of that success.

But when Coach Brian Berger left Chapman to take a job at Colorado State, Greenberg was left with no place to go.

“When a coach leaves all of a sudden, you just don’t know what’s going to happen with the program,” Greenberg said.

By committing earlier to Chapman, Greenberg effectively had removed herself from the plans of other prospective schools, including UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Northridge and Arizona.

“She had a great high school career and a lot of schools showed interest in her, but once players make up their minds, coaches go and get other kids,” Walnut Coach Larry Holmes said. “After she committed with Berger, they left her alone.”

That left Greenberg to write to schools and coaches about a chance to play in college, which had at one time seemed like a sure thing.

Then a friend suggested Pepperdine.

“A friend called Ron and Ron called me and it just happened,” Greenberg said. “I couldn’t be happier. I love it here.”

After his most successful season in four years at Pepperdine, Fortner is pleased with the turn of events.

“I can’t imagine what we would have been like this season without her,” Fortner said of Greenberg.

Greenberg came off the bench in 23 of the 27 games she played. She averaged 10.7 points in conference play, made 82% of her free throws and 37% of her three-point attempts. She scored in double figures nine times.

“Starting doesn’t really mean anything,” Pepperdine assistant Dave Schindler said. “We didn’t start Kristy because we needed that scoring spark off the bench that she always gave us.”

Those who watched the Waves pound away at Nevada-Reno in a conference game saw that spark as Greenberg scored a career-high 21 points to go with a strong defensive performance.

“Kristy adds a lot to the team because her mental preparation is always so great,” Fortner said. “She never steps on the floor without trying to do the best job she can. She always has her game face on.”

Greenberg’s “get-down-to-business” look might stand out on the court, but off it she is shy.

“She’s extremely quiet,” teammate Michelle Watson said. “To get her to talk you have to talk about things she likes, like golf and singer James Taylor.”

“The thing with Kristy is that she’s very pumped. She always pumps the rest of the team up, especially when we’re down or tired, and as a result we look up to her. I’m a freshman, just like her, and I look up to her.”

With the best outside shooting percentage in the WCAC and respect from her teammates, Greenberg is content to let her actions speak for themselves.

“If I could find 10 more Kristy Greenbergs, I’d sign them all right away,” Fortner said.