CAL STATE FULLERTON WOMEN’S BASKETBALL : Top 3 Scorers Return to Provide Firepower

There are some classic good news/bad news situations for the Cal State Fullerton women’s basketball team, which opens its season at home Friday against Weber State.

A few cases in point:

Good news: The three leading scorers from last season’s 21-9 team are back: Genia Miller, Kathy Werth and Jill Matyuch.

Bad news: The top three defensive players from a team that led the Big West Conference in scoring defense are not.

Good news: With Miller, a 6-foot-3 junior center who averaged 20 points and nine rebounds a game, and Werth, who is 6-1 and averaged 13 points and six rebounds, the Titans have a strong inside game.

Bad news: Without last year’s point guard, Sheryl Jones, Fullerton may struggle against pressing defenses to get the ball downcourt in order to take advantage of the inside game.

Good News: The Titans, coming off their first berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament, were picked in a poll of Big West Conference coaches to finish third.

Bad News: They were way behind the two top teams, Cal State Long Beach and Nevada Las Vegas, who tied for first.

Fullerton has been on an upward curve in Coach Maryalyce Jeremiah’s four seasons, winning more games each year. But with the precedent of 21 victories, the trend is getting more difficult to continue.

Jeremiah says the key to a good record is a fast start, before the rigors of the conference schedule. Last season, the Titans started 11-1, 8-1 before the conference.

That might be difficult to match, particularly because Fullerton might be vulnerable early at point guard, the position Jeremiah says is the team’s biggest question mark.

“We must get the ball downcourt like we did last season, so we can get the ball in the basket,” Jeremiah said.

Jones averaged only about three turnovers a game last season.

Jeannine Battaglia, a senior, and Jennifer Beckmeyer, a sophomore, are competing for the position, but neither has much experience.

Joey Ray, a sophomore, has been playing at the second guard position.

The Titans’ key swing player is Matyuch, a senior who can play shooting guard or small forward. Matyuch averaged 10 points a game and made 44% of her shots from three-point range.

For now, Matyuch is at forward, with Werth at power forward and Miller at center.

Other players who are likely to figure are Lisa Houston, a senior swing player who Jeremiah says will play more this year, and Stacey Oughton, a 6-2 freshman forward.

Miller, though, is the centerpiece.

“I think she’s the best center in the conference,” Jeremiah said.

Jeremiah would like to see Miller do better at staying out of foul trouble. Last year, she fouled out of eight games.

And--why not--Jeremiah would like to see her score more.

“I think Genia needs to have more than 20 points a game for us to win ballgames,” Jeremiah said.

One last turn on the news angle:

Bad News--UCLA stole some publicity that could have belonged to the Titans when it photographed some of its players dunking.

Good News--Those shots were a fraud. Turns out, the basket was lowered for the photo shoot. And turns out, Fullerton’s Miller can dunk the ball two-handed without a lowered basket.

Bad News--”That doesn’t help us win games,” Jeremiah said. “She probably won’t do that in a game.”