Housecleaning Helps the Women : Basketball: Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s basketball Coach Van Girard got rid of seven of last season’s celler-dweller squad and the result is a new look and seven wins--more than all last year.

Van Girard cleaned house and the result is a new and improved Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s basketball team.

The second-year coach replaced the anchors that weighed his team down last season with talented newcomers, who along with a handful of experienced players have led the Toros to their best start since the 1984-85 season.

Before road losses to UC Davis and Sacramento this week, Dominguez Hills held a five-game winning streak, the school’s third longest. The Toros (7-4) have already won more games than last year’s cellar club. It finished at 6-19 and 1-11 in the tough California Collegiate Athletic Assn., which includes Division II powerhouse Cal Poly Pomona.

“Seven people were eliminated that didn’t fit the mold,” Girard said of last year’s squad. “They didn’t have the attitude and commitment or work ethic that I demand.”

Girard had little time to recruit for the 1988-89 season since he was hired in July. He got stuck with leftovers from a team that went 3-9 in league (10-17 overall) in 1987-88 under Coach Alice Textor.

“The difference in practice this year is like night and day,” Girard said. “Now we get work done because we have athletes, and athletes will develop a lot quicker. They come to work every day.”

That wasn’t the case last season, which put Girard, a successful high school girls coach, in an unfamiliar situation. In 10 years at Lynwood High he won seven San Gabriel Valley Conference titles, a CIF 4-A championship and earned 10 playoff berths.

“At Lynwood I was spoiled,” he said. “I always had great athletes and we were always successful. It was frustrating for me. (Last year) was like pulling teeth. A lot of them didn’t want to be there and I had to push them to do what they didn’t want to do.”

This season every 2 1/2-hour practice is intense and productive, and despite inexperience there’s enthusiasm and effort among players.

“Last year we’d lose,” said junior guard Devon Akita, who played under Textor for one season, “and the attitude was, ‘Oh, we’re losing. Let’s just get this night over.’

“We lacked confidence because everyone thought this has always been a losing program, so big deal if we’re losing.”

Akita, who starts at off-guard, says the team’s success is owed to a positive attitude among players and Girard’s inspiration, something she says Textor didn’t possess.

“He pumps us up,” she said. “And now we have freshmen and they don’t know (about the past). They just know to win. We feel so confident, we think the only team (in conference) we can lose to is Cal Poly Pomona at Pomona.”

Not bad for a team that starts three freshman, a junior and a senior. Pomona has won three national championships and has won or shared all eight California Collegiate Athletic Assn. titles.

The Toros hope to put up a fight when the teams meet in their conference opener Jan. 12 at Pomona. Darlene May, the Broncos’ coach for 16 years, says Cal State Dominguez Hills has lots of potential.

“He’s working hard to improve that pro

gram,” said May, the winningest coach in National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division II history. “I hate to say this because Alice (Textor) was my friend, but he’s got a little more determination. The bottom line is getting the players, and I’ve seen him trying to get players.”

In his spare time Girard can be found scouting high school games. A decade of coaching at that level helped develop a strong tie with local coaches, which has proved to be an asset.

That’s how he got his three new starters: point guard Allison Krause, forward Denise Slater and center Yvonne Vanlandingham. Krause, from Marina High in Huntington Beach, is leading the CCAA in assists at 6.4 per game. Vanlandingham (Long Beach Poly) is fourth in rebounding (8.4) and scoring (12).

“What we’re doing is basically the same as last year,” Girard said, “but now we have the people to get it done. I’m not going to allow anyone to outwork me. They may have more money and bigger players, but they’re not going to beat me because I didn’t do my homework.”

Two of Girard’s best players, however, were gifts he didn’t have to labor for. Khyra Anderson, a 6-foot-2 backup center, is second to Pomona All-American center Niki Bracken (10.3) in rebounding with 9.8 a game. Senior guard Brigitte Frazier is third, averaging nine rebounds.

The two seniors, who were teammates at Cerritos College, walked on at Cal State Dominguez Hills last year. Anderson says things have definitely taken a turn for the better.

“Last year was so frustrating,” Anderson said. “This year will be better because we’re closer and we get along. There isn’t a problem with attitudes like last year.”

That’s because the Toros’ enthusiastic coach got rid of the problems. The next step is making his new program competitive in the CCAA, a feat he believes is only one year away.

“I hope to surprise people this year,” Girard said, “but we’re at least one more recruiting class away.”

This season he’s concentrating on reducing the number of losses by at least four more games than last year. His long-term goal isn’t as simple.

He plans to make Cal State Dominguez Hills a regular contender in its seven-member conference and, like most Division II coaches, he wants to beat Cal Poly Pomona.

“I tell Darlene (May) that I respect her and admire her, but I tell her, ‘One day I’m gonna beat you.’ We can be a great team in this conference. This can be a very successful program.”

And thanks to the thorough cleaning job of an eager head coach, the Toros are well on their way.