SPORTSCOPE : Struggling UCLA Basketball Team Loses Cagers by Transfer

The UCLA women’s basketball team, which had lost four games in a row entering the week, received another blow last Saturday when starting center Molly Tideback and reserve guard Michelle Miles, both sophomores, were granted releases to transfer to other schools.

UCLA Coach Billie Moore said she wishes “Molly and Michelle the best. I expect both to transfer to colleges that are closer to home.” A UCLA spokesman said that Tideback of Waterloo, Iowa, is expected to transfer to the University of Iowa, but it is unknown where Miles, of Denver, would be heading. Both were said to have decided to leave after returning home for the holidays.

Tideback was averaging 12 points and four rebounds a game and Miles a team-high four assists.

The Bruins (4-5 as the week began) will begin Pacific 10 Conference play against USC (2-4) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at USC’s Lyon Center.

During the holidays, UCLA lost road games to Ohio State, 66-57, and Notre Dame, 61-60, and were defeated at home by Old Dominion, 68-64.

Sophomore guard Rehema Stephens leads UCLA with an average of 19.1 points. The Bruins are shooting just 33% from the field, while opponents are averaging 43 points.

The Santa Monica College men’s and women’s basketball teams will play a Western State Conference double-header on Saturday at Glendale College. The women will play at 5 p.m. and the men at 7. The Glendale men were 12-6 as the week began and the women 2-6.

Last week the SMC men (16-3 at the start of the week) won the Rancho Santiago Tournament, defeating the unbeaten host team, 81-71. Corsair freshman forward Cornelius Banks scored a game-high 19 points against Rancho Santiago, which entered the game as the state’s top-ranked team after having won 18 straight games this season.

Banks was named the tournament’s most valuable player, and teammates Mark Moton and Chris Cook, both sophomores, were named to the all-tournament team. In other games at Rancho Santiago, the Corsairs defeated Walla Walla (Wash.), 82-72, and Long Beach City, 89-68.

The SMC women (13-3 as the week began) took third place last week in the Grossmont College Tournament. The Corsairs defeated Antelope Valley, 61-50, in the third-place game. In other tournament games, SMC defeated Grossmont, 76-66, and Oxnard, 75-53, and lost to Allan Hancock, 59-49, in the semifinals.

Jackie Nikzad, Corsair sophomore forward, was named to the all-tournament team. In the four games, she scored 73 points and made 14 three-point shots.

The UCLA men’s swim team will begin the 1990 season when it plays host to Nebraska, defending Big 8 Conference champion, at 1 p.m. Saturday at the UCLA men’s gymnasium.

Bruin Coach Ron Ballatore will enter his 12th season with eight All-Americans among 15 lettermen. UCLA finished with an 8-3 record last season and was fourth in the NCAA meet and second in the Pac-10 championships.

Among the returning All-Americans are school-record holders Mark Dean and Giuseppe Tiano, both seniors. Dean was unbeaten in seven dual meets in the 200-meter butterfly last year and set a school record of 1:46.46 in that event in finishing seventh at the NCAAs. Tiano set a school mark of 1:47.77 in the 200 backstroke last year.

Other All-Americans are backstrokers Mark Thompson and Mike Kanner, freestylers Byron Davis, Brian Kurza and Rodrigo Gonzalez and breast-stroker Andrea Cecchi. At the Long Beach Grand Prix in December, Cecchi qualified for the 1990 NCAAs with a 55.61 in the 100 breast stroke.

The UCLA women’s tennis team has one contingent in the Milwaukee Tennis tournament, which ends Sunday, and will send another to the National Collegiate championships, which will be played Friday through Sunday at Palm Springs.

The University High School girls mile relay team of Kim Sanders, Debby Antschler, Mia Clarkson and Angelic Richardson will compete in the high school section of the Sunkist Invitational track meet on Jan. 19 at the Sports Arena. Prep events start at 4:30 p.m.

Bob Ziello shot a 36 to win the A flight at the Penmar Men’s Golf Club’s December tournament.