Lady Toros Must Try to Lose Their Losing Ways

His Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s basketball team is faltering--really faltering.

The Lady Toros, 1-4 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., have lost three straight games and eight of their last 10. Losses tonight against Chapman College (14-6, 2-3) at Carson and Saturday at Orange would virtually eliminate Dominguez Hills from playoff contention.

“There are some little things on the floor that we are not doing to win basketball games,” Girard admitted.

The season started bright enough. By the first week in December the Lady Toros had a five-game winning streak and seven victories, more than in 1986, Girard’s rookie year.

Road losses at UC Davis and Sacramento State and at home against Cal State Hayward started the slide. But when looking back on the 1989-90 season, it might be the final two minutes of the first half in a 78-50 loss at Cal Poly Pomona that will be viewed as the turning point.

Riddled by the flu, the team suited just seven players against the nationally second-ranked Lady Broncos. However, with two minutes left in the half the Lady Toros had the ball and a chance to tie the score at 33. But a turnover opened the door for powerful Pomona. The Lady Broncos quickly opened a 42-31 halftime lead, then shook Dominguez Hills with a 15-2 run in the first seven minutes of the final half.

In watching the Lady Toros play since that meeting three weeks ago, it appears that they are still trying to regain composure, playing, perhaps, with the fear that a good season has gone sour. In a 50-45 loss at Cal State Los Angeles Jan. 20, they shot six one-and-one situations in the final 1:40 and missed the front end of each. In last week’s 79-63 home-court loss to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, they fell behind, 21-4, and shot just 33% from the floor.

Call it the snowball effect. Girard concedes that the Lady Toros are struggling from one game to the next.

“In our conference, from a physical standpoint we are not going to overpower anyone,” he said. “We have to play smart. When we don’t, we won’t win.”

Girard said it has been a combination “of little things” that has brought on the misfortune. He cited the flu, small injuries and his switch in concentration from defensive to offensive practice sessions.

“We’re still young,” he said. “There’s a period in the game when we’re just not out there (mentally), and that really hurts us.”

Dominguez Hills has a 9-10 record. Girard had been accustomed to winning, averaging 23 wins a season in 10 years at Lynwood High School. Hired in late July, 1988, he showed up at Dominguez Hills without a recruit and posted only a 6-19 record but forced more turnovers (23.5 per game) than any other team in the conference.

Last year’s record, however, included a disappointing 1-11 CCAA mark. On paper, before this CCAA season, it appeared the Lady Toros had a good shot at reaching the .500 mark and making the conference postseason tournament. But to do that would mean winning five of the last six CCAA games. And the Lady Toros play at San Luis Obispo and play host to Pomona on consecutive weekends.

“We’ve made a lot of progress in comparison to last year,” Girard said. “There’s lots of room for improvement, but we are not that far away.”

How far away they will be in the CCAA race will be determined this weekend, with both games in the home-and-home series beginning at 5:45 p.m.