At 18-4, UCSD Women Still Play as If They’re Overmatched

UC San Diego’s women’s basketball team entered the week 18-4 and is making a strong case for a berth in the NCAA Division III national championships. Yet Coach Judy Malone is still confounded by how her team got so good.

“I can’t explain it, to tell you the truth,” she said. “If you saw us play you’d say, ‘Gee, they’re not that good.’ ”

This is not the most talented team Malone has seen in her 15 seasons at UCSD; it’s not nearly as gifted as the 1988-89 Tritons, who finished 15-6. But probably the best thing that’s happened to this team is they realize that. Early in the season, they embraced the underdog role, and now UCSD is dogging much flashier opponents with a feisty defense and a set-up offense.

“Things just started clicking after a trip to Minnesota,” Malone said. “Whenever we need something to happen it happens for us this year. We just don’t want to lose.”

Example: The Tritons took it on the chin early in the season, 85-54, against Point Loma Nazarene (18-6, 7-0), which will likely win the NAIA Golden State Athletic Conference championship. The Crusaders got a rude awakening when they came to Triton Gym for a rematch Jan. 12. UCSD, which came into this week riding a school-record 12-game winning streak, beat PLNC, 61-55.

“We don’t do anything fancy,” Malone said. “We just play in-your-shorts defense and pound it inside. We’re outhustling teams that are probably more talented than us.”

The Tritons held their past two opponents, Cal State San Bernardino and Whittier, to 41 and 35 points. During the latter part of the Tritons’ 12-game roll, UCSD’s opponents are shooting just over 30% from the floor.

But this success is not so baffling. Malone has added Jim Mottershaw, a former assistant at the University of San Diego, to her coaching staff. Mottershaw, who also coached boys’ and girls’ teams at Clairemont High, has a reputation for making the most of available talent. She put Mottershaw in charge of the defense.

“He’s turned our defense into raving maniacs,” Malone said. “And since I was a post player in college, we pound it.”

She’s got the perfect role players to fit into the scheme. Junior forward Cari Young, who was overshadowed by Julie Doria (USD) and Nikki Gannon (Sacramento State) at San Pasqual, leads the Tritons in scoring (15.2 points a game) and rebounding (9.0). The 5-foot-10 Young led UCSD with similar numbers last year. Lisa Beaver, a 6-2 sophomore center, is averaging 13.8 points and 7.4 rebounds and shooting 53% from the field. Both are left-handed shooters, which Malone said presents problems to the opposition.

Molly Jonnum has taken one for the team. She was the leading scorer and rebounder at Antelope Valley Community College. At UCSD, she’s a defensive specialist who covers the opponent’s best shooter. Kathleen Alvarez led the nation in three-point shooting percentage her senior year in high school, but Malone has her penetrating and dishing off as a point guard. Alvarez, a junior, is averaging 7.9 points but has scored 16, 17 and 16 in the last three games.

Mesa’s most inspirational: Mesa College women’s basketball Coach Lisa Williams had only five able players for a crucial home game against College of the Desert Feb. 1, and they didn’t feel like playing. Earlier in the day they learned of the death of Ian Krebs, a basketball player at University City High. Krebs, who died of heart failure in his sleep the night before, was the boyfriend of Olympian guard Princess Riley and many Mesa players were close to Krebs.

As Williams was trying to pull her shocked and depleted squad together before they took the court, Riley came through the locker-room door sobbing, but at the same time urging her teammates to play their hearts out. Mesa, the Pacific Coast Conference co-champion along with Southwestern, needed to victory to improve its playoff chances.

“She begged the rest of the girls to play hard,” Williams said of Riley, a former standout at UC High. “I don’t know if I could have come into the gym that night if it was me.”

The Olympians, who will play in the community college regionals a week from today, beat the Roadrunners, 86-74. Rachelle Johnson (Patrick Henry) scored 31 points and Sorii Epps (Patrick Henry), Riley’s closest friend on the team, played her best game of the year. She had 24 points, six steals, 11 assists and nine rebounds.

“She’s just been incredible inspiration for our team,” Williams said of Riley, who has switched her jersey number from 23 to Krebs’ No. 11. The rest of the team, and even some Mesa men’s players, have put Krebs’ name and number on their sneakers.

Irish heat: Christian Heritage (8-16) was not hasty in its decision to make guard Shane McKim a starter. The 6-2 freshman has averaged 23.6 points and the Hawks are 4-1 since he was put in the lineup. McKim had a season-high 32 against Point Loma Nazarene and he chipped in 16 in Christian Heritage’s biggest victory of the season Saturday, 70-68 over Fresno Pacific, the top team in the NAIA District 3.

Giant killer: Ricardo Herrera has wasted no time for heroics. The No. 1 singles player on San Diego State’s men’s tennis team, who was not listed among the preseason top 25, has knocked off three top-20 players. Herrera, a senior from Mexico City, trounced No. 10 Doug Livingston of Arizona, 6-2, 6-0, two weeks ago. His other victories have come against the Nos. 11 and 18 players.