USC Has Benefit of Experience : Women’s basketball: Still youthful, this team has solid starting five.

Not much has changed at USC, where Lisa Leslie is still tall and talented, Tammy Story still smart, Joni Easterly still reliable, Jualeah Woods still fast on her feet and Kim Gessig still nursing hers.

The best thing, says Coach Marianne Stanley, is that these five from last season’s team are still at USC, with another season’s savvy.

“We are still a young team, but a young team with experience,” Stanley said.

The Trojans, with two freshmen in the lineup most of last season, won eight of their last 10 games and finished 18-12 after losing to Cal State Long Beach in the second round of NCAA tournament play.

“I think that experience for a really young team like we had goes a long way toward setting the table for the future,” Stanley said. “They know they can compete within this league.”

Leslie, 6 feet 5, was last season’s freshman of the year, averaging 19.4 points and 10 rebounds a game last season. Still, she found herself on the bench often because of foul trouble and averaged fewer than 27 minutes a game. After playing with the U.S. national team during the summer, she has apparently come back more sure of herself.

“She looks more mature, wiser,” Story said.

If Leslie has improved, and if Woods, a 6-0 sophomore known primarily for her defense, can produce more on offense, and play with more control, then perhaps the Trojans deserve the high preseason ratings given by Street & Smith magazine, No. 12, and the NCAA preview magazine, No. 20.

Story has a 3.5 grade-point average in business, and her intelligence shows on the court. The 5-8 guard averaged 13.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists and a Pacific 10-high 3.2 steals a game last season.

Easterly, a 5-1 junior guard-forward, has had similar results in her first two seasons and has proven herself tough in the clutch. She was the Pacific 10 Conference free-throw leader at 81%.

Gessig, a 6-3 junior center, had off-season surgery for a nagging ankle injury. She started 14 games last season and will replace the graduated Molly Keenan as the fifth starter.

USC’s only drawback is a lack of depth. The Trojans have only nine players. They are expecting a promising addition at point guard in Tracy Atwater--if and when she transfers from an Illinois junior college.

“She is expected to graduate in December,” Stanley said. “She should be ready for our game against Virginia (Dec. 29).”

Stanley said that Sue Peters, a 6-footer currently playing on the volleyball team, has expressed interest in joining the basketball team after the season, but it’s not certain if she will, or how effective she would be.

Others on the roster include Tameesha Hayes, who will play when Story sits; 5-7 Tracy Adams, and 5-11 Linda Kennedy.

“Our depth situation is not good right now,” Stanley acknowledged. “We’ve got some adversity to handle here in the short term, but in the long term, once we get through the first of the year . . . we’ll be in good shape.”

USC Roster

No. Player Pos Yr Hgt 32 Tracy Adams G So 5-7 12 Tracy Atwater G Jr 5-7 25 Joni Easterly G-F Jr 5-11 43 Kim Gessig F-C Jr 6-3 4 Tameesha Hayes G Jr 5-4 14 Linda Kennedy G-F Sr 5-11 33 Lisa Leslie F-C So 6-5 23 Tammy Story G Sr 5-8 24 Jualeah Woods F So 6-0

Coach: Marianne Stanley.

USC Schedule

ALL TIMES PACIFIC

Date Opponent Time Nov. 21 Australian All-Stars 6:00 Nov. 27 San Francisco 7:30 Dec. 3 at San Diego State 7:30 Dec. 6 DePaul 7:30 Dec. 10 at Cal State Long Beach 7:30 Dec. 21 at Cal State Fullerton 5:00 Dec. 28 Cal State Northridge* 1:30 Dec. 29 Virginia* 6:00 Jan. 3 at Michigan State 4:30 Jan. 5 at Central Michigan 11:00 Jan. 10 Oregon State 7:30 Jan. 12 Oregon 2:00 Jan. 16 at Stanford 7:30 Jan. 18 at California 7:30 Jan. 24 UCLA 7:30 Jan. 26 at Cal State Sacramento 1:00 Jan. 31 Washington State 7:30 Feb. 2 Washington Noon Feb. 6 at Arizona 6:00 Feb. 8 at Arizona State 6:00 Feb. 14 California 7:30 Feb. 16 Stanford 2:00 Feb. 22 at UCLA 7:00 Feb. 27 at Washington 7:30 Feb. 29 at Washington State 7:30 Mar. 6 Arizona State 7:30 Mar. 8 Arizona Noon Mar. 12 at Oregon 7:30 Mar. 14 at Oregon State 7:30

*at UCLA Tournament.