Christ College Irvine Women Might Finally Attract Attention

Old reputations die hard, but the Christ College Irvine women’s basketball team is doing its best to make people forget its past.

The Eagles, who before 1990-91 had never won more than seven games in a season, have won their past seven games to improve their record to 13-2. Since losing their season opener at Redlands, the Eagles have lost only to Northern Montana, the No. 1-ranked team in the NAIA Division II.

Yet, Christ College hasn’t received any national attention. Fresno Pacific, which is ranked No. 21 in this week’s NAIA Division I poll this week, is the only ranked member of District 3.

That might change because on Tuesday the Eagles soundly defeated defending Golden State Athletic Conference champion Point Loma Nazarene--the only other District 3 team to receive votes in the national poll.

“I think people still think last year was kind of a fluke, but I don’t think they’ll think that anymore,” CCI Coach Kent Schlichtemeier said. “The national ranking will come in time; we really don’t worry about that too much.”

Christ College took a 55-34 halftime lead against Point Loma and wound up winning, 104-83.

It wasn’t so easy Saturday, when the Eagles defeated Cal Baptist, 90-89, in Riverside. After trailing most of the game--by as many as 15 points in the first half--Cal Baptist took a two-point lead with about two minutes to play.

But Christ College tied the score on a basket by senior forward Nancy Geisler, and junior guard Stacy Kirch made a three-point shot to give the Eagles a 90-87 lead.

It was CCI’s first road victory over Cal Baptist, but this season, Schlichtemeier said, the Eagles are more subdued about milestones. After qualifying for the District 3 playoffs for the first time last season, the team’s goal this year is to win the tournament.

“We had some big wins last year and we were excited after each one but this year were not quite as surprised,” Schlichtemeier said. “We were expecting to do well.”

The Southern California College men’s basketball team, which is ranked No. 12 in the NAIA Division I poll, is in a slump of sorts. After losing their Golden State Athletic Conference opener to Cal Baptist Tuesday, the Vanguards had lost three of their past four games.

“I would have to say we’re not playing at a really high level of efficiency in some areas,” SCC Coach Bill Reynolds said. “I don’t think we need to panic, though. I would feel terrible if we were losing to inferior teams.”

The Vanguards lost consecutive games to UC San Diego and Missouri Kansas City, an NCAA Division I independent, and defeated Dominican College before losing at Cal Baptist.

Cal Baptist (12-5, 1-0), which also beat the Vanguards this season, led by 17 points with about 10 minutes remaining before SCC rallied. The Vanguards (12-4, 0-1) shot 68% from the field in the second half and pulled to within three points with four seconds remaining. But after a Cal Baptist player missed two free throws, Keith Randolph called a timeout that the Vanguards didn’t have.

Cal Baptist made one of the two technical foul free throws and won, 89-85.

“I don’t think we’re playing that badly, but I think our level of defensive commitment is lacking,” Reynolds said.

The Vanguards will have their third home game of the season when they play Christ College Irvine (9-9) at 7:30 Saturday.

Jack Kemp, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, will be the featured speaker at Chapman’s 13th annual Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony, Feb. 11 at the Doubletree Hotel in Orange.

Kemp, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1971 to 1989, recently received the NCAA’s Theodore Roosevelt Award, which is given annually to a former college athlete. Kemp, who was born in Los Angeles and graduated from Occidental College in 1957, played 13 seasons of professional football, leading the Buffalo Bills to the American Football League title in 1964 and 1965, before entering politics.

Tickets for the event, which will start at 6 p.m., are available for $100. Call the Chapman athletic department at 966-6691 for more information.

College Division Notes

The Chapman women’s basketball team will play host to Cal State Los Angeles at 5:45 p.m. Friday and Cal Poly Pomona, ranked No. 17 in NCAA Division II, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Panthers (6-7, 0-1 in the CCAA) are led by senior center Marvette Williams, who is averaging 15.5 points and eight rebounds. Williams had a 15-game streak of scoring in double figures ended Friday when she scored nine points in Chapman’s 69-67 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills. . . . The Chapman men will try to end their eight-game CCAA losing streak at when they are host to Cal State Los Angeles at 8:05 p.m. Friday. Los Angeles (6-9, 0-2) defeated the Panthers, 67-62, at the Grand Canyon tournament last month. Chapman (5-9, 0-2) will play Saturday at Cal Poly Pomona (9-6, 1-1), which upset Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 112-101, last Saturday.