Chapman Women Eye Postseason

The Chapman women’s basketball team, which lost its first three conference games, seems to have reversed its course and is in strong position to qualify for the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament.

Although their 10-12 record isn’t exactly pristine, the Panthers have won four of their past five conference games to move into third place in the CCAA with a 4-4 record. Four of the CCAA’s seven women’s teams qualify for the tournament.

Chapman Coach Lindsay Strothers is confident the Panthers will return to the tournament after a one-season absence.

“I don’t know if I’d bet my house but I’d bet my Cadillac,” Strothers said. “We’ve got sprains and strains and we don’t know if they are going to get worse.”

This weekend is crucial if Chapman is to stay ahead of fourth-place UC Riverside (7-15, 4-5) and fifth-place Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (12-10, 3-5). Friday, the Panthers play at Cal Poly Pomona (18-5, 9-0), which is ranked No. 16 in NCAA Division II. The Panthers play host to San Luis Obispo at 5:45 p.m. Saturday at Hutton Center.

Pomona, which won, 68-59, at Chapman, can clinch its 11th consecutive CCAA championship by winning two games this weekend. However, Strothers isn’t conceding anything, although the Broncos have lost only five of 128 games in their 11 seasons in the conference.

“I think we have a chance against Pomona if we can stop their inside players,” Strothers said. “Maybe we will try some different things this time and see what happens.”

Strothers is heartened that the Panthers have rediscovered their fast break--they defeated Cal State Los Angeles, 105-67, Saturday. Melody Earle, a freshman from Estancia High, has taken over the starting point guard spot and has picked up the pace of the offense.

Friday’s women’s basketball game between Christ College Irvine and Fresno Pacific had been shaping up as the battle for first place in the Golden State Athletic Conference. But that was before defending champion Point Loma Nazarene complicated matters by defeating Fresno Pacific Friday, and Christ College Tuesday.

Point Loma’s victory over Fresno Pacific, which was ranked No. 14 in NAIA Division I, was especially shocking because it was by 20 points at Fresno. Against Christ College Irvine, Point Loma (18-6, 6-2) took a 68-52 victory and moved into a second-place tie with CCI (21-4, 6-2). It was the eighth consecutive victory for Point Loma, which stopped a six-game CCI winning streak.

“We were kind of disappointed,” CCI Coach Kent Schlichtemeier said. “But they played very well, and the bottom line is they outrebounded us, 49-29. They had 21 offensive rebounds and if they put half of those back in, that’s 20 points. We didn’t do a real good job in the trenches.

“When your guards are getting the most rebounds, you know that’s a bad sign.”

Gitte Mejer, the Eagles’ 6-foot-2 center who entered the game averaging nine rebounds, had only two in 15 minutes of play. She fouled out with about seven minutes remaining.

But Schlichtemeier said no one player was to blame for the team’s sluggish performance.

“We’re not pointing the finger at anybody except ourselves, and we’re going to try to get tougher for Friday,” Schlichtemeier said.

If Christ College, which is among the others receiving votes in the latest NAIA Division I poll, beats Fresno Pacific and wins at Azusa Pacific Saturday, it will probably set up a three-way tie for first place. A coaches’ vote would then determine which team is seeded first for the NAIA District 3 playoffs, which start Wednesday.

Southern California College is not included in the NAIA Division I men’s basketball rankings this week for the first time this season. The Vanguards were ranked as high as 11th early in the season. They were No. 21 last week but dropped out of the poll after losing to Christ College Irvine for the first time in school history Saturday.

SCC is the first team listed in the category of others receiving votes, five votes behind No. 25 Charleston (W.Va.). The rankings are more important this season, because for the first time there will be at-large bids to the national championship tournament in Kansas City, Mo. The champion of each district gets an automatic bid.

SCC Coach Bill Reynolds is concerned that the Vanguards aren’t playing consistently on defense, which is hurting their fast break.

“If we’re going to run we have to get the ball off the glass or the rim and not pull it out of the net every time,” Reynolds said.

The Vanguards (19-6, 6-2) play host to Westmont (6-2 in the conference) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Reynolds hopes playing for first place will be enough motivation for his team.

“We’re never sure how we’re going to respond to anything,” Reynolds said. “Consistency has not been our strong suit, but if our kids can’t get motivated for this game something is wrong.”

College Division Notes

Rog Middleton is closing in on the Chapman career scoring record, but he might run out of games. With five games remaining, Middleton has 1,776 points, 108 short of the 1,884 Bob Hamblin scored from 1956 to ’59. Middleton, who is averaging 16.8 points, needs to average 21.8 points to break the record. The Panthers (6-15, 1-8) play host to Cal Poly Pomona (13-9, 5-4) at 7:30 p.m. Friday.. . . Ernie Chapman, a three-year varsity letterman in football, and Don August, a Division II All-American, were the 45th and 46th people to be inducted into the Chapman Athletic Hall of Fame Tuesday night. Lynne McBride, a softball player who finished playing for the Panthers in 1987, had also been selected to the Hall of Fame but she was unable to attend and will be inducted later.