COLLEGES / IRENE GARCIA : Toro Teams Are Thinking Playoffs as Season Draws to a Close

With some strong play in the past week, the Cal State Dominguez Hills men’s and women’s basketball teams have moved into contention for NCAA Division II playoff berths.

The women’s team clinched their first-ever spot in the postseason California Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament with league victories over Cal State San Bernardino on Friday and UC Riverside on Saturday.

Regardless of what happens in their last three CCAA games, the Toros (15-9 overall, 7-2 in league play) will finish no worse than third in the seven-member league. Dominguez Hills travels to Cal State L.A. on Saturday and plays host to Cal Poly Pomona on Feb. 21 and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Feb. 22.

The men’s team (14-8, 6-3) is third in the CCAA with five league games remaining. They need four victories to clinch a spot in the CCAA tournament, which will be at the home court of the league champion.

Dominguez Hills, which has the nation’s sixth-best defense, scored a rare double last week, winning at Cal State Bakersfield, 64-60, on Friday and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 68-62, on Saturday. The Toros

became the only league team to sweep the Roadrunners and Mustangs on their home courts this season.

“I’m very happy with the way we played on both ends of the floor,” Dominguez Hills Coach Dave Yanai said. “It’s really exciting for us to get the double and the most difficult double of our season. It’s certainly a great confidence builder any time you get two wins like that.”

Dominguez Hills has won at both gyms only three times in 11 seasons.

“Our shot recognition is very good right now,” Yanai said. “The team as a whole is working very hard for good shots. We’re getting good screens and cuts and delivering the ball. The kids have worked very hard for that all year and now they’re finally getting it.”

Senior forward Michael Moore leads the team with an 11-point-a-game average and freshman point guard Chris Thompson is at 9.6.

The victory at Bakersfield was especially rewarding for Dominguez Hills. In the teams’ first meeting on Jan. 25 in Carson, the Roadrunners won, 50-37. It was the lowest scoring game Dominguez Hills had been involved in since a 45-42 overtime loss to Cal State L.A. in 1989.

But Yanai was confident going into the second meeting against Bakersfield. After reviewing film of the first game, he said the Toros were to blame for the 13-point loss.

“I felt like we had good shots and simply didn’t knock them down,” he said. “We simply told our kids, in preparation for this game, ‘You have to do nothing more than finish up offensively by knocking off opportunities.’ And I think Bakersfield felt the pressure at home.”

The Dominguez Hills women are second to league powerhouse Cal Poly Pomona but would probably have to beat the Broncos in the four-team CCAA tournament to advance to the NCAA Division II playoffs.

That is no easy task. Dominguez Hills has never beaten Pomona (18-5, 9-0), which will play host to CCAA tournament on Feb. 27 and 28.

The Broncos, coached by Darlene May, have won all 10 CCAA titles and three NCAA Division II championships.

“We gotta get there first,” Dominguez Hills Coach Van Girard said about the possibility of playing Pomona in the tournament. “What we’re trying to accomplish with the remaining ballgames is to get into the tournament with the best seeding possible.

“The ladies have really locked in what we’re trying to do. It’s amazing in terms of their intensity level and focus. It’s not me any more harping and doing external motivation. Right now it’s coming from them and it’s internal.”

Senior center Cheri Bullet leads the Toros in scoring at 14.4 a game. Junior forward Dionne Vanlandingham is averaging 10.8 and sophomore guard Karee Bonde is at 10.4.

Bonde ranks among the league’s best three-point shooters. She set a school record with five three-point baskets in the Toros’ 71-51 victory over Cal State San Bernardino last week.

“It’s amazing the people stepping up on different nights and doing it for us,” Girard said. “Defensively we’re playing great because we’re working as a unit. Our pressure on the ball is great and our post defense is creating lots of problems for teams. Also, offensively we’re becoming patient so we’re more efficient.”

Notes

Denise Biller, a former All-California Collegiate Athletic Assn. and All-West Region pitcher for the Cal State Dominguez Hills softball team, recently completed a season of professional softball in Italy. Biller played for the MKF Bollate team based in Milan and pitched in the championship game of the National Italian A Series. . . . South Bay native Eliot Teltscher, in his first season as the Pepperdine men’s tennis coach, has the Waves off to a 3-0 start. Teltscher, a former standout on the pro circuit, guided the Waves to an impressive 5-3 dual match win over top-ranked UCLA last week. Teltscher was an All-American at UCLA in 1978.

Karen Unger, a standout tennis player at El Camino College in 1985-86, has been named the women’s tennis coach at Harbor College. . . . El Camino’s Mark Johnson leads the South Coast Conference with a 19-point-a-game average and Tyrone Paul leads in rebounding at 9.8. . . . The El Camino women’s basketball team is in second place in the SCC with a 5-1 record. The Warriors are 15-12 overall.