3-Point Specialist Bonde Gives Toros a Good Shot of Winning : Colleges: The junior guard is the school record-holder for long-range shooting. She has made 48.1% of her three-point shots this season.

Karee Bonde didn’t have an auspicious beginning to her college basketball career.

The day before the start of her freshman season at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Bonde broke her nose in practice.

“One of my teammates did it, but it was an accident,” Bonde said. “It was the last 15 minutes of practice and we were doing a rebounding drill and the next thing I know, I had an elbow in my face.”

The injury kept Bonde out of the lineup until the start of the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. play.

But the broken nose at the start of the 1990-91 season has been about the only thing to slow Bonde’s development as one of the Toros’ best players.

The 5-foot-8 guard averaged 9.6 points as a freshman, 10.6 as a sophomore and is second on the team with a 15-point average this season.

A two-time all-conference selection, Bonde, 20, has become the team’s best long-range shooter.

The junior holds every school record for three-point baskets, including most in a game (six), in a season (66) and career (122). She ranks among the NCAA Division II leaders this season with 25 three-point baskets in 52 attempts--an accuracy rate of 48.1%.

“One of the things that attracted me the most when I first recruited her was her ability to knock down the three-pointers,” Dominguez Hills Coach Van Girard said. “I think the main thing we felt she would be able to do for us is score, and Karee’s done that.”

Bonde said outside shooting has been her forte since she started playing basketball as a youth.

“For as long as I’ve been playing, that’s something I could always do well,” she said.

But since Bonde joined the Toros, Girard said he has seen steady improvement in other aspects of her game.

She may have improved the most on defense.

“She’s worked very hard to improve her defense and now when we play, we have her covering the best or second-best player on the perimeter,” Girard said.

Said Bonde: “Last season I mainly tried to improve my defense, and in the off-season I worked on my ball-handling skills. I’ve been trying to let my shooting come more naturally and focus more on my all-around play. I think I can help the team better this way because if I can’t shoot, I have other things that I can do to help us win.”

Bonde’s biggest concern on offense is that she might be taking too many shoots.

“I just do it as it comes and when the coach gives me the green light to shoot, I will,” Bonde said. “But it just depends on the situation how many shots I’ll take. Sometimes I’ll put up 10 three-pointers in a game and sometimes it’s only three or four.”

But Girard said Bonde should be attempting more shots.

“She doesn’t have the typical shooter’s mentality,” he said. “She’s always looking to get everyone involved. She passes up some shots that I’d like her to take. If there’s a concern, it’s that she shouldn’t pass up those shots. She’s a focal point of our offense and if she’s not shooting, we’re struggling.”

Girard said Bonde also needs to be more aggressive in developing her inside game.

“She needs to develop the ability to put the ball on the floor and take it to the basket,” he said. “If we can get her to attack the basket a little more, as well as shoot from the perimeter, then we’ll really have something.”

Girard said Bonde has made great strides since her prep days at Palmdale High, where she was a two-time All-Golden League selection and was named her league’s most valuable player as a junior.

“She really has become a well-rounded player and we’re very pleased with her progress,” he said. “She’s even become more of a leader this year. She’s a quiet type of leader who leads more by example.”

Bonde said she is more comfortable with her role this season.

“Before, when I was a freshman, I used to get nervous and think I wasn’t doing things the way the coach wanted it done,” she said. “But now as a veteran, I’m a little more confident about my ability, and the coach makes it quite clear how he wants me to play.”

Bonde is optimistic the Toros (5-4) can have a good season.

“I’m happy with the progress I’ve made and I’m happy for the (program) because we’ve gotten better every year,” Bonde said. “But I want to be on a conference champion. That’s my goal.”