If Redlands Women Win First Title in Basketball, It Will Be Inside Job

There have been only three winning seasons in the history of Redlands’ women’s basketball program, so saying that this season might be the Bulldogs’ best might not seem all that meaningful.

But it might be their first season as the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champions, and that is a significant step.

Two of Redlands’ three winning seasons have come the last two years under Mickey McAulay, who is in her fourth season as coach. It seems that only injury and inexperience can hold back Redlands. The Bulldogs return all five starters--but only one senior--from last season’s second-place team.

Few conference teams can match Redlands’ inside play. At forward, Leslie Ferguson was All-SCIAC as a freshman last year. Ferguson is 6 feet, averages 14 points and 10 rebounds and is the person that Redlands will go to when it needs a basket.

Teams are not able to concentrate on Ferguson because of junior forward Lisa Wewers. She scores 16 points and grabs nine rebounds per game.

Cindy Pila is as good a point guard as there is in the conference and is among the leaders in three-point shooting, assists, steals and free-throw percentage.

Occidental might be the team that matches up best against Redlands.

Senior Stephanie Francis (16 points per game) and center Tanisha White were expected to be the keys for Occidental, but sophomore Jennifer Kunz has come from the volleyball team and has done exceptionally well.

“I came to Occidental to play volleyball and started talking to the basketball coach,” Kunz said. “I wanted to see if I could play basketball at this level.”

Linda Reinke, the new Occidental coach, is glad she asked. Kunz has averaged 12 points and nine rebounds per game and has been playing particularly well lately, averaging double figures in points and rebounds in five of the last six games.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, which tied for second with Redlands last season, should be strong because of Karen Marinko and Amy Cleveland, who combine for nearly 30 points per game. Marinko also will get around 10 rebounds, and point guard Colleen Tribby is effective at getting the ball inside.

Pomona-Pitzer, which won the conference last season, lost conference MVP Karyn Cranston to graduation but is still in position to contend. Shannon Osbourne is one of the best offensive guards in the conference and is a particularly good outside shooter and playmaker. Amy Tuttle will help with the scoring and the rest of the team is solid, but the loss of Cranston might be too much.

Like the men’s team, La Verne has the best home-court advantage with its aging gymnasium. But Wendy Gibbs is an advantage on any court. She scores nearly 20 points and gets 12 rebounds per game and is the second-best shot blocker in the conference.

The best is Whittier’s Kim Stumpf, who had 101 blocked shots last season and is on pace to repeat that feat. Stumpf, a 6-2 junior center, also averages nearly 16 points per game.

Debra Larson, a third-year coach, has relied on a defensive-oriented team. Led by Stumpf, Whittier has become a near-.500 team after going 0-26 four seasons ago. Erika Williams gives Stumpf front-court help and Ali Izumita is a good point guard, but Whittier might not have enough weapons.

Cal Lutheran is undoubtedly improved from a 1-23 season and won three of its first nine this season. With 10 freshmen on the roster, it won’t happen quickly. But Evelyn Albert and her sister, Nicole, should make it seem better. Evelyn is a conference leader in scoring (18) and rebounds (eight), and Nicole adds 13 points per game from the point guard.

Robert Ray of the University of San Diego was the only football player west of Nebraska selected to the Division III All-American first team by Football Gazette.

Ray averaged more than 42 yards per punt to lead the nation.

Redlands running back Sean Cheatham was selected to the second team, Occidental’s Andrew Wind made the third team as a returner and Cal Lutheran’s Pete Pistone received special mention for his punting.

Cheatham led the SCIAC in rushing with 1,236 yards and Wind was the best in the nation with 18.7 yards per punt return.

Local followers might consider Pistone a surprise selection--although he averaged 39.7 yards per punt--because he did not lead the SCIAC in punting. But SCIAC leader Kris Vercauteren of Redlands, who averaged 42 yards, did not have enough attempts to qualify as a NCAA leader.

Another Southern California star, quarterback Willie Reyna of La Verne, narrowly missed qualifying. The requirements for quarterback are to throw more than 21 touchdowns, have a 2-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and complete 56% of his passes. Reyna had 21 passing touchdowns (23 overall), 13 interceptions and completed 64%.

The Gazette’s team is considered prestigious because of the number of factors used in its selection. Selections are based on detailed nominations from the schools (only five players may be nominated from each) in Division III, players selected to the Associated Press All-American team, the Champion U.S.A. Division III All-American team, the Kodak American Football Coaches Assn. Small College All-American Team, final regular-season statistics and playoff statistics.

College Division Notes

Cal State Bakersfield’s men’s basketball team is No. 1 in the Division II national poll. Bakersfield is 14-0, and Roheen Davis scored 26 points in a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. victory over UC Riverside, 80-75, Saturday. . . . Stacy Kirch led Christ College Irvine’s women’s team to three victories last week, with a combined 49 points, 23 rebounds and 23 assists in the three games. Christ College Irvine is 12-4 entering NAIA District 3 play this week. . . . In NAIA District 3 men’s basketball, Azusa Pacific goes into District 3 play with a 13-2 record and defeated Cal State San Bernardino, a Division II school, 93-81, last Wednesday.