She Gets the Lions’ Share of the Credit : Basketball: Transfer Sheri Brown is the biggest reason Loyola Marymount is contending for the West Coast Conference title.

When Loyola Marymount forward Sheri Brown played at Fresno State, the Big West was one of the nation’s best conferences.

Brown played two seasons at Fresno and managed to be a force in the competitive league.

Now the Loyola junior finds playing the West Coast Conference to be easy by comparison. Despite sitting out last season because she was a transfer, the 6-foot-1 Brown is doing what many coaches in the league predicted: dominate.

“She can dominate both ends of the court,” said San Francisco Coach Bill Nepfel, whose team lost to the Lions, 54-51, last week. “Around the basket she’s almost impossible to defend. She’s strong and has a lot of moves. She’s the best player we’ve faced this year.”

Brown totaled 37 points and 29 rebounds in Loyola’s victories against San Francisco and St. Mary’s last week and was named WCC player of the week for the second time this season. In December, she was named conference player of the month.

“Sheri is by far the best athlete we’ve ever had here,” Lion Coach Todd Corman said. “With her on the floor there’s so much confidence.”

Brown ranks among conference leaders in scoring (17.5), rebounding (10.7) and steals. She has led the Lions in scoring 12 times.

The Lions (13-6, 4-3) are a half game out of first place in the WCC. If they win the title, they would play host to the conference tournament in March. The winner of the tournament would get an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.

“We’ve really progressed a lot as a team and Sheri is doing everything we’re asking of her,” Corman said. “She’s deceivingly quick so she gets around bigger players all the time.

“Also, people don’t give her credit, but she has a nice 12-foot jump shot that can be a back-breaker.”

Brown, 22, was an honorable mention All-Big West selection as a sophomore at Fresno in 1990-91. She led the Bulldogs in scoring (13.8) and rebounding (6.9) but left because of personality differences with Coach Bob Spencer.

“We just didn’t get along,” Brown said. “If I really would have wanted to, I would have made it through two more years. But I didn’t want to.”

Spencer did not return phone calls.

At first, Brown considered transferring to Pepperdine because former Fresno teammate Nikki Brodowy had transferred to the school after one season with the Bulldogs.

“I thought it would be a good league to play in,” Brown said. “LMU was the only school I actually contacted.”

Two other WCC players--Santa Clara’s Melissa King and Pepperdine’s Kelsey Kline--played at Fresno. Kline was the WCC player of the month for January and King was the 1991 conference player of the year and a first-team All-WCC pick last season.

Sitting out a year proved to be a learning experience for Brown.

“At first I thought it would be good for me . . . I thought a year off didn’t sound too bad,” she said. “But it was very hard. I’d sit on the bench during games and it was hard to watch because I knew I could help.”

Although she practiced with the team, Brown gained weight and lost her competitive edge.

“My first few games back I felt out of sync,” she said. “I still feel like I’m not at the place I want to be. I can still be better. I’m not complaining about how I’m playing, but next year will be better.”

Brown started her Loyola career by scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in a 67-36 victory over Cal State Northridge. In her second game, she had 21 points and eight rebounds in a 59-45 loss to San Diego State.

“She’s a great player to have on your team,” senior guard Jamie Jesko said. “You never hesitate to throw her the ball. She’s such a good player that she makes other people look better too.”

Brown was a three-sport athlete at Chowchilla High, which is about 40 miles northwest of Fresno. She was a middle blocker in volleyball and the North Sequoia League 100- and 200-meter champion as a senior in 1989.

In basketball she was a three-time all-league selection and was named to an all-state team as a senior. That season she averaged 25.4 points, 17.6 rebounds and was named the conference’s most valuable player.

“I was mostly recruited for track out of high school,” Brown said. “But I really didn’t want to run track anymore.”

Now she does her sprinting on the court, often wearing out opponents.

“If you put a big kid to guard her, they’re too slow,” San Francisco’s Nepfel said. “And a smaller, quicker one isn’t effective either. She’s really earned a lot of respect throughout the conference. She’s a very physical player, but very clean.”