UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK / ELLIOTT TEAFORD : Anteaters Finally Making Some Headway in Women’s Basketball

What a wonderful sight it must have been to Coach Colleen Matsuhara when the Bren Center buzzer sounded Sunday afternoon.

Overhead, the scoreboard showed that the UC Irvine women’s basketball team had defeated New Mexico State, 72-70. On the court, the Anteaters celebrated an upset with an exuberance rarely seen in Matsuhara’s tenure at UCI.

There was reason behind their giddy postgame madness, however.

With the victory over New Mexico State, the preseason pick to be the Big West Conference champion, the Anteaters, picked ninth, moved into first place with a 2-0 record. They are 5-4 overall.

Tonight, if they defeat Nevada Las Vegas, which was picked third, they will have more victories than in any season since 1988-89 when they had nine.

What’s more, Irvine hasn’t had a winning season since going 15-14 in 1985-86. The program fell on hard times after that season, failing to keep pace with conference leaders such as UNLV and Long Beach State.

The Anteaters were 12-69 in Matsuhara’s first three seasons.

But after starting 0-3, the Anteaters have won five of six. Their only loss in that stretch was an 84-47 setback against Colorado, ranked sixth in the most recent Associated Press poll.

The Anteaters are still a long way from gaining national recognition, but recent victories offer needed encouragement.

“The players’ mind-set is, ‘This is our year to show people we can play and we can win in this conference,’ ” Matsuhara said. “They want to get some respect in the conference.”

With that said, Matsuhara hopes to rein in the players’ emotions in time for tonight’s 7:30 game against UNLV at the Bren Center.

UNLV (2-8, 1-2) broke an eight-game losing streak with an 81-77 victory over Cal State Fullerton Sunday, and Matsuhara isn’t taking anything for granted.

“We haven’t beaten Vegas in forever,” she said. “I cautioned the players that we’re only two games into the conference season. There’s still a long ways to go.”

For the record, Irvine’s all-time record against UNLV is a woeful 1-24. The Anteaters’ lone victory over the Lady Rebels was a 68-64 decision Jan. 4, 1988.

A victory tonight and a 3-0 conference record would do wonders for the Anteaters’ confidence.

Seniors Jinelle Williams, a forward, and Michelle Kahler, a guard, have been through the bad times and are helping contribute to the Anteaters’ turnaround.

Williams, who played at Brea Olinda High, averages a team-leading nine rebounds.

“It’s been a four-year learning experience for Jinelle,” Matsuhara said.

Kahler scored a career-high 17 points in an 82-73 overtime victory against Fullerton last week.

Freshmen Leticia Oseguera, a forward, and Sabrina Roberson, a guard, have added unexpected punch. Oseguera has even broken into the starting lineup.

Junior Allah-mi Basheer, a 6-foot-2 forward, has been the Anteaters’ unquestioned leader, pushing them to their best start since they went 5-4 to open 1985-86.

Monday, Basheer was named the Big West player of the week, the first Anteater to be so honored since Kathy Lizarraga for the week of Dec. 9, 1991.

Yes, it’s been a long time.

In two victories last week, Basheer scored 33 points, including 21 against New Mexico State, and 17 rebounds, including 10 against Fullerton. She also made 11 of 15 free throws and had four blocked shots.

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Weather permitting, the men’s tennis team opens the season with a dual match against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at 1 p.m. Saturday at the UCI Tennis Stadium.

Coach Steve Clark on Monday left a message to his players on his office answering machine asking them to be prepared to sweep any remaining rainwater off the courts. The forecast calls for more rain this week and Clark hoped to sneak in a practice Monday before the deluge hit again.

Senior Chris Tontz is scheduled to play in the No. 1 singles slot. He is No. 13 in the NCAA Region 8 singles rankings. He was 16-14 last season and lost to Paul Robinson of Texas Christian in final of the America West Challenge Cup in November.

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The men’s swim team plays host to Pacific at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Crawford Pool. The women’s team plays host to San Jose State and San Diego State at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Irvine’s Amerie Nordberg set a meet record in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 2 minutes 4.14 seconds at last weekend’s UCI Distance Invitational.