COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK / MARTIN BECK : Chapman Rebounds From a November Loss

Chapman women’s basketball Coach Mary Hegarty believed she had a good plan to end Cal Lutheran’s 23-game winning streak: Beat the opponent on the boards.

In November, Cal Lutheran had outrebounded the Panthers by 16 in a nine-point victory in Thousand Oaks, so Hegarty put an emphasis on rebounding in her pregame meeting Tuesday night in Orange.

The Panthers responded, outrebounding Cal Lutheran, 70-48, to win in overtime, 98-96. Chapman had 26 offensive rebounds; Cal Lutheran, ranked No. 6 in the nation in one Division III poll, had 14.

“We weren’t making a lot of our shots,” Hegarty said, “but we sure were crashing the boards.”

Shawna Parkinson had 10 rebounds and Melissa Starr and reserve point guard Deb Nilsen each had nine for the Panthers. Point guard Sig Lo made two free throws--her only two points of the game--with two seconds left in overtime.

With three games remaining, Chapman (13-8) is assured of its first winning season since 1989-90 when the Panthers were 18-10. Last season, Hegarty’s first at Chapman, the Panthers were 6-18. “It sure helps my spirits,” Hegarty said. “Hopefully, we’ll get a few more victories this weekend.”

Chapman plays Dominican today in Oakland in the Mills tournament. If the Panthers win, they will play for the title Saturday. Chapman will finish its season Tuesday at home against Occidental.

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Stat of the week: When Michal Gatson scored 14 points in a 94-43 victory over Christian Heritage Friday, she became the 15th player to score in double figures for Chapman this season. Chapman has 15 players on its roster.

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Stat of the week II: Adam Dzierzynski’s 24 assists in the men’s basketball team’s 108-81 victory over American Indian College last Thursday broke Chapman’s single-game record of 21, set by Dan Healy in 1978.

It also was the most assists in a game in any NCAA division this season and was two short of the Division III record.

Chapman has the best assist performance in Division III in men’s and women’s basketball. Nilsen had 14 against Elmira (N.Y.), tying her for the lead.

Dzierzynski, a sophomore from Santa Margarita, took only three shots from the field in the game and scored two points.

“Adam wasn’t doing anything different than he has been doing in the past,” Chapman Coach Mike Bokosky said. “The guys he’s passing to are just getting better at finishing.”

Toby Curto, for instance, made 11 of 15 shots from the field, including five of six three-point shots. He finished with 27 points. Curto, a 5-foot-10 sophomore from Liberty Christian High, had a dunk on a breakaway.

Dzierzynski is averaging 7.7 assists, sixth in Division III. He bruised his knee in the first half and sat out the second half of a 95-63 victory over Southwestern Saturday in Phoenix, but he recovered enough to practice Tuesday.

Chapman (15-7), which is assured of its second consecutive winning season, plays at Christian Heritage Friday and finishes the season next week with home games against Pacific Christian and Menlo.

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The Pacific Christian men’s basketball team is playing host to the National Christian College Athletic Assn. Division II Pacific Regional, Friday and Saturday at Rosary High School.

The Royals (23-11), the top-seeded team in the tournament, play American Indian (6-18) at 8:30 p.m. Friday. San Jose Christian (20-10) plays Southwestern (Ariz.) at 6:30. The winners meet at 3:30 p.m. Saturday for a spot in the NCCAA Division II national tournament, March 2-4 in Cincinnati.

Pacific Christian is led by NCCAA All-American Charles Ross, who averages 28.2 points and 13.7 rebounds, Chuck Henderson (19.6 points), Roger Traynham (12 points, 8.8 rebounds) and Steve Siefken (eight points, eight assists).

Pacific Christian’s seven-game winning streak ended Monday with a 93-83 loss to The Master’s, which is ranked No. 14 in the NAIA national poll.

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Notes

The Chapman women’s swim team will finish its season at the Pacific Collegiate Swimming Conference championships today, Friday and Saturday at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach. The Panthers are led by Robyn Garinger, a junior transfer from Santa Monica College who has set nine individual school records and was a part of two relay records this season. Coach Pam Gibbons expects each of the eight Chapman swimmers to post season bests. . . . Golden State Athletic Conference update: Kevin Carlson’s late three-point shot, his sixth of the game, helped Southern California College to a 78-74 victory over Biola Tuesday. The Vanguards (13-15, 3-8) are in a four-way tie for last place with Biola, Cal Baptist and Point Loma Nazarene. Azusa Pacific (21-7, 10-1) beat Concordia, 101-84, to move into first place alone. Concordia (22-6, 6-5) is in fourth, behind Westmont (18-6, 9-2) and Fresno Pacific (17-7, 7-4). The Southern California College women’s team (14-10, 6-3) is in third place, percentage points ahead of Concordia (16-11, 6-4). Fresno Pacific (15-9, 7-2) is in first and Azusa Pacific (11-14, 7-3) is second.