UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK / JOHN WEYLER : Without a Doubt, Anteaters’ Season Was Historic

There were plenty of opportunities for doubt, times when they questioned the system, the coaching, each other and even themselves. But UC Irvine women’s basketball team managed to hang together and this season the Anteaters came together to make school history.

“It’s my experience that chemistry and cohesiveness are the most important factors in group success, whether you’re talking about a Boy Scout troop or a basketball team,” UC Santa Barbara Coach Mark French said. “Last year, watching them play Hawaii (in the Big West tournament), I think most of the coaches in this conference felt they could be a good team.

“At that point, they seemed to believe in Colleen (Matsuhara) and the system and I think they came into this year knowing they would turn the corner.”

It was no walk around the block, however. As corners go, this one was as hard to negotiate as a Grand Prix hairpin.

The Anteaters had lost almost six games for every one victory during Matsuhara’s first three seasons as head coach. There was no great influx of talent this year and little reason to believe the same players could finish third in the Big West at 12-6 with two more conference victories than any Irvine team ever.

And when the conference coaches picked them to finish ninth in the preseason poll, nobody was betting the Anteaters would win the conference tournament and make their first appearance in the NCAA tournament.

But the Irvine players had survived and they had grown close as they endured. There weren’t any grandiose postseason plans, only a determination to end the suffering.

“This season, there was a new feeling that came over the whole team,” said senior forward Jinelle Williams, an all-Big West second-team selection. “We’re all such good friends and we were really motivated. We wanted to do it for each other.”

Three other factors keyed the Irvine turnaround:

* The maturation of junior center Allah-mi Basheer. She led the team in scoring (15.5 points per game) and rebounding (7.9) and was the most valuable player in the Big West tournament after scoring 43 points and grabbing 31 rebounds during the Anteaters’ title run.

Her defense, however, was as important as her scoring and rebounding.

“Allah-mi’s blocks were the key to our defense,” Williams said. “People were hesitating, thinking twice and looking around when they got in the middle.”

* Matsuhara’s ability to go to her bench without a significant reduction in Irvine’s level of play. Irvine didn’t have a Koko Lahanas or Anita Maxwell who would score 20 to 30 points every game. During the regular-season finale against Cal State Fullerton, 11 Anteaters scored at least one point and 10 had at least one rebound.

“They became more well-rounded players, both the starters and the reserves,” Matsuhara said. “And I felt very comfortable all year when I went to the bench that our play would not suffer.”

* The players’ faith in the system, faith in each other and a newfound pride. Proof? Senior Michele Kahler didn’t seem to notice Stanford was mauling the Anteaters during their first-round NCAA game Thursday night. In the first half, she suffered a cut under her eye that required three stitches sustained while battling for a loose ball with teammate Basheer. In the second half--with the Cardinal leading by almost 30 points--she ran into a screen so hard she separated her shoulder.

Irvine finished 19-11, but the season began with losses to Pepperdine, UCLA and Notre Dame. Then came three nonconference victories before an 84-47 “setback” against ninth-ranked Colorado. But the Anteaters rebounded to win their first five conference games, beating Fullerton in overtime in the opener and then New Mexico State, the favorite to win the conference title.

“I started to really believe after that game,” Basheer said. “When we beat New Mexico State, that showed me what we could do.”

Irvine won once by one point, three times by two points and two other times in overtime. The victories began to add up and the confidence swelled.

“I feel very good about this team and what we accomplished,” said Matsuhara, the Big West coach of the year. “We had 11 more wins than last year because we were able to hang together and win some close games.”

*

Basheer joy of it: Ms. Clutch? Basheer had four game-winning baskets this season.

Her last-minute tip-in was the margin of victory against New Mexico State; her rebound and put-back with 54 seconds left beat Hawaii; she made a 10-foot jumper with 27 seconds remaining in a victory over Nevada, and her eight-footer with 2.6 seconds left against Fullerton put Irvine in the Big West tournament championship game.

Notes

The men’s and women’s track and field teams open their 1995 home schedule Saturday with an eight-team meet at the UCI Track Stadium. Air Force, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Fullerton, Cornell, Iowa, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara will participate. Field events start at 11:30 a.m. with running events beginning at 12:45 p.m.