Help Is Just Out of Reach for Irvine Women’s Team

The UC Irvine women’s basketball roster is down to nine players after two quit the team and another decided to give up the sport because of an injury.

Coach Mark Adams would have enlisted sophomore volleyball player Chanda McLeod, but Adams said McLeod isn’t eligible because of the NCAA’s one-year residency rule required in women’s basketball for transfer students.

This despite the fact that McLeod, an all-county selection in basketball and volleyball at Marina High, played only volleyball last year as a freshman at Arkansas before transferring to Irvine.

An NCAA spokesman said basketball is the only women’s sport that doesn’t have a one-time transfer exception that enables athletes to be eligible immediately if they receive a release from the school they leave. The rule also affects male athletes in Division I football, basketball and hockey.

“She’s going to practice with us after finals are over, but she can’t play because of the rule,” Adams said. “We’ll see how it goes from there, and decide down the road if she’s going to be a two-sport athlete. I haven’t seen her play in a couple of years, but I know she’s an excellent athlete.”

Adams said volleyball Coach Charlie Brande is receptive to the idea of McLeod competing in both sports.

If she does play both next season, her scholarship would have to be counted against the 15 available for women’s basketball, Adams said.

Irvine’s roster was reduced when sophomore Autumn Matthews dropped off the team last week. Freshman Damesha Carter quit the team earlier, and junior Krissy Duperron decided to give up basketball because of a foot injury.

Irvine is 2-4 after losing to Pepperdine, 66-59, Saturday.

TITANS SHOW PROGRESS

The Cal State Fullerton women’s basketball team is winless in five games, but first-year Coach Barbara Ehardt says the team is improving.

“It’s what I expected,” Ehardt said. “I knew it would be a battle, but I think we’re making progress, and I’m encouraging our players to find successes in areas other than just wins.”

The Titans won only two of 27 games last season under Denise Curry and finished with a 13-game losing streak.

“We’re trying to put our focus on defense, and we’ve made a jump there,” Ehardt said. “The key thing is to maintain our confidence.”

Sophomore Kandace Hunter leads the Titans in scoring with a 12.2 average, and sophomore Heather Hansen and freshman Tamara Quinn are averaging 11.2. A freshman, Nikki Lee, leads the team in rebounding with a 5.8 average.

NOTABLE

The Vanguard women’s basketball team, ranked 10th in the NAIA preseason poll, is 2-1 against NCAA Division II teams and 4-1 overall. Its only loss was to Cal Poly Pomona. . . . The crowd at the Pyramid for Stanford’s 83-66 men’s basketball victory over Long Beach State was 5,017, third largest since the building opened six years ago. The largest crowd was 5,118 for a women’s volleyball match with UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 7, 1998. . . . The UC Irvine men’s basketball team (3-1), which beat California, 56-52, last Saturday, is off for final exams until Dec. 13 when the Anteaters host UC San Diego. . . . The men’s basketball team at Chapman, which features 11 players from Orange County, is off to a 7-1 start. The Vanguard men’s team (1-4) plays at Western Montana College Friday. . . .The basketball teams at Hope International are off to solid starts. The men’s team is 6-6. The women’s team is 4-2.

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