Guards’ Injuries Tranform Pac-10 Picture Into a Blur

Will the last guard still standing please turn out the lights?

That’s the theme as the Pacific 10 women’s basketball teams line up for the conference openers tonight and Friday.

Just a month ago, little thought was required to handicap this race.

Stanford, everyone believed, was a lock.

Depth, size, experience, talent--the Cardinal had it all in abundance. It finished atop both the media and coaches polls.

Then, shocking news from the Farm.

First, Stanford’s long-range sharpshooter, Jamie Carey--who late last season was shooting better than 50% from three-point range--was advised to quit basketball after she suffered a concussion in an October practice.

Carey, a sophomore, had had at least two concussions in high school and had two more last season. After she was knocked woozy Oct. 19, Stanford neurosurgeon Gary Steinberg--who also advised San Francisco 49er quarterback Steve Young to retire for the same reason--urged her to leave the sport.

So Coach Tara VanDerveer moved freshman Susan King to the point. She was averaging five assists over nine games when she blew out a knee last week.

As a result of all that, Stanford has the tallest team in the conference. By moving 6-foot-2 freshman forward Nicole Powell to the point, VanDerveer has five starters 6 feet or taller, topped by 6-6 senior center Carolyn Moos. First off the bench is 6-1 Lindsay Yamasaki.

The Cardinal, who open tonight at home against Arizona State, tied for second with Arizona last year at 13-5. Oregon won the title at 14-4, but the Ducks have also suffered a major backcourt blow.

A year ago Shaquala Williams was the best guard in the conference, a 5-6 speedster who could shoot with range, drive through zones and pass with the best. “Little Shaq” averaged 4.3 assists and 17 points last season. She too is gone, having torn a knee ligament in a preseason pickup game.

At Arizona, returning shooting guard Julie Brase--granddaughter of Arizona men’s Coach Lute Olson--is out for the season because of a wrist injury.

And was anyone hurt more by guard losses than UCLA? Even with returning starters Nicole Kaczmarski and LaCresha Flannigan, the Bruins weren’t expected to be a first division club, but without both some wonder if UCLA (1-10) is looking at a Pac-10 record of 0-18.

Kaczmarski, within 72 hours of telling her coach, Kathy Olivier, her roommate, Michelle Greco, and this reporter she was returning to UCLA, announced she was transferring. She’ll reportedly enroll at Georgia soon.

In any case, she wouldn’t have played this season because of a slow-healing foot injury.

Flannigan, a 5-7 senior guard, flunked out of school, leaving Olivier with only one double-digit scorer, Greco, who despite double-teaming in nonconference games has averaged 18.7 points a game, best in the Pac-10.

Many eyes will be on Chris Gobrecht’s USC team, after last season’s strong finish. The Trojans were 7-2 in the second half, upsetting UCLA, Arizona and Oregon when each was in first place. The Trojans wound up 16-14 overall and 10-8 in the conference.

Strengthened by two impressive freshmen, 6-2 post Ebony Hoffman and 5-10 guard Aisha Hollans, USC (5-5) has often played like a top-20 team at the Sports Arena but like an intramural club on the road, losing four of five by wide margins.

Hollans sat out the first six games because of back trouble but has already claimed a starting spot. In a loss at Texas Tech, she came off the bench to score 17 points. She has since become a starter.

Gobrecht envisions a champion with multiple losses this season.

“I really believe five teams have a shot at the championship,” she said Wednesday.

“I give the edge to Oregon because they have so many experienced seniors. I think Stanford really got hurt by losing King. But it will be a battle--I think whoever wins it could have four, five losses.

“The winner will be the team that protects its home turf well and somehow gets a few on the road. I like our schedule, we get the toughest trip [at Washington State tonight, at Washington Sunday] out of the way to start out and we have five home games in February.”

Arizona Coach Joan Bonvicini’s team finished the nonconference schedule by winning three in a row for a 10-2 record. She thinks Oregon and Stanford can adjust to their backcourt losses.

“Those two teams are both deep and very tall,” she said. “But I couldn’t pick a favorite now. Those two are good, I think we can be good, and I think Oregon State, Washington and Arizona State and ‘SC are pretty good.”

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UCLA TONIGHT

Bruins (1-10) at

Washington (7-3), 7 p.m.

USC TONIGHT

Trojans (5-5) at

Washington State (5-5), 7 p.m.