A Cautious Resurgence on the Court

They don’t want to get too excited about it but Cal State Los Angeles and Cal State San Bernardino, teams that finished at or near the bottom of the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. women’s basketball standings last season, are sitting at the top with 3-1 records.

That, however, is a tenuous position. The Golden Eagles and Coyotes share first place with three other teams, among them defending CCAA champion Cal Poly Pomona. There still are 18 conference games to be played.

So although each team has a 7-2 record, each views its early success through wary eyes.

“I think these young women are pretty level-headed,” said Cal State L.A. Coach Marcia Murota, whose team was 7-17 last season and finished in an eighth-place tie in conference play. “They understand that every game is a big game to them.

“If you look at the conference now, it seems like anybody can beat anybody. Hopefully, we’re now in the mix.”

San Bernardino Coach Kevin Becker said, “We just want to take small steps.”

At Cal State L.A., senior forward Christa Ellis is coming off four consecutive 20-plus-point games and has improved her scoring average from 12.4 points in 1999-2000 to 18.6. But it is 5-foot-2 senior guard Lisa Moya, averaging 8.3 points and 6.8 assists, who makes the Golden Eagles go.

“We’ve got people getting [Christa] the ball at the right time,” Murota said. “She has definitely stepped up her game. Lisa’s definitely the leader out there. She’s the enthusiastic one, always getting the team pumped up.”

San Bernardino’s road back has been impressive. In three seasons, the Coyotes went from 23-6 to 7-17. Last year, they were last in the CCAA with a 4-16 record.

Becker, in his fifth year, has been through all of that, changing the focus of a team that seemed to concentrate more on playbooks than textbooks.

“When I inherited the program, we had to go with the quick fix,” he said. “But we had to kind of clean house. That was the real reason I was brought here.”

The Coyotes average 71.8 points a game but only one player--reserve Chelsea Carter--is in double figures at 11.2. Sharee Brown, another nonstarter, is the second-leading scorer in a balanced attack.

“The kids have been real unselfish,” Becker said. “Having kids with the right attitude has obviously helped. They just want to win.”

Both coaches believe Pomona is the class of the conference. Murota and the Golden Eagles have their first shot at the Mustangs tonight at home.

“It’s a big game for us,” she said. “Hopefully, we’re not going to be overanxious. Hopefully, we’ll give them a good fight.”

*

This is what every other men’s team in the CCAA didn’t expect--or want--to see: Cal State San Bernardino at 8-0.

Weren’t the Coyotes supposed to fall off after going 23-6, winning the conference title and reaching the NCAA West Regional tournament? They did lose four starters to graduation.

Even San Bernardino Coach Larry Reynolds is surprised.

“Well, it is a little unexpected,” he said of the Coyotes’ hot start. “We have a lot of new players.”

Senior point guard Chris Mattice and sophomore shooting guard Lance Ray were the only players out of the top six returning and only Mattice started seven games.

Even so, the team has a familiar look--balance on offense and a stingy defense.

They’re giving up only 60.8 points and holding opponents to 39% shooting. Meanwhile, five players average between 9.6 and 12.8 points. Guard Glenn Summerall, a junior transfer from the University of San Francisco, is the team’s leading scorer, and other newcomers, such as guard Bobby Burries and forward LeRoy Mayo, have been pivotal.

Most telling of all, the Coyotes go nine players deep and simply wear opponents down.

“We kind of explain to the guys when they come into the program that we don’t expect one or two players to do the bulk of the scoring,” Reynolds said. “It’s just because of the way we play and the number of guys we use.

“Obviously, we have guys with more athletic ability than some other guys on the team. But [the system] allows everyone to step forward when we need them to. Everybody has bought into that.”

UNIVERSITY DIVISION

UCLA senior Sean Kern capped a remarkable water polo season by being selected NCAA player of the year for the second time after leading the Bruins to the national title.

Kern competed for the U.S. in the Sydney Olympics, then returned to score 33 goals in 17 games with the Bruins. He also was the winner of the Peter J. Cutino Award, water polo’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

Brian Brown and Brandon Brooks earned first-team All-American honors for UCLA. Andy Bailey was a third-team selection, and four other Bruins--Adam Wright, Dave Parker, Matt Flesher and Blake Wellen--were honorable mention picks.

USC’s George Csaszar, Ivan Babic and Stever O’Rourke, Long Beach State’s Chris Segesman, Pepperdine’s Greg Lonzo and Michael Soltis and Loyola Marymount’s Kevin Witt also were named to the All-American team.

Segesman and Csaszar were selected to the first team, Lonzo and Babic to the second team and Soltis, O’Rourke and Witt to the third team. USC’s Predrag Damjanov and Tim Wollthan earned honorable mention.