Waves, Trojans Aiming High

As he watched the final seconds of his team’s first-round loss to Villanova in the NCAA tournament last March, Pepperdine Coach Mark Trakh’s mind was working ahead.

He would have 10 players back from a 23-8 squad that posted the school’s fifth consecutive 20-win season, won its first West Coast Conference tournament championship and made its fourth consecutive appearance in postseason play.

Add an ambitious schedule -- UCLA and USC at home, Connecticut and Stanford on the road -- that, with a little luck, could get the program more national exposure.

“We have a chance to be good,” Trakh said.

That was before the injury bug that bit Pepperdine last year got hungry again.

Shot-blocking junior center Shannon Mayberry will miss the season because of a stress fracture. Senior point guard Damaris Hinojosa is recovering from a back injury. Sophomore forward Jennifer Lacy, who could start or come off the bench, is out until January after undergoing ankle surgery.

So, has Pepperdine missed its shot at greatness?

Not necessarily. The 2002-03 Waves have depth and experience.

Besides Hinojosa, senior Tamara McDonald and junior Shandrika Lee are in the backcourt. Fifth-year senior forward Anna Lembke has recovered from a knee injury. Among the newcomers expected to perform are junior guard-forward Nicole Funn, a transfer from Oregon State, and freshman forward Kelsey Ball.

Hinojosa, the Waves’ leading returning scorer with a 13.6-point average, said last season “was a breakthrough after several years of underachieving.” But she made it clear the disappointment of losing in the first round has stayed with Pepperdine.

“We came back very hungry,” Hinojosa said.

The Waves aren’t the only Southland team with high expectations.

Chris Gobrecht believes she has her best team since taking over at USC six years ago. Most of the players, who include All-Pacific 10 selections Ebony Hoffman and Aisha Hollans, were inconsistent as freshmen and sophomores. Now they are juniors eager to return the Trojans to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1997.

“We just needed to grow up,” Gobrecht said. “There was a lot of pressure on these young players to carry the load. They’re much more relaxed and much more confident.”

There are reasons for USC, coming off a 16-14 season and a second-round game in the WNIT, to be optimistic.

Besides Hoffman, who won a gold medal with the USA qualifying team over host Brazil in July, and Hollans, there is Rachel Woodward, who made the Pac-10 all-freshman team. Rometra Craig, a junior transfer from Duke and daughter of former NFL running back Roger Craig, gives USC another outside threat when she becomes eligible on Dec. 19.

But then you view the Trojans’ schedule, which must have been scripted by “Survivor” writers. How about consecutive games against New Mexico, Notre Dame, Pepperdine, Connecticut and Tennessee before starting conference play? And that doesn’t include the preseason WNIT, where Kansas State and Penn State are potential opponents.

Hoffman (14.9 points, 8.9 rebounds) can’t wait.

“I didn’t come here to play rootiepoots,” she said, using her personal term for average teams. “Will we win? Time will tell. But the chemistry is there; you can feel the difference [from last year] in practice.”

UCLA is not ready to think about the postseason beyond the conference tournament. Reaching .500 is a reasonable -- and necessary -- goal for the Bruins, who have gone 15-43 the last two seasons.

Coach Kathy Olivier isn’t under the same level of pressure that men’s Coach Steve Lavin is to win. But there is pressure, especially with new Athletic Director Dan Guerrero overseeing UCLA sports.

“I think anyone who knows basketball knows we have been beat up the last two years,” Olivier said. “Last year, I don’t have my leading scorer, my second-leading scorer and my leading rebounder. We’re not going to win a lot of games that way.”

UCLA, 9-20 last season, is enhanced by the return of fifth-year senior Michelle Greco, who averaged 23.6 points in the first five games before sitting out the rest of the season because of recurring concussions.

The Bruins have 10 players returning -- sophomore guard Brianna Winn transferred -- and welcome a potentially strong freshman class led by heralded guard Nikki Blue, a high school All-American from Bakersfield.

Loyola Marymount must replace Bryn Britton, its all-time leading scorer. And if the Lions plan to build on last year’s 15-13 record, they will need senior guard-forward Kate Taylor to have an even bigger output offensively than last season’s 13.8 points average.

Nationally ranked Santa Barbara, with 6-8 junior center Lindsay Taylor and senior guard Jess Hansen -- whose last-second jumper beat Louisiana Tech in the NCAA tournament -- is heavily favored to run over the Big West for a seventh straight year.

Despite seven new players, Long Beach State is as well equipped as any conference challenger Santa Barbara will face. The 49ers have frontcourt height in 6-5 center Sarah Stout, 6-2 Glory Johnson and 6-3 Jayme Connors.

Fullerton and Irvine probably need at least another year to move into the top half of the Big West. Riverside was a surprise second-place finisher in the conference but must replace four of its top six scorers. Northridge, under first-year Coach Tammy Holder, is trying to recover from a 2-24 season.