CSUDH Women's Basketball Weekly Release
November 19, 2001

THIS WEEK IN TOROS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
November 23 University of Southern Colorado Torodome, 7 p.m.

TOROS TO HOST THUNDERWOLVES OVER THANKSGIVING WEEKEND The Cal State Dominguez Hills women's basketball team will host the Thunderwolves of the University of Southern Colorado on Friday, November 23. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.

HEAD COACH VAN GIRARD Coach Girard enters his fourteenth season at the helm of the Toros basketball program. In this time, Girard has posted a 177-173 record. He has led CSUDH to two consecutive CCAA conference titles (1994-96), and has been named CCAA Coach of the Year five times, including three in a row (1993-1996). Girard has coached one All-American, two All-West Region players, three CCAA MVP's and 29 all-conference players. His first win at the collegiate coaching level came on November 25, 1988, when he led CSUDH to a 82-68 victory against Incarante Word.

PROBABLE STARTERS

2001-02CCAA Standings

A LOOK AT THIS WEEK'S TEAMS

SCOUTING THE THUNDERWOLVES University of Southern Colorado (2-0): The Thunderwolves are perfect in the opening of the 2001-02 season. They have posted wins over Graceland University and the University of Northern Colorado. Senior guard Shawana McElroy is leading the squad with 19.5 points per game, while sophomore forward Nadia Fercha is adding 18 ppg.
The Last Time We Met: This is the first time that these two squads will be meeting.
The Series: This will be the first game of the series.
Girard vs. University of Southern Colorado: Van Girard will face the Thunderwolves for the first time in his career.
Thunderwolves Head Coach: Head coach Misty Murphy is in her first season at Southern Colorado.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

MSU-BILLINGS def. CS DOMINGUEZ HILLS 75-49 Cal State Dominguez Hills dropped its 2001-02 season opener Friday night, falling 75-49 to the visiting Yellowjackets of Montana State-University Billings in a non-conference matchup at the Torodome. CSUDH had strong performance from center Kendra Tease. The 6-1 junior had a team-high 10 points and picked up seven boards. Christina Tucker and Bryanna Norton each poured in seven apiece for the Toros. Tucker, a senior forward shot 75% from the field and grabbed three rebounds. Norton, a 5-11 center hit the Toros only three-point basket of the night, with 1:28 remaining in the game. The Toros were 29% from the field, 11% from behind the arc and 59% from the charity stipe. Montana State-Billings had a strong showing from senior forward Becky Jacobs who scored a match-high 18 points. Guard Marie Dyk and forward Amber Zylawy contributed 12 and 11 points respectively for the Yellowjackets. MSU posted impressive numbers. They were 46% from the field, 46% from three-point land and 73% from behind the line.The Toros fell to 0-1 on the season, and are now10-11 in season-openers and 15-6 in home- openers.

CAL BAPTIST def. CS DOMINGUEZ HILLS 76-69 Cal State Dominguez Hills dropped its second game of the season,falling to the visiting Lancers of Cal Baptist University 76-69 in a non-conference match-up at the Torodome. Cal Baptist opened strong, with Nadia Guvlekjian nailing two three-pointers in the first two minutes to take a 10-3 lead. The Toros battled back, with sophomore guard Tomica Coleman (John Muir HS) hitting a three at the 10:44 mark to tie the contest at 18. The Lancers started the second half scoring with two points from the line, before Lewis made a two -point jumper to keep the game to within three. The margin remained at three until the 15:12 mark when Lancer Adena Scruggs hit a field goal to lead 46-41. The Lancers were leading by 10 ,seven minutes into the half, before the Toros picked up their game and closed to within three again, 69-66 with a made free throw by Tease with two and a half minutes remaining in the contest. But the Lancers went on a 7-3 run to lead 76-69 at the final buzzer. Cal State Dominguez Hills had three player scores in double figures tonight. Tracee Lewis scored a game-high 17 points, Fercia Rambacal added 15 and Kendra Tease poured in 12 for CSUDH. Junior nakeisha perkins (Grant HS) came up big on the boards again Saturday, grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. CSUDH was 25 of 64 from the floor, 3 of 14 from behind the arc, and 16 of 26 from the free throw line.

TOROS NOTES

• A LOOK AT THE 2001-02 TOROS ROSTER CS Dominguez Hills returns eleven players from last year's squad that went 9-17 overall and 5-17 in the CCAA conference. There are a total of six new recruits, three coming from strong junior college programs. This season's roster features five seniors, seven juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen. The Toros are also taller this season, with seven players at six feet tall or over.
• TOROS PICKED TO FINISH NINTH BY CCAA COACHES Cal State Dominguez Hills has been picked to finish ninth this season in the CCAA by conference coaches. Cal Poly Pomona, the defending NCAA Division II national champion, is the unanimous favorite to threepeat for the league crown. Last season, the Toros took a tenth place finish in the CCAA.
• CS DOMINGUEZ HILLS IN OPENERS With a loss on Friday night, Cal State Dominguez Hills is now10-11 in season openers and 15-6 in home openers. The 49-75 loss to MSU-Billings was the first loss in a home opener since the 1992-1993 season.
• TOROS LEAD OPPONENTS ON THE BOARDS Cal State Dominguez Hills is starting out strong on the boards. Last season, the Toros were out-rebounded by their opponents 38.5 to 40.2. In two games this season, CSUDH is stepping up and pulling down 42 boards per game, compared to the 40.5 grabbed by their opponents.
• TEASE IS A NICE ADDITION TO TOROS ROSTER Junior Kendra Tease, a 6-1 center transfer from LA Southwest College, has shown early why she is a valuable addition to the 2001-02 Toros roster. Tease scored a team-high ten points in the season-opener on Friday night. She was 3-11 from the field and 4-9 from the line. Tease also tied a team-high rebounds on the night with seven. The following night, Tease poured in 12 points and pulled down seven boards. Tease is nearly at the top of the Toros team stats. She is currently second is scoring with 11 points per game and second in rebounding with seven boards per game.
• RAMBACAL STEALS HER WAY INTO TOROS HISTORY, AGAIN Senior Fercia Rambacal marked her name in Toros history again on Saturday night, with eight steals versus Cal Baptist. The 5-5 guard tied an individual game record for steals in game. This is the second time that Rambacal has tallied eight steals in a game. She first marked her name in the record books with eight steals versus Cal State LA in the 1999 season. Former Toros Joanne Williams and Julie Thigpen are tied with Rambacal for steals in a game with eight.
• LEWIS LOOKS TO MAKE IT A CAREER SEASON Tracee Lewis needs only 15 more points to mark her name in Toros basketball history. The 5-8 guard has scored 774 points. With 15 more, Lewis will have scored 189 points in a Toros jersey, marking her name in the Top Ten on the Toros career charts. In the two games this season, Lewis is averaging 11.5 points per game. She scored a game-high 17 points in the loss to Cal Baptist on Saturday night.
• DOUBLE-DUTY Two Toros are doing double-duty at CSUDH. Freshmen Keesha Aldridge (Aiea HS) and Courtney Stewart (Walnut HS) both spent the fall season playing for the Toros volleyball team. Aldridge, a 6-1 middle blocker, was the Toros top blocker. She knocked down a team-high 1.06 blocks per game. The freshman has already marked her name in the Toros season record books with 78 block assists, ranking her second. Stewart, was one of the Toros top defensive players, picking up 1.50 digs per game.
• 2000-01 IN REVIEW Last season, Cal State Dominguez Hills finished with a 9-17 overall record and a 5-17 finish in the CCAA. The Toros were perfect in non-conference action at 5-0, including opening the season with three-straight non-conference wins. The team opened CCAA action with a 57-74 loss to Cal State Bakersfield. CSUDH went on to struggle in the opening of the CCAA season, before picking up their first conference win over San Francisco State. They then went on to pick up two CCAA wins over Grand Canyon and UC San Diego. The Toros longest win streaks of the season were three and the longest losing streak was nine. As a team, they were 36% from the field, 32% from behind the arc, and %67 from behind the line. They pulled down 38.5 boards and scored 59.8 points per game.