The Toros Online -- Cal State Dominguez Hills Athletics

CSUDH Women's Basketball Weekly
November 27, 2006

The Scouting Report

Cal State Stanislaus Warriors (0-0, 0-0 CCAA)
Cal State Stanislaus is coming off another rough season with an overall record of 8-19 and a CCAA mark of 4-16. Individually, returning junior Gwendolyn Page was the Warrior standout, earning a 1st-Team All-CCAA selection and finishing 4th in the conference in scoring (17.2 points per game) and rebounding (8.1 rebounds per game). As a team the Warriors finish 7th in scoring offense (65.3 points per game) and 10th in scoring defense (79.3 points per game). CSUS would be a constant long range threat, hitting 130 3-point shots on the season, placing them 4th with an average of 4.81 3-pointers made per game. In addition to Page, the Warriors will return their 4th leading scorer in Shristy Kumar, who averaged 7.4 points per game and led the team in 3-point field goal percentage with .330, hitting 35 of 106 attempts. Two key losses for CSUS will be Latrici Nickelberry and Lindsie Lefort. Nickelberry was 2nd on the team in scoring (10.0 points per game) and 3rd in steals (28). Lefort was the Warrior sharp shooter from beyond the arc, leading the team with 41 3-point shots with a percentage of .301. Lefort was also 2nd on the team in rebounds, pulling down 122 on the season.

Rivalry History
CSUDH leads the all-time series 15-10. Last season the two teams split the series, with CSUDH winning the first match-up in the Torodome 79-56 on January 13, and CSUS getting its revenge in Turlock, 88-80 on February 18.

Chico State Wildcats (1-0, 0-0 CCAA)
Chico State is coming off another successful season, finishing the 2005-06 season with an overall record of 27-3, and a conference mark of 18-2. After claiming its second straight CCAA title, the Wildcats advanced to the NCAA D-II Semifinals, where they fell to eventual NCAA D-II Champions Grand Valley State. Individually, the Wildcats would be highly decorated, starting with their head coach Lynne Roberts being named CCAA Coach of the year. Returning Junior Amber Simons received just about every award possible, 1st-Team All-American, 1st-Team All-West Region. 1st-Team All-CCAA, 3x CCAA Player of the Week, and Western Regional Tournament MVP. The Wildcats will also return 1st-Team All-CCAA selection Haley Ford. As a team Chico State was a tough match-up on both ends of the floor, finishing 2nd in the CCAA in scoring offense (80.9 points per game) and 2nd in scoring defense (62.7 points per game), which together gave CSUC a CCAA leading +18.2 scoring margin. Chico State also led the CCAA in rebounding margin with a +8.7 and 3-point field goals made with 7.09 per game, while finishing 2nd in free-throw percentage (.725) and 3rd in field goal percentage (.433). The Wildcats are returning four starters from last years team, with only 2nd-Team All-CCAA honoree Lauren Himmelspach lost to graduation.

Rivalry History
CSUC leads the all-time series 22-7. Chico State swept the Toros last season, first taking a 72-52 decision in the Torodome on January 14, and then staging a comeback with six seconds left to steal a 74-73 win in Chico on February 17.

This Release in PDF

Welcome to the 2006-07 home openers! The Toros kick off their season home-opener this weekend as they welcome CCAA opponents Cal State Stanislaus and Chico State on Friday and Saturday. Tip off for both contests is scheduled for 5:30 pm in the Torodome.

Hope International Recap: Two weeks ago the Toros took on the Royals of Hope International University in their lone preseason exhibition of the season, coming out on top 69-65 in Darling Pavilion located in Fullerton, CA.

CSUDH shuffled up its starting line-up a little from last season, inserting sophomores Aujaneé Baldwin and Ennisha Kyles with returning juniors Brittney Blankenship, Jessica Liang, and 2nd-Team All-CCAA selection Alana Bailey.

Neither offense would bring much to the table with both teams shooting under 40% from the floor, with about a third of each team’s points coming from the charity stripe.

Overall, Baldwin would lead the Toro offense with 16 points, going 3-for-6 from the field and 10-for-12 from the free throw line. Bailey and Blankenship would round out the Toros in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Assistant coach Monique Marquez shares her thoughts on the game: “ We struggled a little bit offensively in the first half against their zone defense, but in the second half the girls stepped up and really started to execute.

Aujaneé had a huge 2nd half offensively when she started to break down their defense while Ashley played big in the first half, hitting a couple open jumpers, rebounding well, and playing solid defense. Overall I felt that we did a lot of good things as a team.”

News & Notes: Getting to know the new faces: Here is a quick look at some of the new faces on the Toro sideline this season, courtesy of head coach Van Girard.

“Brigayle (Iglehart) has a tremendous ability to get to the basket and a nice mid-range game, she will be a different kind of point than we have had in that she will pitch the ball.”

“Unique (Bennett) is a physical guard and a very good deep shooter who should also be able to help us on the boards.”

“Diana (Leasau) has shown a high basketball IQ with good leadership qualities. She is going to be a really nice player down road.”

“Mallory (Avila) has been tabbed the ‘creator,’ as she has a lot of offensive creativity and can score in a variety of ways.”

Last season in a flash: It was another roller coaster ending for the women’s basketball team. After starting the season 6-2, including a 1-1 conference split, the Toros would go on a 1-4 conference cold streak, before turning everything around and winning five-straight.

After dropping their next game to Cal State L.A., the Toros would go to Bakersfield and upset the CCAA-leading Roadrunners in a double-overtime thriller, keeping CSUDH in the hunt for another trip back to the postseason. However, that momentum would evaporate quickly as CSUDH would drop the next four games before winning the last two of the season.

As a team, CSUDH finished 1st in opponent field-goal percentage, holding foes to a .364 field goal percentage, and had the fewest field goal attempts (1,499) against them. The Toro defense would extend to the three-point arc, finishing 2nd, holding opponents to a .308 3-point field goal percentage.

The vaunted CSUDH defense would hold CCAA opponents under their season scoring average in all but six games, two of which were overtime. The Toros would also keep their opponents under 60 points 12 times, and only allowed more than 80 points twice, with one coming in the double overtime win against Cal State Bakersfield.

The 2005-06 season also marked the farewell of Tameka Blue who, in front of friends and family in Seaside, CA, in the Toro’s last game of the season, became the All-Time leading scorer in Toro history with 1,470 points.

The three-time 1st-Team All-CCAA, two-time 2nd-Team All-Region, and former CCAA Freshman of the Year left a legacy that will not soon be forgotten.

In addition to Blue, CSUDH lost a trio of seniors Adiana Vega-Howard, Brandi McGinest and Celeste Haueter all concluded their collegiate careers.

2006-07 CCAA Preseason Poll
1) UC San Diego
2) Chico State
3) Cal State Bakersfield (i)
4) Cal State Dominguez Hills
5) Cal State L.A.
6) Humboldt State
7) Cal State San Bernardino
8) Sonoma State
9) Cal Poly Pomona
10) San Francisco State
11) Cal State Stanislaus
12) Cal State Monterey Bay (i) Ineligible for CCAA Championship

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