Women’s Team Is a Work in Progress

The Cal State Fullerton women’s basketball team is only two games into the season, and it already has been a mixed bag for new Coach Denise Curry.

The Titans won their season opener against Nevada Las Vegas, 66-62, last Friday with a good effort at the finish, but were beaten Monday night by Northern Iowa, 84-74, in a game Curry thought her team probably should have won.

“It’s obvious we’ve got a lot of things we need to work on,” Curry said.

They include more consistent defense, better rebounding and fewer turnovers, according to Curry.

The Titans had 33 turnovers against Northern Iowa. “We just didn’t make good decisions with the basketball,” Curry said. “We’ve got to show some progress there.”

Fullerton also was outrebounded, 43-40, but Curry was most concerned that only nine of those rebounds were on offense.

“We have to get more second and third attempts,” Curry said. “Rebounding is a lot of desire and effort. It’s more a question of heart than any lack of size.”

Curry thinks the Titans have to get more scoring from senior guard Kris Sigg, who averaged 13.2 points last season but was held to four points Monday.

“She has to decide she’s going to step up,” Curry said. “Potentially she’s our best shooter. We need to get her into the double-digits at the very least.”

There have been some pleasant surprises.

Sophomore center Erin Whiteside scored 21 points and had nine rebounds against Northern Iowa after a 12-point effort in the opener. Freshman Nashira Shaw had 15 points Monday, and Curry says her defense is improving.

“Erin is our only true post player at this point, so we’re asking a lot from her,” Curry said. “She played 38 minutes Monday, and that’s a lot at that position. I’m really pleased with her.”

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Gymnast Katy Maty, who won the Big West all-around championship last season as a sophomore, has missed five weeks of preseason workouts because of back problems. But Coach Lynn Rogers remains hopeful that she will be ready when the women’s team opens its season Jan. 10.

“We’re really not sure what happened to cause it, but she has been having disc problems,” Rogers said. “She had an MRI and some bone scans, and they haven’t shown anything wrong, but she’s been been having some pain in both legs.”

The good news for Rogers is that senior Alexis Lott is performing well in practice after a below-par junior season. She sat out the previous season because of knee surgery.

“We think Alexis is starting to turn the corner,” Rogers said. “She’s also suffered from migraine headaches, and it appears they’ve found the reason for that. They sent her in for a brain scan and found a cyst behind her ear. They treated it with an injection to shrink it, and she’s been doing a lot better. Her workouts have definitely improved since then, and we think she’s going to be a factor for us again. I wouldn’t have said that earlier.”

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Fullerton signed 10 baseball players in the early signing period, but Coach George Horton thinks at least a few of them will be seriously tempted by pro offers after next spring’s draft.

“That’s always the chance you take when you sign outstanding players,” Horton said. “But we feel extremely good about the players we’ve signed, and I don’t see us bringing in any others unless we get really hurt by the major league draft.”

The recruit most likely to attract the attention of the major league scouts is right-handed pitcher Nick Neugebauer of Riverside Arlington High.

“He pitches now in the 91-92 range, but he touches on 94 to 95 at times,” Horton said. “I’ll be surprised if he isn’t drafted in the first round. He probably has the highest profile of the players we’ve signed and probably the highest ceiling.”

Horton also thinks the two catchers the Titans signed, Brett Kay of Mater Dei and Sean Bischofberger of El Cajon, will attract the interest of scouts. Bischofberger also plays third base.

“Bischofberger may be a little on the average side on defense based on what pro scouts might expect from his catching skills, but he’s very solid on offense,” Horton said.

Horton also is especially impressed by center fielder Chris Stringfellow of Vista Rancho Buena Vista High.

“Stringfellow has excellent speed, but he’s not as big as the pros normally look for coming out of college,” Horton said. “And we feel he and his family are committed to him playing in college.”

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Coming Attraction

Key games for Cal State Fullerton this week:

* Men’s basketball against Loyola Marymount, at 7 p.m. Saturday at Titan Gym. The Titans defeated the Lions, 75-70, last season in Gersten Pavilion.