Basketball Teams Prepare for WCC Openers Dec. 29

Basketball season is 10 games in for the University of San Diego men's team and nine in for the women. Each one so far is a nonconference game, but each carries some significance for head coaches Lamont Smith and Cindy Fisher as they assess and build toward their respective teams' defining destination — the start of West Coast Conference play on Dec. 29.

"We've played a tough nonconference schedule, opened with San Diego State, played at UCLA, at home against New Mexico State. We've played tough teams and they play all different styles which is what we'll see in our conference games," said Smith, whose team is 5-5, riding a three-game win streak with nonconference games this Saturday at home against Bethesda and Dec. 22 at North Texas before opening WCC play at the University of San Francisco.

Fisher's women's team has a 6-3 record, including a 5-0 mark at Jenny Craig Pavilion. The team has won its last two as it prepares for a Dec. 21 home game against North Dakota and then hosts San Francisco Dec. 29 and Saint Mary's at 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 31. Despite a successful start, Fisher acknowledged that it has come while her team seeks to find its identity.

"I think the team is really strong, but it has taken us awhile to figure out who'd do some of the scoring with Malina (Hood) gone (to graduation) and find out who wanted that responsibility," Fisher said. "It's been a bit of a process, but we're starting to gel. People who haven't had as big of a role are now stepping into leadership roles. We're still a work in progress."

Both teams do have players the coaches are counting on to attain that sense of progress.

The men's roster features only one senior, forward Brett Bailey, who is averaging a team-high 18.6 points per game. Returning junior forward Cameron Neubauer (10.5 points per game) and sophomore guards Olin Carter III (15.7 ppg) and Tyler Williams are effective components, but with many newcomers on the roster, including six freshmen and a few transfers, it's understandable why Smith, entering his second year as head coach, said it feels a little like USD is an all-new team for the second straight year. A few of those freshmen, Juwan Gray and Frank Ryder, have had some good early moments, which is promising.

Smith’s team's play so far in December has produced wins at Northern Arizona and at home against two Big West Conference opponents, Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara, all of which are confidence boosters.

"These have helped us as we build toward conference and learn how to win and give the players a chance to be in different situations," Smith said. Being 5-5 right now is great, although Smith wants his players to take the record in stride. Last year, USD finished nonconference play with a 5-6 mark and then lost its first four WCC games.

Fisher came into this year with three seniors, Malina Hood's sister, Maya, and guards Katherine Hamilton and Cori Woodward and juniors Sydney Williams and Aubrey Ward-El as the top returners. Sophomores Caroline Buhr and Tayla Hepburn and 3-pointer specialist junior Jamie Kissinger are part of the depth for the women’s team. Freshman guards Anna Ramos and Madison Pollack and freshman forward Patricia Brossmann are all getting playing time, too.

The game with North Dakota is the only thing standing between the Toreros and the start of WCC play. The Toreros are 2-2 in December with a pair of tough road losses to Pac-12 Conference teams, Washington State and Arizona, followed up by solid home wins against Nevada-Reno and Seattle University. Fisher expects a tough, solid test from the Fighting Hawks. From there, the focus will only be on USF in the WCC opener, which will be a challenge, if only based on recent meetings with the Dons. USD has lost to USF in each of the last two WCC Postseason Tournaments. The teams split their regular-season series last year, with USD winning a close game at home and falling in overtime at USF.

Both Fisher and Smith understand what it means when WCC games arrive on the calendar. 

"Every night in the WCC you've got to be ready. You've got to try and win your home games and pick up some wins on the road," Fisher said.

It won't be easy. The usual suspects at the top, Gonzaga and BYU, will be tough to beat and Santa Clara, coached by former USD men's basketball assistant Bill Carr, has his team going strong. All other WCC foes, as Fisher knows in preparation for her 12th go-around the WCC with USD, will be important tests.

"We just try to be the best we can be by the first week of March," said Fisher, referring to the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas. Fisher's teams in recent years have played deep into the WNIT and, in 2008, in the NCAA Tournament.

Smith appreciates the nonconference battles, but entering conference play — Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s are already ranked eighth and 20th, respectively, in the national Associated Press polls and BYU is always a force — offers plenty of challenges. One big change is having a handful of new head coaches, including those led by former NBA players Damon Stoudamire (Pacific) and Terry Porter (Portland) and two veteran college coaches, former USD men's assistant Kyle Smith (San Francisco) and Herb Sendek (Santa Clara).

"I'm excited to scout those guys," said Lamont Smith, who played for USD from 1994-99 when Kyle Smith was an assistant. Now they'll be on opposite sides when the WCC season tips off. That, too, is exciting.

"We'll just go out, compete and give it our best," Lamont Smith said.

— Ryan T. Blystone