Washington looks for bounce-back year for MC women
The 2015-16 basketball season couldn’t get here fast enough as far as Allen Huddleston was concerned.
The Merced College women’s basketball coach was eager to put a 6-19 campaign that saw the Lady Devils finish fifth in the Central Valley Conference behind him as quickly as possible.
Little cures what ails you like having one of the top players in all of Northern California return to the fold. Point guard Trinity Washington returns to MC after taking last season off. The sophomore set the school single-season record with 185 assists as a freshman in 2013-14. She ranked fourth in the state in assists per game and total assists that year.
Washington also added 8.9 points per game and had a team-high 89 steals.
“I told my young point guards that they’re going to learn from the best point guard in the state,” Huddleston said. “I think she definitely missed the game and she’s stepped right back in like she never left.
“I don’t know how long we’ll have her. She really wants to start her career as a nurse, and she’s been in contact with a number of hospitals that will pay for her schooling. But as long as we have her, we’re going to take advantage of it.”
Skilled as Washington is on the court, her biggest contribution might be in the leadership department. Only two of the 13 players on Huddleston’s roster are returners. Eight of the 13 are freshmen.
Foward Mele Tupouata and guard Jazlyn Simon are the only holdovers, but both saw regular time last season. Tupouata averaged 9.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, good for second on the team in both categories.
“We’re a young team, but they possess a lot of talent and work really hard,” Huddleston said. “With so few kids back it is kind of like a fresh start. I think Mele and Jazlyn are happy to put last season behind them also.
“We have a couple kickbacks from Point Loma in Dalonna Jones (Merced High) and Jovanah Arrington (Patterson High) that are really going to help us out. Tajaheray McMahan, my freshman point guard from Southern California, is someone I’m really excited about.
“I think we have good balance with our post players and our ability to shoot from the outside, and I think we have a number of versatile players that will be able to do both.”
The women’s team isn’t the only one with a lot of fresh faces as the Merced College men’s basketball team will take the court at the Hartnell Tournament tonight with 13 freshmen.
Six-foot-6 swing man Paul Wilson is the only returner from last year’s 2-21 team. He red-shirted after an injury only allowed him to play in seven games last season. Wilson averaged 4.4 points and 2.7 rebounds per game as a freshman.
The Blue Devils are composed almost entirely of California players and will have a number of local faces, including Lee McNeill (Golden Valley), DeShaun Allison (Atwater) and Jonathan Chairez (Merced).
Making a splash
Washington isn’t the only one dropping dimes on the Merced College campus these days.
Isaac Santana set the Blue Devils’ single-season record for assists in men’s water polo with 65. The previous mark of 63 assists was set by Alex Stankevitch in 1994.
Santana should have the opportunity to pad his numbers with MC set to take part in today’s Coast Conference Tournament and a likely bid to the NorCal Tournament after that. MC will face De Anza in the tournament opener at 4:15 p.m. today.
The men’s team is not alone in having NorCal aspirations. The MC women (14-6) are having their best season since 2012 and will be hoping to knock off Coast Conference Tournament host Foothill for the CC crown.
The last time both teams qualified for the NorCal Tournament was 2010.
In the running nationally
The UC Merced cross country trio of Sofia Rios, Anthony Tyler and Daniel Pena all qualified for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national championship meet in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 21 after their showings at Monday’s Cal Pac Championships.
Rios just missed out on defending her Cal Pac title, finishing second in the women’s race with a time of 19 minutes, 26.1 seconds. It’s the senior’s fourth straight season of qualifying for the national race.
Tyler will be attending for the first time after finishing third in the men’s race. The freshman turned in a time of 26:13.9. Pena wasn’t far off of that pace, placing seventh in 26:34. The senior will be going to the championship meet for a second time.
The rest of the fall sports conference tourneys will get underway next week with the Bobcat men’s soccer team and women’s volleyball and soccer teams all with tangible shots of winning their first Cal Pac titles.
Sean Lynch: 209-385-2476, @MSSsports
This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Washington looks for bounce-back year for MC women."