UC Merced women’s basketball gears up for season

The 2013-2014 season wasn’t the big step forward the UC Merced women’s basketball team was looking for.

At least not on paper.

The Bobcats went 4-19 with one more victory than in their inaugural season. But the record was only a portion of the story.

Coach Kevin Pham’s squad competed nightly, losing eight contests by single digits minus three projected starters and with a short bench.

“I think our depth is going to be the biggest difference between last year and this year,” senior guard Alexis Wu said. “It makes a big difference, because now we can go hard, and when we need a sub, there won’t be a a big drop off in intensity or skill level.

“We can finally play the offensive and defensive philosophy that Coach Pham has always wanted to play with.”

That philosophy is a high-octane effort for 40 minutes.

Pham wants to push the ball on offense and bring full-court pressure on defense.

“We’re very excited and optimistic coming into the season,” Pham said. “We’ve got 15 kids, with 10 returning, including all five starters. Our best additions are Christina Castro, who was a 2,000-point scorer in high school, Allison Wisdom, everyone knows what she did at Buhach Colony, and junior college transfer Jecenia Trinidad.

“I think those three joining what we already have coming back is going to give us an excellent chance to win some games.”

The Bobcats return a quartet of guards including Wu, Moses Oceguera, Maya Campo and program all-time leading scorer Shelby Howard (career 17.1 points per game). Oceguera is still recovering from a season-ending knee injury and is expected back in December.

Courtney Danna and Brittany Martinez both had their freshman campaigns derailed by academic issues, but have worked their way back onto the court. Danna was the team’s second leading scorer when her season came to an end, while 6-foot-2 Martinez was set to provide an inside presence at center.

Joining Martinez on the interior are three-year forwards Adrienne Carmona and Kayla Polman.

The UCM women will open the season at NAIA No. 21 Southern Oregon on Friday night.

“I think we’re going to be a feistier, more aggressive team,” Howard said. “We have so much more depth and balance across the board, especially at guard. We lost a lot of close games last season because we were tired and not able to finish those games off.

“That’s not going to be an issue this year. We shouldn’t have to slow down from start to finish.”

Men’s basketball

The Bobcat women won’t be the only ones looking to run teams out of Hostetler Court this season.

With junior center Ryan Edwards the only player taller than 6-foot-4, the UCM men will play uptempo as well.

“It’s a new chapter and a new verse for the program this year,” coach John Sykes said. “We’ve graduated a lot of the guys that have been our main players the last three years and it’s a great opportunity for a new set of guys to step up.

“We’ll be playing with a different style. We want to push the ball with our speed every chance we get on offense and pick up our defense as soon as a rebound is made or the ball goes through the net.”

The Bobcats return seven from last year’s 2-27 squad, but need to replace their top three scorers and leading rebounder.

Sykes expects Edwards to average a double-double in his third season with Merced. Mitch Flores gives the team experienced guard play off the bench. Kevin Ellsworth and Michael Pierick are proven shooters.

Freshman point guard Christian Chapman will run the show, freshman shooting guard Joshua Kimble will give the team a versatile scorer and former Merced High guard Reggie Nelson will be called upon to carry a good portion of the scoring load.

“Reggie is a guy that we’ve been working on getting in for about a year and a half,” Sykes said. “I’m expecting him to take a leadership role right away and have a big impact on this team.”

The men open the season at home tonight. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 9:46 AM with the headline "UC Merced women’s basketball gears up for season."