The UCSD women’s basketball team has the opportunity to emerge from the madness of March very, very happy. Sweeping their final weekend, the No. 9 Tritons enter their first postseason game against Cal State San Bernardino poised for a historic playoff drive.
With their last two wins, the Tritons secured the program’s best conference record (19-1) since entering the California Collegiate Athletic Association. But success is nothing new for the women’s basketball program. Two seasons ago, the Tritons earned an NCAA Division-II tournament bid, eventually falling in the Final Four ‘mdash; one game short of the National Championship match.
As great a team as that was, the 2008-09 Tritons are even better. And considering that a slightly improved version of the historic Final Four team would probably have given RIMAC Arena another big, blue championship banner to add to its collection, this team is the real deal. With only two players remaining from that 2006-07 team, how could the Tritons have possibly rebuilt their squad to be stronger than the school’s best ever in just two years? Here are the top three reasons why the Tritons have an even better shot at a National Championship this season.
1. Head coach Charity Elliott is ridiculously good at what she does. After former Triton head coach Janell Jones peaced out on the team she had just taken to the Final Four in order to pursue a Division-I opportunity with Division-I money, Elliott swooped in, immediately winning her team over. At the start of last season, senior forward Michelle Osier said Elliott had a different (i.e. better) philosophy than their old coach and allowed players to snag improbable victories, giving them new excitement and hope. Now in Elliott’s second season, the Tritons have her defensive style ‘mdash; a mix of man-to-man and zone ‘mdash; down pat. Her coaching staff’s amazing recruiting, which brought freshman sensation Chelsea Carlisle and her explosive offense to UCSD, can’t be overlooked either.
2. Unlike their 2006-07 counterparts, these Tritons don’t rely on any single player to execute offensively. Two seasons ago, the Tritons belonged to then senior Leora Juster in all her crazy-haired glory. The 5-foot-8-inch guard completely obliterated almost all the CCAA competition ‘mdash; she led the Tritons in scoring for 14 of their 19 conference games ‘mdash; scoring over 30 points several times. Not surprisingly, Juster recorded a below-average 12 points in the Tritons’ semifinal loss. Even though Osier is unquestionably the Tritons’ best player, she’s only led UCSD’s scoring in half of its CCAA games, with five other Tritons having led at some point. More importantly, the Tritons can put together wins even without Osier’s double-digits.
3. Senior center Alexis Gaskin’s decision to stay at UCSD for a fifth year gave the Tritons a dominant scoring threat in the paint that they lacked two years ago. With Gaskin in the middle, other teams become distracted, allowing Triton scorers to get open. Look for Gaskin to be the difference maker in the playoffs.