Are They Still Out of Their League? : Basketball: Lady Toros have improved, but they continue to struggle in California Collegiate Athletic Assn. play.

It has been an up-and-down third season for Van Girard, the women’s basketball coach at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Up because the Lady Toros will finish with a winning record for the first time since 1985, set a school record of nine consecutive victories and, probably most important, appear to have shed their reputation as pushovers.

“No one can come in our gym and take us as an easy (win) any longer,” Girard said.

But down since the start of California Collegiate Athletic Assn. play because the Lady Toros, who play at Chapman College (11-9 overall, 0-4 in league play) Saturday night, were unable to stop a slump that threatens to keep them out of the conference’s postseason tournament.

“I told the girls that (Saturday night) is a must-win situation,” Girard said. “If we have aspirations of making that postseason tournament we must beat Chapman.”

The Lady Toros are 14-6 and 1-3.

If Dominguez Hills loses, Girard may point to the softness of the Lady Toros’ preseason schedule, the loss of a starter because of grades, the loss of two players because of illness in the second week of the conference season, a disciplinary problem that necessitated suspending a player last week and bad luck.

“We’re scrambling,” Girard said.

Dominguez Hills entered CCAA play with a 13-3 record and high hopes. It was playing well and the return of the freshman Karee Bonde, who missed 13 games with a broken nose, was expected to give the team a lift. But last week only seven players suited up.

Missing from the team were starting guard LaRonda Poydras (academically ineligible because of grades), center Nicole Blue (bronchitis), guard Letoyia Gray (disciplinary suspension) and guard Leigh Warmke (appendicitis). Gray, Poydras and Warmke have yet to play in a CCAA game. Blue and Gray may play this weekend in limited roles.

“Losing LaRonda, a solid starter, really hurt us,” Girard said. “With Blue we had the only true post player that could come off the bench for us.”

When Dominguez Hills started conference play, four players had double-figure scoring averages and Dionne Vanlandingham ranked among the top rebounders in the nation.

In addition, the league’s perennial runner-up, Cal State Northridge, moved to Division I. That left only six teams to fight for four postseason berths.

Perennial CCAA conference

champion Cal Poly Pomona, which finished second in the nation last season, appeared less dominant than in past seasons. It looked like the Lady Toros could earn their first postseason appearance.

But two weeks into conference play, form appears to have taken over. Pomona (12-7, 3-0) shares first place with Cal State Los Angeles (11-10, 3-0), another perennial postseason qualifier. In addition, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (10-9, 2-1) appears much improved, as does UC Riverside (9-11, 1-2), which battled Dominguez Hills before losing, 66-62, last week.

“We managed to get through the entire preseason intact,” Girard said. “We had a few illnesses here and there, but we were in pretty good shape. We were right there the week before the conference began and then, everything has gone down since.”

Back-to-back losses opened the conference season. In its opener against visiting San Luis Obispo, Dominguez Hills held a 57-55 lead with four seconds left. San Luis Obispo was able to tie the score, then won it at the buzzer on a basket that followed an errant Lady Toro inbounds pass.

The following night, according to Girard, “We got our butts whipped,” in a 72-51 loss at Cal State L.A.

“I was beginning to feel we had moved beyond (losing a game the way we did with a mental error) against San Luis Obispo,” Girard said. “It was an emotional loss, one that will probably hurt us. Then the (game against L.A.) we did not come mentally prepared and L.A. played a tremendous game.”

When Girard, a highly successful coach at Lynwood High, took over the Dominguez Hills’ program in July of 1988 after the resignation of Alice Textor, he had little time to recruit. In 12 seasons, Dominguez Hills had only five winning seasons. In Girard’s first season, the Lady Toros finished 6-19, a loss shy of the worst record in school history.

But last season Dominguez Hills improved to 11-15. The Lady Toros started to master Girard’s fast-break offense. Although Dominguez Hills won only three CCAA games, Girard was voted the league’s coach of the year.

As for this season, Girard said: “I don’t feel badly about it. We are where we thought we would be. However, if we had beaten San Luis Obispo I would feel very good about our chances of making the conference tournament.”

Five victories should be good enough to earn a postseason berth, Girard said. But with only six games left, getting four victories will not be easy. Although the Lady Toros play host to L.A. and Pomona in the second half of conference play, they must play at Riverside and San Luis Obispo.

Ironically, if the Lady Toros manage to win four more games, the team would equal the school record for most victories in a season.

“We’re still building,” said Girard, who predicted when he was hired that it would take about five seasons to build a CCAA contender. “That’s why I feel this upcoming recruiting class will be pivotal. It should give us a mixture of experience and youthfulness. I’m kind of excited about the future.”

Conference tournament or not, Girard said he thinks Dominguez Hills is positioning itself to be a women’s basketball power.