Commitment to winning
Bryce Alderton
Add six freshman to a roster studded with six returning sophomores
from a 25-9 team that was one game away from reaching the state’s
quarterfinals a year ago and you’ve got the 2002-03 edition of the
Orange Coast College women’s basketball team, a team Coach Mike
Thornton calls “better than last year’s team.”
“We’re taking the Angels’ philosophy of, ‘One game at a time,’”
said Thornton, referring to the Anaheim Angels’ motto that Manager
Mike Scioscia regularly talked about during interviews as one of the
catalysts to the Angels winning the World Series this season. “I
don’t know if we can do what (the Angels) did and mentally hang in
there one game at a time, but we’re going to have some really good
players. I don’t know if we have one superstar player but we have a
bunch of good, solid players. Going into the season you always have
an idea of how good you are, but a lot depends on how good everyone
else is.”
Orange Coast has reason to be optimistic with six returners, among
them 5-foot-5 point guard Nancy Hatsushi, an All-Orange Empire
Conference selection and All-Southern California selection last
season, who averaged 10.3 points a game and 3.2 assists. Hatsushi led
the team with 74 3-point field goals, a 44.8% shooting percentage
from behind the arc.
She will be joined in backcourt by Lindsey Galasso, a 5-foot-3
shooting guard who Thornton, entering his 13th year, said will play
point when Hatsushi needs a breather. Galasso averaged 8.4 points and
2.4 assists last season.
Forward Candice Quiroz, a 5-8 sophomore from El Toro High,
averaged 4.7 points and three blocks a game last season and will be
joined in the front court by 5-11 forward Liz Mendoza, who was the
Orange Empire Player of the Year when she played at Century High
School.
Thornton expects Mendoza to be one of the better players in the
conference.
“She’s a good perimeter shooter who has improved her game a lot,”
he said.
Alongside Thornton stands 6-foot Lauren Murray, who Thornton said
has improved more than anybody from last season when she started
part-time and contributed 4.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and collected a
team-high 15 blocks.
Mesa State (Colorado), Cal State Los Angeles, Chico State and Cal
State San Bernardino have recruited Murray, Thornton said.
Quiroz, Hatsushi and 5-4 guard Leigh Marshall are the team’s
tri-captains.
“(Marshall) is the spirit of our team,” Thornton said. “She’s a
very motivational player and has helped bring along other players.”
One freshman who figures to battle for a starting spot is 6-foot
freshman Alisa Carrillo out of Saddleback High School. Kirsten Von
Tungeln, a 6-2 center freshman, transferred from Irvine Valley last
season but didn’t play because of illness should add height to a
Coast squad that features three players at least 6 feet tall.
Freshman guard Amy Shaw, 5-8, will present a threat from 3-point
range and Celeste Haueter, a 5-11 forward who redshirted last season
after undergoing knee surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate
ligament in high school, should be healthy and ready to go when the
Pirates open up their season against Hancock Friday at 7:30 p.m. at
OCC in the first round of the Coast Tip-Off Tournament.
“(Haueter) has improved quite a bit,” Thornton said. “We’re going
to play nine or 10 a game.”
Coast also features two freshmen who stand at 5-9, forward Laura
Garnica and guard Jessica Estrada.
Thornton expects this year’s Pirates to repeat their strong
defensive presence of a year ago, when OCC held their opponents to an
average of 51.3 points while averaging 66 points.
“We’re going to play up-tempo on offense and pressure defense,”
Thornton said.
Orange Coast suffered a one-point loss to Los Angeles Valley last
season for the right to advance to the state’s quarterfinals, but
Thornton said his players aren’t using that game for motivation, but
rather looking to the future instead.
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