The height of determination

The surprise attack is unveiled at tipoff, when 5-foot-9 UC Irvine junior Stephanie Duda steps forward to jump center, an apparent sacrificial lamb among the stereotypically lanky legions in the post.

The tip is almost conceded against rivals regularly between three and nine inches taller. Yet this is only one battle in a 40-minute women’s basketball war in which Duda regularly prevails. That it comes first — and with a build-up long enough for foes to both realize and briefly savor their suspected forthcoming dominance — makes it all the more beneficial to the Anteaters’ self-proclaimed “fake post.”

“I love that,” Duda said of the predictable instant in which an opponent will both size her up, and write her off.

What follows is a relentless quest for hardwood real estate, where desire, strength and a fulcrum closer to street level, can often overwhelm those used to operating at a proximity closer to the penthouse.

“Determination is a big part of my game,” said Duda, who is among the nation’s most productive rebounders and has also become a consistent scorer for the depleted Anteaters.

Heading into Thursday’s Big West Conference game at UC Riverside, she is averaging 12.8 points and 10.6 rebounds. She had a career-high 23 points and added 15 rebounds in the UCI’s 74-64 overtime conference win over visiting Pacific Saturday.

Through Thursday’s games, she ranked 21st in NCAA Division I in rebounding average. Among those ahead of her, only one is shorter than 6-0.

Duda leads the Big West Conference in rebounding and double-doubles (eight).

“Being as short as I am, I’ve kind of got to have something extra to get it done,” said Duda, who with 190 rebounds in 18 games is producing nearly 30% of her team’s total. She is shooting 46.2% from the field (78 of 169) and has made 75 of 110 foul shots (68.2%). Her 110 free throws are more than double those of any of her teammates.

Duda, who leads the Anteaters with 35 steals and 58 fouls, said she also tries to create a psychological edge.

“I like to get a little anger going before the game,” she said.

Still, Duda said there is more to her game than muscle and menace.

“I think I get underestimated a lot,” she said. “Especially lately, I think I have added a little more finesse to my game.”

Objective oservers note that Duda’s relative short stature is amplified by a less-than transcendent vertical leap. And though an offseason workout and diet regimen helped her shed 15 pounds, her improved quickness does not compare favorably to most of her peers.

Still, she bodies, burrows and bustles so successfully, she regularly finds herself in optimum position to rebound and/or score.

“Positioning is very important to me,” she said. “I try to throw my weight around.”

“Duda is a determined kid … just relentless,” said UCI Coach Molly Tuter, whose preference for grinding, physical play dates back to her days as an overachieving standout at Arizona State.

“I can’t say she’s real talented,” Tuter added. “We haven’t run a set play for her all year. But she’s leading the Big West Conference in double-doubles, because she works so hard. She has exceeded everyone’s expectations, she hates to lose, and she is a great leader for our team.”

Duda was initiated into the game by her brother Shawn Caracoza, 10 years her elder. He starred at Artesia High and played collegiately at Drake in Des Moines, Iowa.

“I used to go to his high school games and I’d hold up signs I made for him,” said Duda, who recalled Shawn was the first on a long list of those who have blocked her shot.

“We were in the driveway all the time, playing one-on-one. He always wanted to get me out there and teach me a lesson.”

Those lessons helped Duda become a prolific star at Los Alamitos High. She produced 2,231 points and 1,258 rebounds in four varsity seasons for the Griffins, both school records. As a senior, she led Orange County in scoring (23.5 points per game) and also averaged 14.5 rebounds.

But, as an undersized post with limited physical gifts, Duda was hardly deluged by college recruiters.

“UCI was the most interested in me,” Duda said.

Still, then-coach Mark Adams attempted to make Duda a guard.

It was, Duda recalled, a very frustrating time.

Duda’s difficult collegiate transition ground to a halt late in her freshman season, when she tore her left ACL in practice. Surgery and rehabilitation cost her the rest of that season, as well as the next, when she redshirted.

But during that 2004-05 season, Adams resigned early in the year and was replaced by Tuter, who told Duda she would, once again, be playing in the post.

Ideally suited for the No. 4 spot typically known as power forward, Duda quickly became a fixture in the starting lineup. She averaged 7.0 points and 6.1 rebounds last season.

She began this season as a front-court complement to 6-4 freshman Naomi Halman and 6-0 sophomore Kelly Cochran, who was named to the conference’s All-Freshman team last season.

But Halman left the team before Christmas to return home to the Netherlands and Cochran was felled by a November knee injury that has likely ended her season.

Duda became the team’s primary post, which pits her against opponents with whom she often sees eye-to-armpit.

“I get elbowed in the head a lot, because my head is about elbow level [to rivals],” said Duda, who also regularly displays ripe bruises on her arms, created by frequent clashes with opponents.

“If I were a football player, I’d be an offensive linemen,” she said.

With Duda settling in inside, UCI (5-13, 2-2 in the Big West) has won three of its last six games. The Anteaters are in fourth place in the conference standings.

“I still have a lot of confidence in our team,” Duda said. “I still think we’re going to surprise some people.”