After wrapping up its preseason schedule at Division I powerhouse Stanford on Tuesday night, the UC San Diego wom- en’s basketball team will begin the 2010-11 regular season at the Disney West Coast Tip Off Classic in Anaheim this weekend. The Tritons will open the three-day event against No. 13 Alaska Anchorage on Friday at 7:30 p.m., followed by a 2:30 p.m. matchup with Texas Woman’s University on Saturday and a 6:30 p.m. tilt with Grand Canyon on Sunday. The weekend tournament will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center, which is located across the street from Disneyland at 800 West Katella Avenue.
RANK AND FILE
After finishing with an overall record of 25-5 and posting a 19-3 mark in California Collegiate Athletic Association play in 2009-10, UCSD heads to Anaheim with a No. 11 national ranking in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Preseason Coaches Poll that was released last week. The Tritons also garnered a No. 7 ranking in last month’s Division II Bulletin preseason poll, marking the second year in a row UCSD has been ranked to start the season.
THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH?
The Tritons will be looking to replicate their recent success in Anaheim after winning the Disney Tip Off Classic title three years ago. In her first season on the job, head coach Charity Elliott led UCSD to victories over Colorado Christian (69-58), Augustana (69-51) and Western Washington (55-45) in November 2007 to hoist the Disney Classic trophy. The Tritons went on to finish with an overall record of 25-10 that season, advancing to the NCAA West Regional Semifinals.
TRITONS PREP FOR REGULAR SEASON WITH TOUGH EXHIBITION SLATE
UCSD has already been tested on two occasions this season after facing a pair of Division I squads in exhibition play. The Tritons lost a 100-52 decision to 2009-10 national runner-up Stanford earlier this week after suffering an 86-43 defeat at the hands of another NCAA Tournament team in San Diego State on November 4. Junior guard Chelsea Carlisle proved she can play with anyone on Tuesday, scoring a game-high 25 points on 8-of-19 shooting against the Cardinal, while fellow junior Daisy Feder connected on 4-of-9 three-point tries and finished with 14 points off the bench. The Tritons shot a combined 28% (32-115) in the two games and were out-rebounded 93-41, but they should be well-prepared for the opposition this weekend in Anaheim.
SCOUTING THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
• Alaska Anchorage enters the season ranked No. 13 in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 after posting a 24-5 overall record and advancing to the second round of NCAA West Regional last season. The Seawolves welcome back six letterwin- ners, three of which have spent time in the starting lineup, including junior forward Hanna Johansson, who averaged 9.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in 2009-10. UAA, which was picked to finish second in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference behind defending champion Seattle Pacific, lost matchups with Indiana (72-49) and Toledo (63- 37) during exhibition play.
• Texas Woman’s University returns six letterwinners and three starters from last season’s squad that finished with an overall record of 15-12 and went 9-5 in Lone Star Conference play. Among the returnees are senior guard/forward Kay- la Weaver, who averaged 12.8 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game in 2009-10, and junior guard Jessica Hanna, who put up 14.3 points per game. TWU was picked to finish fourth in the Lone Star Conference’s North Division this season and posted exhibition victories over Lubbock Christian (85-67) and North Texas (71-69) earlier this month.
• Grand Canyon heads to Anaheim as the favorite to win a second Pacific West Conference title in three years after posting an overall record of 19-8 and finishing second in the conference behind Hawaii-Pacific in 2009-10. The Ante- lopes are led by senior guard Samantha Murphy, who was named the PacWest Player of the Year after leading the conference in scoring at 19.0 points per game a year ago. Murphy is GCU’s all-time leading scoring and also holds the program’s records for assists and steals. The Antelopes faced two Division I opponents in preseason play, losing exhibition matchups with the University of Arizona (90-56) and UNLV (68-61).
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