November 8, 2007

Women ready to build on winning foundation
BY JEFF EVANS, Californian staff writer

The book is closed on Cal State Bakersfield's Division II history, and the women's basketball team can't help but feel sorry to see it end.

The Roadrunners have been in existence seven seasons, and have topped the 20-win barrier every year.

Now, playing a Division I schedule, the wins will be tougher to come by.

But that doesn't faze Roadrunner coach Tim La Kose.

"The plan now is to become one of the top Division I teams," La Kose said. "Last year we laid a good foundation for that. Now we want to build on it."

The Roadrunners posted wins over Division I programs Cal State Fullerton and Texas-San Antonio last season. They went 2-4 vs. Division I teams, losing to Houston, San Diego, Colorado and UNLV. All of those games were on the road.

This season, the 12 Roadrunner home games feature 10 games vs. Division I teams, including Houston, Nebraska, the University of San Diego (tonight's season opening opponent) and Cal Poly.

All CSUB home games will be played in the Icardo Center, another plus in La Kose's eyes.

"Not only home games, but truly home," he said. "We practice here every day. This is our campus. It's more student friendly, more family friendly, more staff friendly.

"You put a couple of thousand in here and it's rocking. A couple of thousand downtown (in Rabobank Arena)? Not so much."

La Kose acknowledges it won't be easy facing the step up in competition on a game-in and game-out basis.

"It's a huge transition -- I think it's bigger than a lot of people realize, including some of our own people," he said.

"The resources, the staffing, the scholarships, the facilities, being without a conference: Those are huge challenges we have to overcome.

"With that said, when it comes down to it, when the ball rolls out, it's 5-on-5."

La Kose added: "We can overcome a lot of those things, but the reality is, we are at a disadvantage in those areas and we'll have to overcome them. We'll need to work hard at being efficient in what we do."

The strength of the team rests in the backcourt. Point guard Krista Arase and off-guard Kelley Tarver are juniors who have each been fulltime starters since their first games as freshmen.

Another junior guard, Christine Kepenekian, is in her fifth year with the program after missing her first two seasons with injuries. "She's playing the best she ever has," La Kose said.

Sophomore guard Tiffany Belt has improved from last season, when she was a top defender off the bench.

The other returnees are 5-10 senior forward Naomi Johnson, who is very athletic and has improved since last season, and 5-91/2 junior center Nikki West, who is back after sitting out last season with a heart problem.

"Those are a solid group to build on," La Kose said. "Those returners are definitely leading the way, setting the tone."

The biggest questions evolve around the center and forward positions.

West and 6-foot freshman Shawnee Carter will be heavily counted on inside. The team suffered a setback when a top recruit and potential starter, 6-3 junior Codee Funkhouser from Butte College, quit the team last week. And last spring, last year's outstanding freshman Florida Siaosi left school.

Carter and 5-11 freshman forward Nikki Leon figure to receive significant playing time from the start of the season.

Rounding out the squad are freshmen guards Ke'Airra Jones and Briana Woodfox, who double as track athletes.

Two other key newcomers won't play this season as they sit out because of Division I transfer rules.

They are former North High standout Morgan Saso, a 6-4 senior with one year of eligibility remaining after spending three seasons at New Mexico, and junior guard Phynique Allen, a transfer from Eastern Washington.

"It's a shame Morgan can't play this season. She brings a high-level D-I experience," La Kose said. "And Phynique is a very good defender who would be battling for a starting job if she could play."

Last season, CSUB went 23-6 and ended the season by winning its last 15 games. The Roadrunners were ineligible for postseason play because of NCAA rules for schools in transition from Division II to Division I.

"Could we have won a Division II championship? Quite possibly," La Kose said. "(UC) San Diego made it to the Final Four, and we were up on them 23-0 down there to start the game. We had a great year."