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Sophomore slump
Updated: Tuesday December 19, 2000 4:06 PM
By Maureen Mullen, Special to CNNSI.com Last years freshmen proved that the next generation of Pac-10 leaders would be as competent as the first. Stanford's Jamie Carey, UCLA's Nicole Kaczmarski, and Washington's Loree Payne illuminated score boards with their buckets while charming crowds with their ferocious intensity for the game. However come December of their sophomore seasons and all three are absent from weekly conference wrap-ups. Carey is gone for good, the guard was forced to quit college ball after recurrent concussions. Payne, who hasn't played all season due to an ankle injury, should return to the ranks of the Husky troops. Last Monday, the last of the three musketeers, Kaczmarski announced she would leave the conference. The Bruin guard, who started all 29 games last season, averaging 11.7 points, didn't waste anytime in making up her mind. Just three days after sending a transfer release to head coach Kathy Olivier, Kaczmarski elected to play for Georgia coach Andy Landers. "I have been in regular contact with Nicole since October," said Olivier. "In our conversations and as recently as last Thursday, Nicole gave every indication that she would be returning to UCLA. I am not sure what caused her to change her mind, but we feel it is now in our program's best interest to release her and move on." The Bruins have faltered to a disastrous 1-8 opening record, netting their first win just last week over Long Beach State. Traditionally one of the west coast powerhouses, UCLA was counting on the return of Kaczmarski, slated for mid-December to get the squad back on track. Kaczmarski took the quarter off at UCLA for personal reasons, staying at home in New York and nursing an injured foot. While Olivier and the rest of the Bruins will look to salvage the season, Kaczmarski looks forward to a new future as a Bulldog. She will enroll at Georgia in the spring and will be eligible to play in the second half of next year's season. "I had spoken to Andy when I was first going through the recruiting issues, but they [Georgia] came in late," Kaczmarski told the Athens Daily News. "I always liked Andy as a coach, and they always have a good program." Freshman forceThe mishaps of the Pac-10's sophomore superstars, have opened the door for this year's rookie class to make an even bigger impact in the conference game. Fearlessness is perhaps no better witnessed than by Stanford point guard Susan King's 21-point performance against the perennial powerhouse Tennessee. While the Cardinal eventually fell to the Lady Vols 63-58, King piloted the squad like a veteran, dribbling around likes of Tamika Catchings, Semeka Randall and Michelle Snow on their home court. "Susan King was everything and more than we had heard that she was," Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt said. "Nothing really affected her." With fellow freshman Nicole Powell chipping in another eight points and six rebounds, Stanford, which moved up to No. 14 after the close loss, is looking like it could return to the dominating position it held in the early 1990s. Coach Tara VanDerveer just needs a few more recruiting classes like this one. USC has some freshman powerhouses of its own. Rookies Ebony Hoffman and Jessica Cheeks have put up consistent performances for the Trojans all season. In this week's game against Pepperdine, fans saw another freshman, Aisha Hollans impact the box score. Hollans missed the first six games of the season to back injury, however didn't take long to adjust to the pressured college game. The newcomer posted 14 points and six rebounds in just twenty minutes of play in the win for the Trojans. Grounded DucksOregon might finally begin to gripe about its tough schedule this season. After soaring to an opening 4-0 record over the likes of Wisconsin and NC-State, Jody Runge's Ducks are beginning to look as if their wings have been clipped. Over the past two weeks, Oregon has dropped three straight contests on the road, leaving them eager to return to the comfort of McArthur Court.After being run over by Texas a week ago Saturday, the Ducks looked like they were back in competitive form on Tuesday versus No. 10 Texas Tech. Oregon fought back from a 12-point deficit in the final seven minutes of play to send the game into overtime. However, the Lady Raiders were too much for the team to handle and prevailed 79-75, sending the Ducks flying to their next game in Utah with their second straight tally in the loss column. The Utah game was nothing short of embarrassing for the Ducks, who trailed the entire game. Oregon was held to a season-low 35 percent from the field, and team leading scorer Angelina Wolvert, didn't get a single point in the game. The Ducks face arguably the toughest schedule in the nation and are starting to feel the effects of playing so many top teams. With a home contest against UC-Santa Barbara this week, Oregon looks to return to its high-flying early season performance. Cougars capitalizeRarely does a team match last season's win total by December 17. However, with a win over Gonzaga Sunday, Washington State did just that, moving to 4-4 on the season and matching its total wins from the 1999-2000 season.The Cougars feature a balanced offensive attack with scoring coming throughout the roster. Leading way for Washington State is junior college transfer Brittany Hawks, who scored 19 points in the win of Gozaga. She has made her way into the starting line-up and is beginning to capitalize for the Cougars. With the conference season just a few weeks away, the Cougars hope to make a dent in this year's standings.
Maureen Mullen is a reporter for The Stanford Daily, the student newspaper of Stanford University.
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