When Anteaters’ Oseguera Gets That Look, Look Out
There’s that look Leticia Oseguera gets. When it’s there, it means trouble--for UC Irvine’s opponent.
“Before a game, if she has this little sneer, I know it’s going to be a good game,” Irvine women’s basketball Coach Colleen Matsuhara said.
Then there’s that other look.
“If her shoulders are slumped, we’re in trouble,” Matsuhara said.
Such is the way Oseguera’s mood, and the Anteaters’ fortunes, swing. Lately, there has been more sneering than slumping.
Irvine has won four of its last five games, including a 67-65 overtime victory over UC Santa Barbara Sunday. Oseguera, a 5-foot-11 junior forward, has been in the middle of that run.
It was her 12-foot baseline jumper as time ran out that gave Irvine the victory against the Gauchos. Oseguera finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Two days earlier, she had 22 points and 13 rebounds in a 66-47 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
The two victories left the Anteaters (8-7, 3-1 in the Big West Conference) tied with Santa Barbara and Long Beach State for first place in the conference’s Western Division.
“Leticia plays better when she has a little chip on her shoulder,” Matsuhara said.
“We had a talk about that last week. I told her she has to take her game to higher level all the time. Conference play has started and we needed her leadership.”
Apparently, Oseguera didn’t need to be told twice. Last week’s games, gave her seven double-double performances this season. She is averaging 18.1 points and 9.9 rebounds and is shooting 56.5% from the field to lead the conference.
This is nothing knew. A year ago, she had 13 double-doubles. Oseguera averaged 15.5 points and 10.3 rebounds and set a team single-season record with 289 rebounds.
But Oseguera didn’t have to concern herself too much with leadership last season. The Anteaters had Allah-mi Basheer, who led the team in scoring and, also, led the team. Basheer is now a student assistant coach for Irvine and her on-court role was passed to Oseguera. Until recently, Oseguera said she hadn’t filled that void completely.
“If I was having a bad game, I start getting down on myself,” said Oseguera, who graduated from Mater Dei. “If I missed a shot, I would run back up court with my head down, replaying it in my mind.
“That only leads to another mistake. It seems to affect the entire team.”
Said guard Megan Stafford: “If she’s going good, we play really well. When she’s not going good, it hurts us.”
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Take my team, please: Things have reached the point with the men’s basketball team that the Anteaters (0-13, 0-4) have become a punch line.
Fresno State Coach Jerry Tarkanian took a shot few weeks ago, when he was talking about the tough road schedule the Bulldogs had played.
“It was all a macho thing,” Tarkanian said in the Fresno Bee. “I said we’d play anybody, any place, any time. It backfired. I should have said, ‘We’d play UC Irvine any place, any time.’ That’s what I should have said. Either that or Sacramento State.”
Tarkanian may not recall, but the Anteaters beat him six times during the 1980s while he was at Nevada Las Vegas.
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Irvine Coach Rod Baker said he gave San Luis Obispo guard Mike Wozniak a couple--what seemed like semi-friendly--slaps on the rear end because of Wozniak’s humor.
Baker was arguing with officials over a possession call when Wozniak, a 6-2 freshman, joined the conversation.
“He came over and started telling the officials, ‘Don’t change the call now,’ ” Baker said after the game. “I said, ‘Yeah right, but what if it was wrong?’ He made me laugh. He was acting like an adult, saying not to change the call.”
Wozniak wasn’t grinning. He backed away, looked at San Luis Obispo Coach Jeff Schneider, then glared at Baker.
In the end, the referees changed the call, giving Irvine the ball. Baker won the battle, but not the war. San Luis Obispo beat the Anteaters, 79-62.
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UC Irvine will induct four people into its athletic hall of fame Saturday at the Irvine Marriott.
Kevin Magee (1981-82) was a two-time All-American with the men’s basketball team and still holds single game records for points (46) and rebounds (25). The Anteaters were 40-17 during his two seasons. Magee’s number (44) is the only jersey retired at Irvine.
Linda Dempsey was the first female athletic director at an NCAA Division I university when Irvine moved up to that level in 1977. She worked in the athletic department, as a coach and administrator, from 1965-83.
Peter Campbell was a four-time All-American for the water polo team, from 1979-82. He led the Anteaters to a 30-0 record and the NCAA title in 1982. Campbell later played in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.
Myron McNamara was the Anteater men’s tennis coach from 1966-79. His teams won six NCAA Division II titles. He also coached three NCAA singles champions and four doubles champions.
Anteater Notes
The men’s basketball team had a season-low 13 turnovers against Santa Barbara. The Anteaters average 21 turnovers. . . . Diver Arika Earley finished fourth in the one-meter competition at the UCLA Invitational last weekend. She finished sixth in the three-meter competition. . . . Senior Cameran Lindee, the No. 4 singles player on the men’s tennis team, had the Anteaters’ only victory in a 6-1 loss to Southern Methodist on Saturday.
