BIG WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN: MATADORS' CONCERN STILL IS STAR'S HEALTH.Byline: Ramona Shelburne Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. Staff Writer IRVINE - The hush quickly spread across the Crystal Ball Room at the Irvine Hilton when Ofa Tulikihihifo walked into the room at the start of Big West Conference women's basketball Women's basketball is one of the few games which developed in tandem with men's. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, in large part via women's colleges. media day. As the preseason favorite to win the conference's Player of the Year award Several sports leagues honor their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. The awards with the "player of the year" phrasing include these. , the Cal State Northridge senior forward might have expected to receive special treatment from opposing coaches. But no one was looking at Tulikihihifo's face ... they were too busy looking at the bulky gray boot on her left leg. One by one the coaches approached Tulikihihifo and new Matadors' head coach Staci Schulz to find out what was wrong, and of course, how much time Tulikihihifo was expected to miss. Earlier this week in practice, Tulikihihifo suffered a stress fracture stress fracture n. A fatigue fracture of bone caused by repeated application of a heavy load, such as the constant pounding on a surface by runners, gymnasts, and dancers. in her left tibia tibia: see leg. . She's sitting out two to three weeks to rest the injury, but said she expects to play in the Matadors' season opener Nov. 19 against BYU BYU Brigham Young University BYU Bayou BYU Bob's Your Uncle BYU Bayreuth, Germany - Bindlacher Berg (Airport Code) BYU Beyond Your Understanding . That wasn't the answer the rest of the room wanted to hear. ``Ofa is the best player in the league,'' Cal Poly Cal Poly may refer to:
 `ĭs ōbĭs`pō), city (1990 pop. 41,958), seat of San Luis Obispo co., S Calif., near San Luis Obispo Bay; inc. 1856. coach Faith Mimnaugh said. ``She's a nightmare to match
up with. You try to put a guard on her, she overpowers them. You put a
forward on her, she gets past them.
``She's definitely a player that should be in the WNBA WNBA Women's National Basketball Association WNBA World Ninepin Bowling Association WNBA Wannabe Nasty Boys Association WNBA Women's National Book Association, Inc. WNBA Warszawski Nurt Basketu Amatorskiego and somebody that I think should be a high-round draft pick. She does everything well.'' Tulikihihifo has been at the center of the resurgence of the Northridge women's basketball team. After winning just three games in the 2002-03 season and six games in 2003-04, Northridge went 18-11 last season and made it to the semifinals of the conference tournament. Tulikihihifo has been a first-team all-conference pick each of her three seasons at Northridge. ``Even after last year, I still don't think other teams are going to take us that seriously,'' Tulikihihifo said. ``I'm sure they'll give us a little more respect, but I still think we're looked at as the underdogs. That's fine with us though.'' Ramona Shelburne, (818) 713-3617 ramona.shelburne(at)dailynews.com COACHES' POLL 1. UC Santa Barbara (6) 46 2. Long Beach State (2) 43 3. Cal State Northridge 38 4. UC Riverside 29 5. UC Irvine 27 6. Cal State Fullerton 18 7. Cal Poly 16 8. Pacific 7 MEDIA POLL 1. UC Santa Barbara (9) 79 2. Long Beach State (1) 67 3. Cal State Northridge 63 4. UC Riverside 42 5. UC Irvine 39 6. Cal State Fullerton 32 7. Cal Poly 20 8. Pacific 18 PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM Ofa Tulikihihifo, Cal State Northridge Kemie Nkele, UC Riverside Jenna Green, UC Santa Barbara Crystal McCutcheon, Long Beach State Tina Sanerivi, Pacific Angie Ned, UC Irvine CAPTION(S): 3 boxes Box: (1) COACHES' POLL (see text) (2) MEDIA POLL (see text) (3) PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM (see text) |
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