NEWBURY PARK HIGH HOOPS STAR BRINGS WINNING ATTITUDE TO COLLEGE.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Special to the Daily News

The consistent winning isn't there like it was at Newbury Park High School and there aren't any championships on the immediate horizon, but Sonoma State University women's basketball player Jann Thorpe nonetheless is enjoying her first year on the collegiate level.

Thorpe, a star on Newbury Park's 1995 Southern Section Division III Championship team, is having a wonderful freshman year for the Cossacks.

"It's been fun and I've learned a lot," said Thorpe.

The biggest surprise for Thorpe is the fact that she's played so many minutes in just her first year. Initially she was slated to play a supporting role off the bench while getting accustomed to the higher level of play.

But that all changed right before the season started when some players quit the team after an assistant coach was fired and two others suffered season-ending injuries.

That thrust Thorpe into a role as a starter.

"I definitely wasn't expecting to play as much as I have," she said. "But after a couple of things happened, there I was in the starting lineup."

Her biggest adjustment has been dealing with all the losing. At Newbury Park last year the Panthers won the Division III Southern Section championship and reached the State Finals before falling to Archbishop Mitty of San Jose. Newbury Park's overall record was 31-2.

This year, the Cossack's are 4-14.

"It was tough at first not to get upset with the losing," Thorpe said. "But I realize we have a young team and the important thing is that we learn from this experience and come back a better team."

It doesn't help matters that Sonoma State has played much of the year with just eight healthy players, which limits its options considerably.

Unlike the Panthers, who played baseline-to-baseline defense and liked to fastbreak their opponents into submission, the Cossaks have no other choice then to play a more patient style.

"We're definitely not a fastbreak team," Thorpe said. "We don't have enough players."

Thorpe admits that she was slightly concerned about the level of competition prior to the season. It's a big step for any high school player to make the jump to college ball, and Thorpe was no exception.

But after getting some games under her belt early, everything seemed to fall into place.

"The biggest difference is the amount of talent," Thorpe said. "Everybody's a good player and everybody is big and strong.

"But after awhile I just sort of realized that I belonged out there. That helped my confidence."

Thorpe's play of late has reflected her belief in herself. She recently recorded 24 points and a school record 26 rebounds against Cal State Hayward, and had 21 rebounds against Mills College.

Her 26 boards came as a surprise even to her.

"I've never had that many rebounds in a game," she said. "We had a couple of low-post players hurt, so I guess I had more opportunities because of that."

On the year, Thorpe now has 227 rebounds, which is a school record. She's only 45 rebounds short of moving into 11th place on the school's all-time rebounding list and is expected to move into eighth place before the season ends.

Thorpe credits her experience at Newbury Park for her passion for playing defense, something she's patiently tried to instill in her teammates - and coaches - at Sonoma State.

And despite all the losing, she's confident this group of players - who are all underclassmen - will enjoy success before their careers are over.

"We've got some talented players," Thorpe said. "It's really just a matter of us growing and learning together. But we can do it."

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Photo Jann Thorpe, center, a standout during her high school days is close to setting a new rebounding record at Sonoma State University. Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News