With the return of eight letter winners, the UC Riverside women are out for a trip to the Big West Tournament after just missing in 2012-2013. Brittany Crain who was named the Big West Freshman of the Year last season returns for the Highlanders after ranking fourth in league in scoring average (14.3), seventh in steals (52) and third in minutes played per outing (33.1). In addition to Cain, returner and key starter Natasha Hadley who averaged 11.2 points over her last two seasons to up her career point total to 736, closes in on the 1,000-point mark.
After a 6-25 campaign last season, the Riverside men are now in the hands of Dennis Cutts who was an assistant before being promoted to Interim head coach of the Highlanders. Previous head coach Jim Woolridge became the university’s interim athletics director. Key returner Chris Patton ranked No. 14 in scoring and No. 5 in field goal percentage a year ago, and will be critical in UCR’s success this season. Patton will be joined by two fellow 2012-2013 starters in Chris Harriel and Austin Quick in addition to last year’s leading scorer off the bench, Taylor John. Six newcomers join the squad as Riverside looks to start the season off with a win.
NATASHA HADLEY
Coming off of a surgery this summer, Natasha Hadley looks to her final campaign as she steps into the role of UC Riverside’s lone senior. After averaging 11.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 0.7 rebounds per game, the center is out to maintain a “championship attitude” in order to take her squad the distance.
Q: As a senior, you know your team like the back of your hand. What’s going to make the difference this year with the squad you have now?
A: Everyone being held accountable for their actions on and off the court, if we maintain a championship attitude in everything that we do we should have results reflecting that attitude/mentality.
Q: What is your team’s game plan this season?
A: The game plan this season is to outwork our opponents; to never give up no matter the circumstances.
Q: What is your team’s chemistry like?
A: There is good chemistry; the new girls are melding well with some of us that have been together for three or more years.
Q: How does your coach get your team motivated before a game?
A: He is honest and forthcoming about what each game means for the season. He does not sugar coat anything.
Q: What is the most important thing that you learned this offseason?
A: Hard work can go a long way. I learned this through my recovery from a minor surgery I had this summer.
CHRIS PATTON
In his first campaign as a Highlander after transferring from Neosho Community College in Chanute, Kansas, Chris Patton led UC Riverside in scoring, field goal percentage, made field goals, made free throws and free throw attempts. His 2012-2013 efforts earned him a spot on the All-Big West Honorable Mention Team. The now senior scored a career-high 36 points, the sixth highest-game scoring total in Riverside history, versus Cal State Fullerton on February 9 and nabbed a career-high 10 rebounds against UC Davis on February 28. The forward is ready to “embrace the grind” this season and is looking to improve his overall game in his final campaign.
Q: In the summer what did you do to prepare for the season personally to improve as a player?
A: I played a lot this summer. One of my main goals was to play as many pick-up games at the gym. I got the chance to play against NBA and European league players. I was really trying to work on my left hand as well as improve my speed, my strength, and overall game.
Q: Who has impressed you this far of the newcomers?
A: We have a lot of older athletes – most of the juniors are older than me and I’m a senior so it’s a little bit different. They all really impressed me because they all bring something different to the table. Nick [Gruninger] is going to be a really good point guard for us; he’s going to be steady with the ball, smart, have minimal mistakes, unselfish with the ball, always looking to feed us. Collin Gruber is going to a really solid guy for us as well as Steven Thornton can do a little bit of everything. He’s really a jack-of-all-trades. I’m really excited to play with those newcomers. Sam Finley is our only freshman and he had a great Vancouver trip. I think he was the second leading scorer on the trip. He was a real killer out there; every time he got the ball it looked like he was going to score or do something good with the ball. That was something we were lacking last year—scoring from the guard position. He’s very comfortable doing that because that’s what he likes to do. He played at a high rate in Vancouver, which I really liked to see.
Q: What are you expecting from yourself personally and on the court as a senior?
A: This is the first time for me playing on the same team for more than a season. I can’t remember the last time I was returning to the same team after a season. This is my fourth year and fourth different head coach, but I believe for the most the team’s structure is going to be similar to that of last year, but a lot better. For myself I am expecting a lot; I hold myself to a high standard and expect myself to get better on every level and help the team win more games. I want my senior year to be remembered as a season full of wins. So I am going to bring a winning culture and mentality to the program.
Q: What are the team goals this year?
A: This team set some lofty goals for ourselves. We sat down with the coaching staff and spoke about that, but I would like to keep that between the team. As a team we are going to try and be the last team remaining. We aren’t playing for second or third. The team has a long way to accomplish these goals since we set some high standards, all of which we believe we can achieve.
Q: What is going to have to happen with the team to grow into the team that can be cutting down the nets come March?
A: This team has a long way to go still. It’s still really early days. We are not 100% sure what we are going to get ourselves into in regards to figuring out what our teams has to do in itself. We have to put in a lot of work and practice is going to be real tough and not too much fun. Coach Cutts always says you have to embrace the grind and that’s what we are going to have to do. We have to enjoy the long practices, flights, bus rides hoping to grow everyday we get a chance to. If we do that then we have a very good chance.