Giants women's basketball opens season ranked No. 10 in state preseason poll
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
It's a new era, with a mostly new group of players for College of the Sequoias' women's basketball team.
But expectations remain high for the Giants, who are ranked No. 10 in California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches' Association state preseason poll heading into their opener at 3 p.m. Nov. 3 against Shasta during the first round of the Jocelyn Mancebo Classic at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton.
Sequoias has undergone a coaching change and a revamped roster since it ended a 28-3 campaign last season with an 88-49 loss to Palomar in the quarterfinals of the state's Elite Eight tournament.
Doug White, the winningest girls basketball coach in Central Section history during a 23-year run at Corcoran High, will lead the Giants after 13-year head coach Ray Alvarado stepped down in September to take over at NCAA Division II Hawaii Pacific.
White assumes a 12-player roster featuring only two returning players: 6-foot-1 shooting guard Geizzle Jones (Bullard High) and 5-8 shooting guard Maci Chavez (Kingsburg).
Jones averaged 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game last season while leading the Giants with 53 blocks. Chavez averaged 2.9 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.
"Geizzle is shooting the ball as well as she shot it last year, and she's really working hard on her defense," White said. "And Maci has a really good shot."
Sequoias will feature two sophomore transfers in 5-3 point guard Kyla Wandick (Bakersfield High) and 5-6 shooting guard Taylor Whitfield (Sierra Pacific-Hanford).
Wandick averaged 6.2 points, 1.8 assists and 1.7 rebounds while playing in all 25 games for NCAA Division II Academy of Art last season. Whitfield averaged 0.6 points and 0.7 rebounds in 21 games at Los Angeles Valley College.
"Kyla is a really nice addition. She gets to the basket really well and plays tough defense," White said. "Taylor is a hard worker and a pretty good defender. She just needs to develop some consistency in her shot."
The roster is rounded out by eight freshmen, highlighted by a pair of players who helped lead deep state playoff runs for their high school teams.
Sarah Upshaw, a 5-8 forward from Las Vegas, was a member of the Clark High team that won Nevada Class 4A state title in 2022. Anisa Torres, a 5-5 shooting guard, averaged 10.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.9 assists for a Caruthers team that reached the Northern California Regional Division III final in 2023.
Upshaw played primarily point guard in high school but will be asked to play in the post for Sequoias.
The Giants' freshmen class also features an import from Seattle, Wash., in 5-9 shooting guard Lucia Ricci, and local recruits in 5-6 shooting guard Teresa Sandoval (Sierra Pacific), 5-10 forward Darleth Felix (Tulare Union), 5-1 point guard Jacqueline Ruiz (Kingsburg), 5-6 forward Trinity Ferro (Corcoran) and 5-5 shooting guard Andrea Perez (Porterville).
"The younger kids are fearless," White said. "They aren't afraid to attack. Sometimes they don't attack at the right time, but they are picking it up."
White plans to continue strategies that made the Giants successful under Alvarado, who went 262-102 with six Central Valley Conference titles and 10 state playoff appearances during his 13 seasons. In particular, running an uptempo offense with a reliance on the 3-point shot and playing strong defense.
"They look good running the floor and defending," White said. "And they are starting to pick up the offense, so I'm optimistic we're going to be good in the long run."
The Jocelyn Mancebo Classic runs through Nov. 5.
The Giants will participate in the Moorpark Tournament on Nov. 9-11, and play their first home game at 5 p.m. Nov. 15 against Feather River.
Sequoias hosts the 46th annual Gilcrest Tournament on Nov. 30-Dec. 2, and begins defense of the Central Valley Conference title at 5 p.m. Jan. 13 at Merced.
"In the scrimmages we've had, they've shown they have the potential," White said. "They are a good group. I'm looking forward to seeing them play."
Five members of last season's team have moved on to four-year universities, including Maria Dias (Lisbon, Portugal) to NCAA Division I Idaho State.
Alana Roberts (Sierra Pacific) went to NCAA Division II Tuskegee University, Tiana Holland (Washington Union-Easton) to D-II San Francisco State, Camila Barreno (Ambato, Ecuador) to D-II Shaw University and Noura Aboutaleb (Charlotte, N.C.) to NAIA Texas A&M-Texarkana.
