QUICK FIX

NORTHRIDGE — Coming off another dismal season played before small crowds, the Cal State Northridge women’s basketball team needs something dynamic, something exciting, something entertaining.

Give something a name: Edniesha Curry.

The 5-foot-5 freshman from Palmdale High is a playmaking point guard Northridge Coach Mike Abraham believes can jump-start his program in a winning direction.

“She is tremendously creative with the ball and she performs with an exuberance that gets people around her excited,” Abraham said.

Abraham, in his third season at Northridge, predicts Curry will be the best guard he has coached.

That doesn’t seem like much of an endorsement considering the Matadors struggled to a 9-45 mark the past two seasons. However, five guards playing professionally are products of Oregon State and Long Beach State during the 11 seasons Abraham served as an assistant at those schools.

“Edniesha loves to play and that’s something that’s been missing around here,” he said. “She has a true dedication to bring herself to a level where she can someday play professionally.”

Abraham frequently mentions his seasons as an assistant, and no wonder. It reminds him of winning times.

Long Beach State was 147-21 and reached the NCAA Final Four twice in the six seasons he served under Coach Joan Bonvicini, and Oregon State had winning records in each of his five years there.

That’s a far cry from his results at Northridge, although he has improved the team slightly from the 4-48 mark the Matadors achieved in the two years before his arrival.

As good as Curry might become, she will need lots of help, as Abraham is well aware. His recruiting efforts reach far beyond the Valley, in fact all the way to Europe.

Two prize newcomers are center Viveca Lof, a 6-3, 21-year-old freshman from Taby, Sweden, and Neda Milic, a 6-1 freshman guard from Belgrade, Serbia, who has not played in two years because of two knee surgeries.

“Viveca is in tremendous condition. She can play 40 minutes without breaking a sweat,” Abraham said. “Neda has unbelievable physical skills. She is not as quick as she before the surgeries but she is a player who makes people around her better.”

Curry, Lof and Milic are joined by two more freshmen: Myesha Saleem, a 6-0 forward from Monrovia, and LaShaunda Fowler, a 5-6 shooting guard from Tukwila, Wash., who might start alongside Curry.

The Matadors’ roster is a blend of old and new. Six seniors return, leaving hard-working sophomore guard Jamilah Jones as the only player not a freshman or senior. Jones started 19 games last season, but shot 21.9%.

Poor shooting plagued the entire team. Northridge shot 31.3% from the field and 58.4% from the foul line.

Including Jones, the five players who took the most shots all return. Guards Tammie Mills (9.4 points a game) and Lisa Vaillancourt (7.7) were the team’s leading scorers, but Mills had 101 turnovers and Vaillancourt shot 25.7%.

More than half of Vaillancourt’s attempts were three-pointers, however, and she made a team-high 41. Mills led the team in steals, assists, field goals, free throws and minutes.

“Lisa is one of the best long-range shooters in the [Big Sky] conference and Mills is still one of the quickest guards around,” Abraham said. Because Northridge is loaded with guards, Abraham often will use three on the floor at once.

Inside, Lof and Milic will press seniors Tannea Nelson, Sarah Bell and Bambi Bowling, who frequently were roughed up on the boards last season. Northridge was outrebounded, 834-579.

Nelson (6-1), the leading rebounder with a 5.7 average, is vastly improved, Abraham said, and will start at forward. Bell (6-2), the team’s best shot-blocker and inside scoring threat, made a team-high 40.3% from the field.

The Matadors, who open at home against Texas-Arlington on Friday at 5 p.m., face a huge test in two weeks when they play in the four-team Iowa tournament with traditional powers Kansas, Washington and Iowa.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Northridge Roster

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No. Player Ht. Pos. Yr. Hometown 00 Edniesha Curry 5-5 G Fr. Palmdale 1 Neda Milic 6-1 F Fr. Belgrade, Serbia 3 Nikki Hamilton 5-9 F Sr. Sylmar 4 Viveca Lof 6-3 C Fr. Taby, Sweden 15 Tannea Nelson 6-1 F Sr. Richmond 20 Jamilah Jones 5-7 G So. Compton 21 Lisa Vaillancourt 5-8 G Sr. Novato 22 Tammie Mills 5-3 G Sr. Bakersfield 23 LaShaunda Fowler 5-6 G Fr. Tukwila, Wash. 25 Katosha Gowin 5-11 F Fr. Inglewood 30 Sarah Bell 6-2 C Sr. Oakland 31 Myesha Saleem 6-0 F Fr. Monrovia 32 Tina Greer 5-4 G So. Los Angeles 40 Bambi Bowling 5-10 F Sr. Oakland

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Northridge Schedule

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Opponent Date Time Texas-Arlington Nov. 14 5 p.m. Loyola Marymount Nov. 22 1 p.m. Iowa Tournament Nov. 29-30 TBA Miami (Ohio) Dec. 2 7 p.m. Long Beach State Dec. 7 7 p.m. Pepperdine Dec. 13 7 p.m. Boise State Tournament Dec. 20-21 TBA *Portland State Jan. 3 7:05 p.m. *Eastern Washington Jan. 5 7:05 p.m. *at Montana State Jan. 8 7:35 p.m. *at Montana Jan. 10 7:05 p.m. *Cal State Sacramento Jan. 14 7:05 p.m. *Weber State Jan. 15 7:05 p.m. *at Idaho State Jan. 22 7:05 p.m. Cal Poly SLO Jan. 27 7 p.m. *Northern Arizona Jan. 31 7:05 p.m. *Montana Feb. 5 7:05 p.m. *Montana State Feb. 7 7:05 p.m. *at Eastern Washington Feb. 12 7 p.m. *at Portland State Feb. 14 7:05 p.m. *at Weber State Feb. 19 7:05 p.m. *at Cal State Sacramento Feb. 21 7 p.m. *at Northern Arizona Feb. 26 7 p.m. *Idaho State Feb. 28 7:05 p.m. Big Sky Tournament March 5-7 TBA

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*-Big Sky Conference games

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