Bruin selected for national team

Monday, July 6, 1998

Bruin selected for national team

NATIONAL TEAM: UCLA junior continues to receive national
attention for skillful play

By David Arnold

Daily Bruin Contributor

After leading the UCLA women’s basketball team to its first NCAA
Tournament appearance in six years, junior guard Erica Gomez was
rewarded this week with an invitation to the USA National Team.

Gomez, no stranger to distinction, was also selected to the
first-team All Pac-10 this year and was the 1996 conference
Freshman of the Year. Before coming to play at UCLA, Gomez was a
prep All-American, considered one of the most highly coveted
recruits in the nation.

Marred by injury in her 1997 season, the resilient Gomez bounced
back to have a significant impact on the women’s basketball team in
1998, earning her the title of Comeback Player of the Year and
solidifying her reputation as a tough competitor. Gomez started at
the point in 25 of the 29 games played by the Bruins during the
course of the season.

She averaged 7.5 points, 3 rebounds, 5.9 assists (second in the
Pac-10), and 2.3 steals (sixth in the conference) this year.
Overall, Gomez racked up 164 assists while giving up 143 turnovers,
establishing an admirable assist-to-turnover ratio. Playing the
point, she lead the Bruins to a 20-9 record, including a
first-round victory over Michigan.

After gaining its first national ranking in years and finishing
the regular season ranked No. 17, the Bruin bandwagon was halted by
a controversial non-call in the final second of their second round
game against Alabama.

This summer, Gomez will see action in the R. William Jones Cup,
a round-robin tournament held annually in Tapei, Taiwan. As usual,
the pressure will be on the Americans to put on a commanding
performance following their silver medal in last year’s
competition. The United States has won a medal in 15 of their 17
appearances and is on a medal-winning streak that dates back to
1983.

Head coach Nell Fortner, who has had to leave her position at
Purdue, has scheduled practices to start in early August. However,
before they can head to Taiwan, Gomez and the rest of the nation’s
best collegiate players must take on North Korea, from the July 9
through July 18.

Gomez, the only Pac-10 player on the roster this and last year,
is joined on the national team by: Angie Braziel, Texas Tech;
Edwina Brown, Texas; Peppi Browne, Duke; Erin Buescher, UC Santa
Barbara; Tamika Catchings, Tennessee; Summer Erb, North Carolina
State; Becky Hammon, Colorado State; Lynn Pride, Kansas; Semeka
Randall, Tennessee; Tamika Whitmore, Memphis; and Chanel Wright,
North Carolina.

No word yet on whether Gomez and other college players will have
an opportunity to play at the Goodwill Games, also taking place
this summer. Since the Games occur during the WNBA season, there is
a chance that college women’s basketball players will be used to
fill the ranks of the U.S. representative team. JAMIE
SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin

UCLA’s Erica Gomez will the join the U.S. national team in
Taipei and North Korea for the R. William Jones Cup this
summer.

DERRICK KUDO/Daily Bruin

Erica Gomez passes the ball in a pre-season game against
Slovakia.