Team of the Week: Superfriends key UC San Diego’s Big West title defense

Erin Condron, Sabrina Ma, Rosa Smith, Dymonique Maxie and Makayla Rose are good friends.

“Really good friends,” Rose said recently. “You’ll see us together a lot on campus. We eat together. Four of us are roommates. We enjoy each other.

“And we play well together.”

It’s a good thing, given how often they share the floor together. Forward Condron and guards Ma, Smith, Maxie and Rose are on the court an average of at least 29 minutes a game this season.

Tritons coach Heidi VanDerveer says her team is developing depth. But several key players who would be in the mix have been injured for extended periods of time this season.

The result has been a reliance on five players to carry the load in a system that focuses on playing at a high tempo on both ends of the floor.

“Are we tired at the end of a game? Yes,” said Rose. “There is some wear and tear on the body. But we’re ready for more. And the training staff does a great job with preparation and recovery. I think it works because we’re so close and know one another so well.”

Said Ma: “With the five of us playing so much, we help each other and rely on each other. We’re the definition of teammates. And I think that shows in the results.”

The UC San Diego women are 10-5 overall and 5-0 in defense of the Big West title they won last season. They are riding a four-game winning streak heading into Thursday’s game at Cal State Northridge.

“I think this team has the capability to be better than last year’s team,” said VanDerveer. “Better but different. Matchups had something to do with our success last year.

“This year’s team plays more off each other. No two members of this team are the same type of player. But they never hang a teammate out to dry. We have a team of determined, giving people, particularly on defense.

“Our defense is a team defense. There is a lot of movement and pressure. A lot of energy.”

Expending that much energy with a short roster can result in fatigue. But VanDerveer adroitly uses timeouts for rest breaks.

“That helps us out,” Ma said, “because our pace is high.”

And while the five starters carry the bulk of the load, VanDerveer says an eight-player rotation figures into the Tritons’ winning formula. “There’s no drop in energy when one of our regulars does come out for a break,” the coach said.

Freshman guard Lev Feiman has become a key reserve after missing five games earlier this season due to injury. Junior guard Junaé Mahan, sophomore guard/forward Nicki Polocheck and freshman swingman Niya Price are also seeing a bit more playing time.

And if Gracie Gallegos, a starting guard last season who made the Big West All-Tournament Team, returns from injury, the Tritons’ depth shifts from being a concern to a plus.

“Gracie would help us immensely,” said Rose. “She is very talented.”

While UCSD deploys four guards, the offense runs through Condron, a 6-foot-4 post player who was a preseason All-Big West pick. The Australian is averaging 14.5 points and 7.9 rebounds a game while shooting 56.5% from the floor.

“I feel like our guards are extremely unselfish,” said VanDerveer. “They understand what Erin means and the importance of having the ball in her hands. And at the same time, she loves to kick the ball out to an open guard if the defense collapses around her.

“Erin is an excellent player. She has evolved into a focal point. She has excellent skills and instinct.”

Ma and Smith are averaging 12.8 and 12.5 points a game, respectively. Smith is shooting 49.2% from the floor, including 40.6% from 3-point range. Rose is averaging 8.4 points a game while Maxie is averaging 7.8 points and 4.3 assists a game. Feiman is averaging 7.0 points a game.

“Ma is kind of like our heartbeat,” said VanDerveer. “She has it figured out as a leader. Last season she was part of the symphony. Now she’s the conductor.

“The key with Smith is she is healthy, which was not the case her first couple of years here. She can score multiple ways. Part of Maxie’s ability is getting us going. Rose is a great defender on a team of defenders.”

UCSD’s defense, run by associate head coach and former Carlsbad High School and Stanford star Vanessa Nygaard, is where the Tritons truly excel. UCSD forces 20.7 turnovers a game while averaging 10.9 steals a game. Opposing teams are shooting just 36.6% against the UCSD defense … and only 26.2% from 3-point range.

Rose has 39 steals this season, while Maxie has 36.

“Our game is to impose our will on the other team,” said VanDerveer, who is in her 14th season as the Tritons’ coach. “That takes a lot of energy.”

Every week, U-T contributor Bill Center highlights one San Diego college team that’s making strides on and off the field. To nominate a team, email wcenter27@gmail.com.