Fowler Gives Matador Foes the Runaround

NORTHRIDGE —  All that running LaShaunda Fowler does sure can be exhausting.

For everyone but her.

Fowler, a sophomore guard on the Cal State Northridge women’s basketball team and a sprinter on the track team, is a 5-foot-6 bundle of speed and energy.

“Oh, my gosh, she can run all day,” said Frozena Jerro, Northridge’s basketball coach. “She’s one of the best athletes I’ve ever coached.

“I get tired just watching her [run].”

Last week, Fowler competed in the two-day Big Sky Conference track and field indoor championships at Idaho State, winning the women’s 60 meters in 7.58 seconds on Tuesday. Amazingly, Fowler had never run indoors.

She was back at basketball practice on Wednesday and the next night helped the Matadors clinch a tie for the conference title, scoring five points and playing tight defense in Northridge’s 60-47 home victory over Weber State.

Northridge won the championship outright two nights later, its first ever, earning the right to host the six-team Big Sky tournament today through Saturday.

The Matadors (19-7) are seeded No. 1 and have a bye until Friday night, when they’ll play the lowest-seeded team still alive. The tournament champion gets the Big Sky’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

“It feels so good to be here,” Fowler said. “To know we’re only two wins away from being where we wanted to be.”

Fowler is where she wanted to be after a stellar athletic career at Foster High in Tukwila, Wash., about 10 miles southeast of Seattle. She was a two-time all-state basketball player and a four-time state champion in the 100 meters.

She set state records in the 100 (11.9 seconds), 200 (24.45) and 400 (55.24) in her junior season in 1996, and averaged 17 points and nine rebounds in her senior season. Fowler attracted college recruiters in both sports, including former Northridge basketball assistant Jeanette Armentano.

Northridge was the only school that offered to let her participate in both sports, so Fowler headed south.

“The one thing besides her incredible physical talent is that she has an amazing heart,” said Armentano, now an assistant at Maryland. “She’ll run through a wall for you.

“She’s so mentally tough. She’s just an exceptional person.”

Fowler, a defensive specialist who averages 4.9 points, has started only two games this season. But her value to the Matadors comes when she relentlessly shadows the opposing team’s top guard, seldom giving way.

Few Big Sky teams can match Northridge’s quickness, and no opposing player is as fast as Fowler.

“When you get her upset, I’d hate to be the one handling the ball [against Fowler],” Jerro said. “She’s fierce. You can’t shake her.”

The first few days of basketball practice were long and arduous for Fowler. She trained at the track early in the mornings, attended classes and later hit the court. But she stopped track workouts once basketball season got into full swing.

It was quite a load for Fowler, who is still getting acclimated to college athletics, particularly track.

“The adjustment last year was so difficult,” Fowler said. “In high school, I was already much faster than anyone else. But here last year, I wasn’t running the times I was capable of running in the beginning.

“Now I have a better idea what the competition level is like.”

Fowler last year competed only in outdoor track, clocking a best of 12.1 in the 100. She placed fourth in the 400 (55.92) and sixth in the 200 (24.28) at the Big Sky outdoor championships, sending a message that she’ll likely be among the conference’s elite sprinters the next few years.

“She’s got limitless amount of potential in a variety of events,” said Jeff McAuley, Northridge’s sprints coach. “Her best event is really the 110-meter hurdles. She [practiced hurdling] in the summer and the fall. She’s naturally explosive.”

Which also comes in handy in basketball.

“I’ve done both sports all my life,” Fowler said. “I really love them both.”