Rebound Champs

WOODLAND HILLS —  With victory cheers still ringing in their ears, Cal State Northridge women’s basketball players had cause to applaud for themselves Sunday.

Twice within a minute.

Gathered in the Presidential Suite at the Warner Center Marriott, the team erupted into whoops and hollers at the announcement on ESPN that the Matadors will play Colorado State on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Fort Collins, Colo.

Northridge President Blenda J. Wilson and interim Athletic Director Sam Jankovich then stepped to the front of the room and declared that 28-year-old Frozena Jerro, the interim coach who led Northridge (21-7) to Saturday’s Big Sky Conference tournament championship, will be hired permanently.

Team members stood and applauded again. And this time the cheers were accompanied by tears and hugs for the indomitable woman they call “Coach Fro.”

“The most impressive characteristic of this team is the leadership and direction the players received from Coach Fro,” Jankovich said. “The women’s basketball team set a tremendous example to the entire athletics program on what it takes to overcome adversity.”

A season that threatened to unravel before it even began has evolved into an inspiring story of achievement in the face of daunting odds.

Coach Michael Abraham was arrested by the FBI in November and charged with trafficking crack cocaine. Most of the team learned of the arrest from reporters, and the players’ shock was impossible to hide.

“We were the last to know and we were the ones who had to live with it from that day forward,” said Jamilah Jones, a junior guard and team captain.

Associate Athletic Director Judith Brame was appointed interim coach, but resigned within a week along with Athletic Director Paul Bubb after allegations surfaced that former players had raised concerns about Abraham’s alleged involvement with drugs two years earlier.

Wilson allowed the players to choose their next coach, and they tabbed Jerro, a former Arizona State player who had been a Northridge assistant coach for one season.

Relentlessly upbeat and uncommonly poised, Jerro was described by Jankovich as a perfect fit for a team that needed emotional guidance as well as a court leader.

The decision to hire her as a permanent coach brought a smile to All-American guard Edniesha Curry, a sophomore who said last week she might transfer unless “the word interim is ripped from [Jerro’s] title.”

“They got me my coach, that’s all I needed,” Curry said Sunday. “I’m die-hard Northridge all the way. I don’t regret coming here, and I’m here for good.”

It was Curry’s steal and layup that sealed Saturday’s 79-65 victory over Portland State in the Big Sky tournament final before a passionate crowd of 1,019 at Northridge. It was the Matadors’ seventh consecutive win and 17th in their last 20 games.

And it was a victory heard around the world.

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Center Viveca Lof’s parents learned of it on the Internet from their home in Stockholm. Forward Neda Milic called her father and sister at home in Belgrade, Serbia.

“They don’t really understand the meaning of the NCAA tournament, but they knew from the excitement in my voice that it was special,” Milic said.

The Northridge players made another call Saturday night during a party at Milic’s house to celebrate the victory: They reached Abraham, who is at his parents’ home in Portland biding time until his federal trial this summer in Omaha.

“He said he watched the game on TV and he was really proud of us,” said Lynda Amari, a Northridge forward who was selected All-Big Sky Conference. “In my heart something was missing because he wasn’t there.”

Abraham, the team’s coach from 1995-98, recruited all the current players and also hired Jerro and assistant coaches Karon Howell and Tara Harrington.

After struggling to a combined record of 21-138 from 1991-97, Northridge began to turn it around last season, going 14-14 in Abraham’s third season.

But this is the first winning record the Matadors have posted in nine Division I seasons, and it will be their first appearance in the 64-team NCAA tournament.

Northridge is seeded No. 15 in the 16-team Western Regional and will play the host Rams (31-2), who are seeded No. 2 and have been ranked as high as fourth in the nation this season.

However, not even the strength of their opponent could dampen the Matadors’ glee. No obstacle has proven too great to overcome this season.

“It’s been quite a weekend,” Jerro said. “Now I guess I go to my office and start watching films of Colorado State.

“We’ve been purely determined from Day One. That won’t stop now.”

’ We’ve been purely determined from Day One. That won’t stop now.’

Frozena Jerro, right, CSUN women’s basketball coach