UCI crumbles, but Ned a picture of perseverance

UC Irvine senior Angie Ned’s best-laid plans include retirement at age 30, having never had a “real” job.

Toward that end, the 5-foot-9 women’s basketball standout has worked virtually every day since arriving at UCI as a self-described “horrible player” to improve her game to the point where she could play professionally.

She has run sprints, lifted weights, taken thousands of jump shots and drilled herself on a variety of skills that surpass what those lacking the utmost knowledge of the game might even be able to detect during her tireless efforts on the court.

But Ned, perhaps, more than most, knows that plans, even those built more upon perspiration than aspiration, can crumble in a cruel instant.

Ned, though developing into a three-time All-Big West Conference guard, has endured such devastation as an Anteater.

Injuries, defections and other misfortune has befallen the UCI program during Ned’s four-season tenure, during which time the Anteaters are 29-83 (a .259 winning percentage).

No. 7-seeded UCI (6-23) will attempt to improve upon those numbers today at 2:30 p.m., when it meets No. 6-seeded Long Beach State (7-22) in the first round of the Big West Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center.

But a seventh-place regular-season finish in the eight-team conference, including two losses to Long Beach State, provides fading hope of extending the team’s season into the weekend.

It was supposed to be different this season for Ned, the team’s lone senior, around whom Coach Molly Tuter and her staff had worked hard to construct a contending team.

But 6-4 freshman center Naomi Halman, who averaged 9.3 points and 6.3 rebounds through the first 10 games, returned to the Netherlands in December and never rejoined the team.

Sophomore Kelly Cochrane, who made the Big West All-Freshman team last season, was averaging 12.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game when she sustained a season-ending knee injury after just five games.

Junior guard Christina Zdenek, a transfer from Utah State expected to bolster the backcourt, lasted nine games, before being lost for the season with a knee injury after averaging 8.1 points.

Well before the Anteaters opened conference play, Ned, who has averaged 15.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals, and undersized junior post Stephanie Duda were the team’s only proven commodities.

Still, Ned, whose impenetrable “game face” challenges those closest to her to guess her mood, refused to say ‘Woe is me.’

“Ned’s really competitive and she has always wanted to win more ballgames than we’ve ended up winning,” Tuter said. “But the way she has handled it has been to keep working on her game every single day. She could have gotten down about it, but she has chosen to focus on her individual talent and what she wants to accomplish.”

Said Ned: “The losses have been hard for us, but because the team is so strong and our bond is so close, we’ve stuck together and continued to fight. My main job is to provide confidence.”

Ned has provided enough to be recognized as the Big West Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season. She was also named second-team all-conference, adding to first-team honors as a junior and second-team laurels as a sophomore.

Now a dangerous three-point shooter who has become an accomplished finisher around the basket, Ned is exponentially better than the player she was at Perris High.

“She averaged 11 points per game as a senior in high school,” said Tuter, who as a UCI assistant had to virtually beg then-coach Mark Adams to give Ned a scholarship.

“I’ve known Ned since she was 14 years old, when I met her at a summer camp at UCLA,” Tuter said. “I saw what kind of mentality and work ethic the kid had and I trusted she could make herself a much better player. I trusted in her and she has made it all come true.”

Ned credits her mother, Terra, for instilling in her the ability to push through disappointment.

“I’m just focused on playing hard and trying to get my teammates and myself focused,” Ned said.

Tuter believes Ned deserves a chance to continue playing after college, most likely somewhere overseas. But that, too, may take some convincing.

“[A pro future] is still in question, but I think with the career she has had and the connections I have, as well as those of assistant coach Danny Prince, we should be able to put together a tryout for her,” Tuter said.

Ned said all she wants is a chance.

“I want to play until I’m 30 if my body allows it,” said Ned, who now describes herself as a good player with a lot more to learn. “I want to use the money I make playing to invest and retire early. I promise any organization that gives me a chance, I will do whatever I have to do and I most definitely won’t let them down.”