THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.– The California Lutheran University women's basketball team will begin the Kelli DiMuro era next week as the first-year head coach looks to begin her career in the Violet and Gold.
The Regals return a great deal of experienced talent to lead their 2019-20 campaign. Welcoming just two newcomers to the squad, Cal Lutheran's biggest strength will prove to be its upper classmen, as 12 returners will look to make an impact.
"First of all, the returners' effort and communication has been off the charts," DiMuro said. "Natalie [Ruhl], Jade [Jordan] and Karly [Beyers] have been great communicating with the younger players."
Returning three of their five top scorers from last season, guard-play will likely be a main focus for the Regals. Natalie Ruhl returns as CLU's top scorer (9.3 ppg) and playmakers such as Jozie Tangeman (7.3 ppg) and Haley Tyrell (6.4 ppg) hope to contribute heavily on the offensive end of the floor.
Cameron Mallory comes back for her sophomore season after standing out in her inaugural year with the Violet and Gold, averaging 6.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
Complementing the dynamic set of guards is Jade Jordan, a junior who averaged 6.0 points per game a season ago while also pulling down 3.7 rebounds per contest.
Karly Beyers will look to provide leadership, accompanying Ruhl as the seniors of the team.
Rounding out the junior class will be Taylor Oshiro who appearance in 19 games last season as well as Tea Carbullido.
The Regals contain a lot of depth in their sophomore class as Alexis Rodriguez, Kamakani DeBlake, Kylie McEnroe and Mackenzy Iwahashi look to put their experience on display and produce some solid minutes for CLU.
The two newcomers for Cal Lutheran will be Ashley Sahnazoglu and Kameryn Peteres who will look to make an impact in her first season of collegiate basketball.
"My expectations are always to come in and set a winning attitude," DiMuro said. "I think the girls have that attitude and they really work so hard. The girls are great in terms of professionalism. There's a brand-new system that they'll be learning so that will be difficult for the first few games, but I think we'll hit our mark later in the season and win some big conference games."
The DiMuro era begins next week when Cal Lutheran hosts NAIA opponent Hope International for an exhibition matchup Nov. 6 at 6:30 p.m. inside Gilbert Arena.
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Release by Jeff Rebello, Assistant Sports Information Director
