Cal State's Tokoro truly a 'point' guard
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Point guard Monica Tokoro's string of scoring 25, 26 and 27 points in successive games for the Cal State-Los Angeles women's basketball team stopped last weekend.
Instead, she scored 31 and 37 points on a two-game road trip to Northern California.
It was the sixth and seventh time this season that Tokoro, a 2001 Iolani School graduate from 'Aiea, has scored 30 or more.
Including the final games last season, Tokoro has scored 30 or more in nine and 20 or more in 17 of her past 26 games.
Tokoro, a 5-foot-3 sophomore, figuratively jumped over a 6-foot senior from Cal State-Bakersfield and into second place in the nation in NCAA Division II scoring with a 23.4 points-per-game average.
She is ninth in NCAA II in assists with 6.7 per game.
Superlatives are being exhausted to describe Tokoro's play.
The most common post-game comment by media who are seeing her for the first time is "Man, is she fun to watch!" says Cal State-L.A. sports information director Chris Hughes.
With more than two seasons left in her career, Tokoro has moved into 10th place on Cal State-L.A.'s career scoring list. If she scores her average in her final four games this season — all at home — she will pass the 1,000-point plateau as a sophomore.
She scored a school-record 43 points, believed the most ever by a collegiate player from Hawai'i, at Cal State-Stanislaus on Jan. 24.
Tokoro has already surpassed her assist total from last season, and coach Marcia Murota acknowledges that she would have many more, except that the Golden Eagles have not had good production from their posts.
"She gets all those points, and she is not a selfish player," Murota says.
At her current assist rate, Tokoro will tie Cal State's career record in her sixth game next season.
Last weekend, she made 26 of 45 field-goal attempts (she has made half her shots or better in 21 of her past 27 games) and 13 of 15 free-throw attempts (her career percentage is 80.7).
"By now, she's obviously a marked woman, double- and triple-teamed," Murota said, "but she can still drive that lane and get between people, take a lot of contact, and still put the ball up.
"It's really amazing."
Oh, and one other thing: Last Thursday Tokoro was named to the Verizon Academic All-District team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, for her 3.8 grade-point average (including 4.0 last semester). She is a candidate for the Academic All-America team to be announced next month.
TIP-INS: Monica Tokoro has played all 40 minutes in nine games this season, including the last four — all on the road. ... Despite Tokoro's superheroine efforts, the Golden Eagles' lack of quality play from their front line has led to a 7-15 record.
