In her fourth and final season in the UC San Diego women's basketball program, Miranda Seto is currently the Tritons' second-leading scorer at 13.4 points per game through the first 11 contests, all starts. The 5-5 guard out of Redwood City in the Bay Area earned All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) distinction for the first time in 2013-14, and is a human development major at Marshall College. Seto and her teammates await the annual Triton Jam inside RIMAC Arena later tonight beginning at 8 p.m. with the UCSD student population invited for free food, interactive games and great prizes. The Tritons will then look to extend a three-game win streak with another home weekend this Friday and Saturday, Jan. 9-10. Tip-offs are set for 5:30 p.m.
Q: After averaging 6.1 points per game as a sophomore, you had a breakout season last year, averaging a team-best 14.2 points per game, and were named to the All-CCAA First Team. What has been the key to the steady improvement throughout the years?
SETO: I think the improvement through the years has just been the adjustment from playing point guard sophomore year to now playing shooting guard more junior year and this year. At the shooting guard position, I don't have to worry about taking the ball up as much, and I am able to move off of the ball more.
Q: What part of your game has improved the most since coming to UCSD?
SETO: I think being able to get to the basket and finish more has improved a lot. I have been taught many different moves to the basket over the years, and have been able to implement them into my game. That has helped a lot. In high school, I was more of a shooter and took selective drives to the basket.
Q: What was the biggest surprise transitioning from high school to college basketball? Do you have any advice for incoming players making that transition?
SETO: The biggest surprise transitioning from high school to college basketball would be the pace. College basketball is played at such a higher pace than high school. It probably took all of freshman year (for me) to get used to it. Not to mention, the players are much bigger, stronger and quicker. Normally in high school basketball, there is one weak player, that if they are guarding you, you can just beat them every time, but in college, there is no weak player. Everyone is good.
Q: What has been your most memorable moment at UCSD?
SETO: My most memorable moment at UCSD would be when I was a part of the UCSD women's basketball team my freshman year. We were undefeated most of the season and ranked No. 1 in the nation for the majority of the year. That was also when I got to play with coach, Chelsea Carlisle. That was a fun and exciting experience.
Q: What's the best advice that you have gotten from any of the coaches?
SETO: The best advice that I have gotten from any of the coaches would be, to always enjoy the moment and to be appreciative of how lucky it is to be a Triton.
Q: Do you think you can beat former Triton star (and current UCSD assistant coach) Chelsea Carlisle in one-on-one?
SETO: Ha! No, she is still the best player I have ever played against/guarded (in practice). She is just too good.
Q: How did you get introduced to basketball? How and when did you know it was “your sport”?
SETO: I got introduced to basketball through my older brother. He played basketball at a young age, and whenever he would go outside to practice, I would tag along with him. Basketball was also a big sport to my dad. He played it when he was younger and has loved it since. My dad is another big reason why I play basketball, because it has brought us so close together. The beginning of high school was when I knew basketball was my sport. At my high school, soccer and basketball were at the same time, so I had to choose one of the two. I was already on three other basketball teams coming into freshman year of high school, so I figured, why not just stick to it.
Q: Do you play any pick-up games? If so, where's your favorite spot in San Diego?
SETO: I play in some pick-up games in either the RIMAC arena or the Auxiliary Gym in RIMAC during the off-season.
Q: You listed your favorite sports teams as the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers and San Jose Sharks, and favorite athlete as Dwyane Wade. Do you not like the Golden State Warriors, or was that just an omission?
SETO: I do like the Warriors. It was just an omission. I don't really watch sports games all that much, just mainly ESPN highlights. I wouldn't call myself a die-hard fan, but more of a behind-the-scenes fan cheering from afar.
Q: Your first haircut was at the age of 13?! How did you go about having extremely long hair, and what was the reason for the cut?
SETO: You would think that having hair all the way down past your butt would be annoying and hard to manage, but it wasn't bad at all. My hair was thin and long, so it was fairly easy, as opposed to having thick hair. That would have been harder. The only downside to it was when I played in basketball games and fell, girls would step on it and I wouldn't be able to get back up. At that point, I decided to just cut my hair. My mom gave me my first haircut and she just cut straight across, about 7-8 inches. Essentially, that hair at the end would be considered my baby hair, since it had never been cut.
Q: How did you come to fear cotton balls and bananas?
SETO: The feeling of cotton balls is just gross. It is hard to explain. When you have the cotton ball between your fingers and it makes that weird noise, it freaks me out. It is kind of like when someone scratches their nails against the chalkboard feeling. So at home, I just use Q-tips and the circle pad things. Bananas, when people eat them they tend to have bad breath, so the smell is just gross. The texture of the banana is gross itself, and when there's a bruise on it, then it is even worse.
Previous Triton Q&A Features
Naomi Thomas (Women's Swimming & Diving) December 30, 2014
Cameron Ravanbach (Men's Water Polo) November 21, 2014
Eric Olen (Men's Basketball) November 17, 2014
Mitchell Shulman (Men's Fencing) November 13, 2014
Paul Li (Men's Swimming & Diving) November 1, 2014
Paige Hughes (Women's Cross Country) October 20, 2014
Danielle Dahle (Women's Volleyball) October 14, 2014
Tareq Alwafai (Men's Cross Country) September 25, 2014
David Higginson (Men's Water Polo) September 18, 2014
Matthew McClure (Men's Soccer) September 10, 2014
Caitlin Brenton (Women's Volleyball) September 3, 2014
Michelle Yasutake (Women's Soccer) August 25, 2014
2013-14 • 2010-13 • 2004-09
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