[81alum]

We played Cal five weeks ago and got badly thumped.  The game thread for that game is here:

https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...#pid424702

I won't repeat the preview I wrote for the game at that time.  Instead I will focus on what the two teams have done since December 13.

Since Cal walloped us, they are 7-2.  They lost (as did we) to Duke and Clemson, but they beat (as we did not) North Carolina State and SMU.  They are currently ranked 21/22, with Massey having them at 32.  Their NET ranking is 33.

Since Cal walloped us, we are 3-5, unranked, with Massey having us (generously) at 38.  Our NET ranking is 42.

In looking at how Cal is playing lately--we all know about the meltdown at Duke.  We probably acquitted ourselves better against Duke than they did, although that is not saying very much.  Cal's subsequent win against Wake Forest, however, left them with a good feeling after the trip.  Cal's defense was solid, holding Wake to 55 points, and they got their three pointers to start falling again--Twidale and Krimili had 8.  Last time we defended  against their three point shooting poorly, and Cal set a record against us.

Oniah is pretty much averaging a double-double, and she had 10 and 10 against Wake to keep that going.  Suarez led them in points against Wake.  Notice I just mentioned four players as very significant offensive threats--we can't afford to neglect EITHER the paint or the perimeter when we are defending.

Hopefully having 5 weeks to prepare will pay off and this game will look a lot different than the last one.  We need a win like this one to make the Tournament.

[81alum]

We played Cal five weeks ago and got badly thumped.  The game thread for that game is here:

https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...#pid424702

I won't repeat the preview I wrote for the game at that time.  Instead I will focus on what the two teams have done since December 13.

Since Cal walloped us, they are 7-2.  They lost (as did we) to Duke and Clemson, but they beat (as we did not) North Carolina State and SMU.  They are currently ranked 21/22, with Massey having them at 32.  Their NET ranking is 33.

Since Cal walloped us, we are 3-5, unranked, with Massey having us (generously) at 38.  Our NET ranking is 42.

In looking at how Cal is playing lately--we all know about the meltdown at Duke.  We probably acquitted ourselves better against Duke than they did, although that is not saying very much.  Cal's subsequent win against Wake Forest, however, left them with a good feeling after the trip.  Cal's defense was solid, holding Wake to 55 points, and they got their three pointers to start falling again--Twidale and Krimili had 8.  Last time we defended  against their three point shooting poorly, and Cal set a record against us.

Oniah is pretty much averaging a double-double, and she had 10 and 10 against Wake to keep that going.  Suarez led them in points against Wake.  Notice I just mentioned four players as very significant offensive threats--we can't afford to neglect EITHER the paint or the perimeter when we are defending.

Hopefully having 5 weeks to prepare will pay off and this game will look a lot different than the last one.  We need a win like this one to make the Tournament.