Preview: Cal, 7pm Friday, Pac 12 Bay Area
Friday we take on Cal at Maples for the only game of the weekend. What an oddity of scheduling--the thick of the season and just the one game.
We last played Cal on December 29 at Haas, and prevailed 78-51. That was the game when Lepolo hit 6 treys and silenced her critics, at least for a while.
https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...#pid405883
Since that game Cal has gone 5-7 in Pac 12 play, sweeping both Washington schools and beating Oregon, but losing to the mountain schools, the Arizona schools, the SoCal schools, and Oregon State. Massey has them at 56, NET at 51, and they are 7th place in the Pac-12. While Cal leads the bottom tier of the Pac 12, they are coming off a very successful road trip to the Washington schools.
When we last played them their star offensive transfer player—5’10” grad transfer guard Ioanna Krimili—was not fully back from injury. Now she is and she is and she is performing well. She had 14 against the stout Washington defense.
Marta Suarez, the 6’3” Tennessee transfer, also had 14 against Washington, and MacIntosh continues to play well. One oddity: Michelle Onyiah, the 6’3” starting forward we are all familiar with, only played 7 minutes. I do not know if she was hurt, but in general the transfer players seem to be working out well and soaking up lots of minutes.
Also keep an eye on yet another transfer, Mikayla Williams, from Gonzaga. She comes off the bench but often plays more than 20 minutes.
Cal is a decent three point shooting team, averaging 8 makes a game. Krimili, for example, was 3/6 in their last game. But they are well balanced. With Suarez and Onyiah they at least have two solid forwards to put up against our two, and with McIntosh and Krimili they may have the advantage at guard.
I believe that the Cal team we will see on Friday will be a better team than the one we played in December. The transfer players are now better integrated into their roster, and Krimili is back to full health. Tara said as much after that win—the Cal was not at full strength, and Tara clearly had been prepping the team for Krimili. Now Cal is playing better and is on something of a roll after they matched our results in Washington. On the other hand, with just one game to prepare for, our scouting report is going to be even better than usual.
Friday we take on Cal at Maples for the only game of the weekend. What an oddity of scheduling--the thick of the season and just the one game.
We last played Cal on December 29 at Haas, and prevailed 78-51. That was the game when Lepolo hit 6 treys and silenced her critics, at least for a while.
https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...#pid405883
Since that game Cal has gone 5-7 in Pac 12 play, sweeping both Washington schools and beating Oregon, but losing to the mountain schools, the Arizona schools, the SoCal schools, and Oregon State. Massey has them at 56, NET at 51, and they are 7th place in the Pac-12. While Cal leads the bottom tier of the Pac 12, they are coming off a very successful road trip to the Washington schools.
When we last played them their star offensive transfer player—5’10” grad transfer guard Ioanna Krimili—was not fully back from injury. Now she is and she is and she is performing well. She had 14 against the stout Washington defense.
Marta Suarez, the 6’3” Tennessee transfer, also had 14 against Washington, and MacIntosh continues to play well. One oddity: Michelle Onyiah, the 6’3” starting forward we are all familiar with, only played 7 minutes. I do not know if she was hurt, but in general the transfer players seem to be working out well and soaking up lots of minutes.
Also keep an eye on yet another transfer, Mikayla Williams, from Gonzaga. She comes off the bench but often plays more than 20 minutes.
Cal is a decent three point shooting team, averaging 8 makes a game. Krimili, for example, was 3/6 in their last game. But they are well balanced. With Suarez and Onyiah they at least have two solid forwards to put up against our two, and with McIntosh and Krimili they may have the advantage at guard.
I believe that the Cal team we will see on Friday will be a better team than the one we played in December. The transfer players are now better integrated into their roster, and Krimili is back to full health. Tara said as much after that win—the Cal was not at full strength, and Tara clearly had been prepping the team for Krimili. Now Cal is playing better and is on something of a roll after they matched our results in Washington. On the other hand, with just one game to prepare for, our scouting report is going to be even better than usual.
