Preview:
We open Pac-12 play on Friday against Cal. Cal comes in a much improved team from a year ago. Cal is 9-2 so far this year. They have not had any notable wins, but they played Notre Dame fairly close before succumbing to them in the end. Massey has them at 75, Net is 79, and they are unranked.
Cal is led by the sparkplug Jayda Curry, a 5'6" sophomore guard who is averaging 15 points a game and leads the team in assists. Curry is very fast and very quick, but also shoots treys in volume at 33%.
Cal has cashed in on the transfer front, with their second leading scorer being Kemmery Martin, a senior who played three seasons at Utah. Cal is using her more than Utah did. Martin is scoring 12ppg and shooting a blazing 42% from three point range.
Evelian Lutje Schipholt, the 6'2" senior forward from Holland, is third in scoring. And we cannot overlook Leilani McIntosh, the 5'5" senior guard who is making 48% of her treys. McIntosh also has gobs of assists--it is a little as if Cal has 2 point guards on the floor at any time.
Another transfer bolstering Cal is 6'1" Peanut Tuitele, who we know so well from four years at Colorado. She is a grad student at Cal now, and bolsters their ranks. She starts but is well down the list on scoring, being more of a defensive specialist.
Cal is much deeper than in the past. 9 players average double digit minutes, and several of them, like transfer (from Texas) Charisma Ortiz are noteworthy.
In short, Cal has excellent home-grown guards and has brought in several transfers that significantly improve their roster. In my opinion their talent level is not close to ours, but they will be a significantly more challenging team to play this year than last, and so the old adage about "on any given day" applies. I worry, for example, about our ability to defend their two speedy, water-bug style guards who can both slash and shoot from three point range. And while we should have the advantage inside, they saw what Creighton did and no doubt will attempt to force us out of the paint. It will be an interesting chess match between Tara and her former player Charmaine Smith.
2022 Shamrock Classic: Notre Dame vs. Cal | EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS | 11/12/2022 | NBC Sports - YouTube
Cal vs. Florida A&M | Game Highlights | College Women's Basketball | 2022-23 Season - YouTube
We open Pac-12 play on Friday against Cal. Cal comes in a much improved team from a year ago. Cal is 9-2 so far this year. They have not had any notable wins, but they played Notre Dame fairly close before succumbing to them in the end. Massey has them at 75, Net is 79, and they are unranked.
Cal is led by the sparkplug Jayda Curry, a 5'6" sophomore guard who is averaging 15 points a game and leads the team in assists. Curry is very fast and very quick, but also shoots treys in volume at 33%.
Cal has cashed in on the transfer front, with their second leading scorer being Kemmery Martin, a senior who played three seasons at Utah. Cal is using her more than Utah did. Martin is scoring 12ppg and shooting a blazing 42% from three point range.
Evelian Lutje Schipholt, the 6'2" senior forward from Holland, is third in scoring. And we cannot overlook Leilani McIntosh, the 5'5" senior guard who is making 48% of her treys. McIntosh also has gobs of assists--it is a little as if Cal has 2 point guards on the floor at any time.
Another transfer bolstering Cal is 6'1" Peanut Tuitele, who we know so well from four years at Colorado. She is a grad student at Cal now, and bolsters their ranks. She starts but is well down the list on scoring, being more of a defensive specialist.
Cal is much deeper than in the past. 9 players average double digit minutes, and several of them, like transfer (from Texas) Charisma Ortiz are noteworthy.
In short, Cal has excellent home-grown guards and has brought in several transfers that significantly improve their roster. In my opinion their talent level is not close to ours, but they will be a significantly more challenging team to play this year than last, and so the old adage about "on any given day" applies. I worry, for example, about our ability to defend their two speedy, water-bug style guards who can both slash and shoot from three point range. And while we should have the advantage inside, they saw what Creighton did and no doubt will attempt to force us out of the paint. It will be an interesting chess match between Tara and her former player Charmaine Smith.
2022 Shamrock Classic: Notre Dame vs. Cal | EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS | 11/12/2022 | NBC Sports - YouTube
Cal vs. Florida A&M | Game Highlights | College Women's Basketball | 2022-23 Season - YouTube