Preview:
With the elation of the Utah win we should remember where things stood after our UCLA win. At the Utah chalk talk it was mentioned that we have a lot of young players and the USC game was a short turnaround. Well, we are in the same place, and hopefully we can be more ready for Colorado and its aggressive defense than we were for USC and its surprising defense.
For the second straight game we are playing for the lead in the Pac 12, since we are currently tied with Colorado, each at 6-1. Colorado is an improved team this year and has just reentered the AP at 24. Massey has them at 23, the NET at 22. They are 15-3. Their losses were a one point overtime loss @ Texas Tech, a decisive loss @ Tennessee, and a 58-85 drubbing @ Utah. However, they defeated Utah at home a couple of weeks later 77-67, handing Utah its only loss at the time. They also defeated Arizona by 7 points in their other notable win of the season. Most recently, they just beat Cal in Berkeley--exploding for 30 points in the 4th quarter to come from behind. Poor Cal, they would have won a lot more games if WBB played just three quarters.
JR Payne's teams always play physical, aggressive defense, and Payne has defeated us and given us close games from time to time, both when she coached Santa Clara and the last 7 years at Colorado.
Colorado lost Hollingshed to the WNBA and Peanut Tuitele to Cal, but gained center Vonleh from Arizona. Other players have developed and improved, and Colorado has surprised the league by doing better rather than worse in the post-Hollingshed era--chiefly due to the emergence of Washington transfer Quay Miller.
These were the first four starters against Cal who played significant minutes:
Quay Miller, a 6'3" senior center. She transferred from Washington last year. Miller dumped 26 points on Cal, including going 3/6 from three point range. Very difficult to defend a post who is hitting 50% from three point range. On the season she is shooting 46% from three, but 3/4 of her shots are in close and she is 53% overall. She is the leading scorer at 15 ppg. She also leads the team in rebounding and has a ton of steals.
Frida Formann, a 5'11" junior guard from Denmark. Formann was not hot against Cal, but is Colorado's most prolific three point shooter and second leading scorer at 12ppg. She has made 38 of them at a 42% clip. Like Jump, everyone knows to closely defend her, and like Jump, she has diversified her game, with about 40% of her attempts NOT being treys.
Aaronette Vonleh, a 6'3" sophomore center. Yes they went with 2 centers. She had 13 against Cal, and is the third leading scorer at 12 ppg. Don't worry about three pointers from her, but she is their best inside presence at 61% shooting. She is the low post with Miller more often being at the high post--with Miller being the better face-up shooter.
Jaylyn Sherrod, a 5'7" senior guard. Sherrod has given us fits before--a small, speedy, quick guard who (along with Formann) was part of the team that defeated us in Colorado during our national championship year. She had 15 against Cal. She is point guard with a 2:1 assist/turnover ratio and leads the teams in steals. She has taken only 19 treys this year but has made 9 of them, and that makes her three point shooting a lot better than her overall average of 39%. But she has not been called upon to score as much as in past years.
Tayanna Jones has been the fifth starter most of the season, but she played only 11 minutes against Cal. On the season, the player with the 5th most minutes per game is Kindyll Wetta. Jones is a 6'1" 5th year guard who transferred from Georgetown a year ago. Wetta is a 5'9" homegrown sophomore guard. Jones is better at rebounding, Wetta has a lot of assists--my guess is that Wetta is the backup at point.
In the past, Payne's teams have always played very tough defense but have not always had the offense to go with it. They do this year. They are averaging 73 ppg and outscoring their opponents by 16. They have been forcing 18 turnovers per game. On the other hand, they do not seem as sure-handed as in the past and give up 16 turnovers of their own. They also have a +7 rebounding margin, but were fairly even on the boards against Cal.
In sum, we should go into this game expecting to see USC again--except a USC that can shoot the ball. Colorado is capable of playing a tougher defense than Utah, and I would be surprised if the game looks at all like the Utah game. We need our own defense to step up and control Quay Miller and Frida Formann in particular, and we need our midrange jumpers and treys to fall at least enough to loosen up Colorado's aggressiveness and open up the paint.
With the elation of the Utah win we should remember where things stood after our UCLA win. At the Utah chalk talk it was mentioned that we have a lot of young players and the USC game was a short turnaround. Well, we are in the same place, and hopefully we can be more ready for Colorado and its aggressive defense than we were for USC and its surprising defense.
For the second straight game we are playing for the lead in the Pac 12, since we are currently tied with Colorado, each at 6-1. Colorado is an improved team this year and has just reentered the AP at 24. Massey has them at 23, the NET at 22. They are 15-3. Their losses were a one point overtime loss @ Texas Tech, a decisive loss @ Tennessee, and a 58-85 drubbing @ Utah. However, they defeated Utah at home a couple of weeks later 77-67, handing Utah its only loss at the time. They also defeated Arizona by 7 points in their other notable win of the season. Most recently, they just beat Cal in Berkeley--exploding for 30 points in the 4th quarter to come from behind. Poor Cal, they would have won a lot more games if WBB played just three quarters.
JR Payne's teams always play physical, aggressive defense, and Payne has defeated us and given us close games from time to time, both when she coached Santa Clara and the last 7 years at Colorado.
Colorado lost Hollingshed to the WNBA and Peanut Tuitele to Cal, but gained center Vonleh from Arizona. Other players have developed and improved, and Colorado has surprised the league by doing better rather than worse in the post-Hollingshed era--chiefly due to the emergence of Washington transfer Quay Miller.
These were the first four starters against Cal who played significant minutes:
Quay Miller, a 6'3" senior center. She transferred from Washington last year. Miller dumped 26 points on Cal, including going 3/6 from three point range. Very difficult to defend a post who is hitting 50% from three point range. On the season she is shooting 46% from three, but 3/4 of her shots are in close and she is 53% overall. She is the leading scorer at 15 ppg. She also leads the team in rebounding and has a ton of steals.
Frida Formann, a 5'11" junior guard from Denmark. Formann was not hot against Cal, but is Colorado's most prolific three point shooter and second leading scorer at 12ppg. She has made 38 of them at a 42% clip. Like Jump, everyone knows to closely defend her, and like Jump, she has diversified her game, with about 40% of her attempts NOT being treys.
Aaronette Vonleh, a 6'3" sophomore center. Yes they went with 2 centers. She had 13 against Cal, and is the third leading scorer at 12 ppg. Don't worry about three pointers from her, but she is their best inside presence at 61% shooting. She is the low post with Miller more often being at the high post--with Miller being the better face-up shooter.
Jaylyn Sherrod, a 5'7" senior guard. Sherrod has given us fits before--a small, speedy, quick guard who (along with Formann) was part of the team that defeated us in Colorado during our national championship year. She had 15 against Cal. She is point guard with a 2:1 assist/turnover ratio and leads the teams in steals. She has taken only 19 treys this year but has made 9 of them, and that makes her three point shooting a lot better than her overall average of 39%. But she has not been called upon to score as much as in past years.
Tayanna Jones has been the fifth starter most of the season, but she played only 11 minutes against Cal. On the season, the player with the 5th most minutes per game is Kindyll Wetta. Jones is a 6'1" 5th year guard who transferred from Georgetown a year ago. Wetta is a 5'9" homegrown sophomore guard. Jones is better at rebounding, Wetta has a lot of assists--my guess is that Wetta is the backup at point.
In the past, Payne's teams have always played very tough defense but have not always had the offense to go with it. They do this year. They are averaging 73 ppg and outscoring their opponents by 16. They have been forcing 18 turnovers per game. On the other hand, they do not seem as sure-handed as in the past and give up 16 turnovers of their own. They also have a +7 rebounding margin, but were fairly even on the boards against Cal.
In sum, we should go into this game expecting to see USC again--except a USC that can shoot the ball. Colorado is capable of playing a tougher defense than Utah, and I would be surprised if the game looks at all like the Utah game. We need our own defense to step up and control Quay Miller and Frida Formann in particular, and we need our midrange jumpers and treys to fall at least enough to loosen up Colorado's aggressiveness and open up the paint.