Preview
We travel across the bay to take on Cal on Friday 2pm. The game will be televised by Pac 12 networks.
Cal is 10-2 and ranked 58 by Massey. Their losses were 51-65 to Texas A&M at Haas, and an overtime loss to Gonzaga, also at home. Its best win was away at Auburn, 67-53. Last year we beat Cal handily at home in Maples on December 23rd, but the trip to Berkeley on January 8 was a different story. Charmin Smith had Cal ready for us and was the first coach to deploy the clog-the-paint-and-blanket-Jump defense which we saw so often later in the season. We narrowly squeaked by but Smith had put the blueprint out there on how to stop. Here is the thread from that game:
https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...#pid378251
We got off to a 13-12 lead after the first quarter, and it didn’t get much better after that—we were tied 26 to 26 after a thoroughly NOT entertaining first half. For the game, we were 4/20 from distance. Brink was fronted and it was difficult getting the ball inside to her. Even so, she led with 25 points on 9/20 shooting. Jones was 3/14.
Cal is not the same team this year, although they have the same coach who knows how she would like to try to stop us. They have lost Jayda Curry, Peanut Tuitele, and Lutje Schipholt from their starting lineup, but retain Leilani McIntosh and Kemery Martin. The rest of their starters have generally been transfer players.
Returning player McIntosh is a 5’5” grad student guard who torched us a year ago for 19 points. She is “only” Cal’s third scorer this year, but is averaging 12ppg and shooting 43% from three point range.
Returning player Martin is a 6’0” redshirt junior guard who is averaging 8 ppg.
Cal’s top scorer this year was 5’10” grad student guard Ioanna Krimili who transferred in from USF—but she only played in Cal’s first three games before injuring her meniscus. Cal said this on Nov 28:
Since the Krimili injury, Cal’s leading scorer has been 6’3” junior forward Marta Suarez. She is averaging 14ppg and 7 rebounds. Suarez is a Spanish player who played on their U19 team, and was recruited and played for Tennessee. She played there for 3 years, although was injured partway through her freshman year and rehabbed for the next year and a half, taking a medical redshirt along the way. After coming back from injury she was used only sparingly at Tennessee during her third year. Thus she transferred to Cal with two years of eligibility left. (Or is it three, with COVID?) In any case, she seems to be coming into her own as more of a focal point player at Cal than she was at Tennessee.
McKayla Williams, a transfer from Gonzaga, has started all 12 games and is averaging 9ppg and leads Cal in rebounding. She is a 6’1” senior guard.
In addition to those three transfers who have all started, Cal has been giving a lot of minutes to 5’9” freshman guard Lulu Twidale, from Australia, averaging 9ppg.
A more familiar player, 6’3” senior forward Michelle Onyiah, has started 5/12 games, and seems to be splitting time with UCSB transfer Ila Lane, a 6’4” grad student.
All in all, Cal has found foreign players and transfers to replenish its roster this year, and on paper they have done quite well, at 10-2. They have height and athleticism inside, and with guards like McIntosh and Twidale they have ball handling. They have outside shooting and inside scoring too. How well they will stand up to much stiffer competition (us, we hope) remains to be seen. The fact that they nearly beat Gonzaga when playing at home gives me pause. They are playing at home, with a coach who knows us extremely well, and have some players we have never scouted before. The game should certainly not be taken for granted.
We travel across the bay to take on Cal on Friday 2pm. The game will be televised by Pac 12 networks.
Cal is 10-2 and ranked 58 by Massey. Their losses were 51-65 to Texas A&M at Haas, and an overtime loss to Gonzaga, also at home. Its best win was away at Auburn, 67-53. Last year we beat Cal handily at home in Maples on December 23rd, but the trip to Berkeley on January 8 was a different story. Charmin Smith had Cal ready for us and was the first coach to deploy the clog-the-paint-and-blanket-Jump defense which we saw so often later in the season. We narrowly squeaked by but Smith had put the blueprint out there on how to stop. Here is the thread from that game:
https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...#pid378251
We got off to a 13-12 lead after the first quarter, and it didn’t get much better after that—we were tied 26 to 26 after a thoroughly NOT entertaining first half. For the game, we were 4/20 from distance. Brink was fronted and it was difficult getting the ball inside to her. Even so, she led with 25 points on 9/20 shooting. Jones was 3/14.
Cal is not the same team this year, although they have the same coach who knows how she would like to try to stop us. They have lost Jayda Curry, Peanut Tuitele, and Lutje Schipholt from their starting lineup, but retain Leilani McIntosh and Kemery Martin. The rest of their starters have generally been transfer players.
Returning player McIntosh is a 5’5” grad student guard who torched us a year ago for 19 points. She is “only” Cal’s third scorer this year, but is averaging 12ppg and shooting 43% from three point range.
Returning player Martin is a 6’0” redshirt junior guard who is averaging 8 ppg.
Cal’s top scorer this year was 5’10” grad student guard Ioanna Krimili who transferred in from USF—but she only played in Cal’s first three games before injuring her meniscus. Cal said this on Nov 28:
Quote:“California guard Ioanna Krimili, who suffered a right meniscus injury in the game against Cal Poly on Nov. 13 and has missed the team's last four games, is making progress towards her return. She will be re-evaluated on a weekly basis”
Since the Krimili injury, Cal’s leading scorer has been 6’3” junior forward Marta Suarez. She is averaging 14ppg and 7 rebounds. Suarez is a Spanish player who played on their U19 team, and was recruited and played for Tennessee. She played there for 3 years, although was injured partway through her freshman year and rehabbed for the next year and a half, taking a medical redshirt along the way. After coming back from injury she was used only sparingly at Tennessee during her third year. Thus she transferred to Cal with two years of eligibility left. (Or is it three, with COVID?) In any case, she seems to be coming into her own as more of a focal point player at Cal than she was at Tennessee.
McKayla Williams, a transfer from Gonzaga, has started all 12 games and is averaging 9ppg and leads Cal in rebounding. She is a 6’1” senior guard.
In addition to those three transfers who have all started, Cal has been giving a lot of minutes to 5’9” freshman guard Lulu Twidale, from Australia, averaging 9ppg.
A more familiar player, 6’3” senior forward Michelle Onyiah, has started 5/12 games, and seems to be splitting time with UCSB transfer Ila Lane, a 6’4” grad student.
All in all, Cal has found foreign players and transfers to replenish its roster this year, and on paper they have done quite well, at 10-2. They have height and athleticism inside, and with guards like McIntosh and Twidale they have ball handling. They have outside shooting and inside scoring too. How well they will stand up to much stiffer competition (us, we hope) remains to be seen. The fact that they nearly beat Gonzaga when playing at home gives me pause. They are playing at home, with a coach who knows us extremely well, and have some players we have never scouted before. The game should certainly not be taken for granted.
