At 7:00 PM PST, Cal women's basketball will take on the Oregon Ducks. Cal comes into this game 12-15 overall and 3-13 in Pac-12 play. Oregon is 20-7 overall and 9-7 in Pac-12 play. This game hub will get started with five things to look for going into the game.
#1. With Jillian Alleyne out for the season with a torn ACL, Kristine Anigwe should dominate: Against Cal, Oregon senior forward Jillian Alleyne had 25 points and 15 rebounds. On the season, she's been averaging 19.0 points and 13.6 rebounds per game. With Alleyne now out for the season, look for Kristine Anigwe to have a big game. Note: News of Alleyne's torn ACL was released today, but she tore it on Tuesday.
#2. Cal needs to get off to a better start: When these two teams faced off in Eugene, the Ducks took a 31-17 lead into the half and pretty much coasted to victory from there. Cal can't fall behind early in this game and expect to win. They have to play good basketball for 4 periods and not go into scoring droughts, which has been a problem for them all season.
#3. Asha Thomas needs to pick it up: Asha Thomas has had a good freshman season, but she's had far too many games where she hardly scores. Up in Eugene, she had 0 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 0 turnovers. She facilitated fine, but she didn't get into any sort of a scoring groove. Asha Thomas needs to be more than just a facilitator on this Cal team, which has been decimated by injuries and absences. Asha Thomas needs to have a big game tonight and at the very least score in double figures.
#4. Cal needs some threes to drop: If Cal wants Kristine Anigwe to have a productive night, they need to get some three-point shots to drop in order for her to have more room inside to do her thing. Cal shot an abysmal 5-17 from three-point range against the Ducks earlier this season and I think that hurt Kristine Anigwe because the floor wasn't as spaced out. She still scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but that was on 4-14 shooting from the field and a perfect 9-9 shooting from the line. The poor field goal percentage points to her not having as much room inside and when she has to go against a player like Jillian Alleyne, things get even tougher.
#5. Is this a statement game to land Sabrina Ionescu? 2016 5-star guard Sabrina Ionescu has narrowed her choices down to Cal, Oregon, and Oregon State. If Cal wants to give Sabrina Ionescu another reason to come to Cal over both schools, winning tonight would be a good place to start. I don't think that what happens this weekend will decide where Sabrina Ionescu goes, but I do think that the games this weekend have at least a small impact on her decision. With that being the case, Cal should have extra motivation to win this game.
Prediction: With a win tonight, Cal could clinch the 10 seed in the Pac-12 tournament, which may not seem like much of an incentive, but considering that the Pac-12 tournament is all that they have to play for at this point and their only path to the NCAA tournament, a 10 seed would be significantly better than a 7 seed. A 10 seed puts Cal up against a very beatable Utah team in the first round, which would then result in a quarterfinal match against Arizona State (at the moment anyways, these are the projections). If all goes as I described above, that would be great for Cal. Cal has played Utah tough as well as Arizona State. Cal does not want to fall in the standings and give themselves a more difficult first round opponent.
Anyways, I'm going to pick Cal to win this game 67-62. I originally picked Oregon to win 67-63 before I found out about Jillian Alleyne's season-ending injury. But with her now out and this being Oregon's first game without her, I have to pick Cal to win this game. Kristine Anigwe should really have a fantastic game and Oregon will have a very hard time making up for the production of their leading scorer and rebounder. Cal caught a huge break with Alleyne going out.
#1. With Jillian Alleyne out for the season with a torn ACL, Kristine Anigwe should dominate: Against Cal, Oregon senior forward Jillian Alleyne had 25 points and 15 rebounds. On the season, she's been averaging 19.0 points and 13.6 rebounds per game. With Alleyne now out for the season, look for Kristine Anigwe to have a big game. Note: News of Alleyne's torn ACL was released today, but she tore it on Tuesday.
#2. Cal needs to get off to a better start: When these two teams faced off in Eugene, the Ducks took a 31-17 lead into the half and pretty much coasted to victory from there. Cal can't fall behind early in this game and expect to win. They have to play good basketball for 4 periods and not go into scoring droughts, which has been a problem for them all season.
#3. Asha Thomas needs to pick it up: Asha Thomas has had a good freshman season, but she's had far too many games where she hardly scores. Up in Eugene, she had 0 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 0 turnovers. She facilitated fine, but she didn't get into any sort of a scoring groove. Asha Thomas needs to be more than just a facilitator on this Cal team, which has been decimated by injuries and absences. Asha Thomas needs to have a big game tonight and at the very least score in double figures.
#4. Cal needs some threes to drop: If Cal wants Kristine Anigwe to have a productive night, they need to get some three-point shots to drop in order for her to have more room inside to do her thing. Cal shot an abysmal 5-17 from three-point range against the Ducks earlier this season and I think that hurt Kristine Anigwe because the floor wasn't as spaced out. She still scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but that was on 4-14 shooting from the field and a perfect 9-9 shooting from the line. The poor field goal percentage points to her not having as much room inside and when she has to go against a player like Jillian Alleyne, things get even tougher.
#5. Is this a statement game to land Sabrina Ionescu? 2016 5-star guard Sabrina Ionescu has narrowed her choices down to Cal, Oregon, and Oregon State. If Cal wants to give Sabrina Ionescu another reason to come to Cal over both schools, winning tonight would be a good place to start. I don't think that what happens this weekend will decide where Sabrina Ionescu goes, but I do think that the games this weekend have at least a small impact on her decision. With that being the case, Cal should have extra motivation to win this game.
Prediction: With a win tonight, Cal could clinch the 10 seed in the Pac-12 tournament, which may not seem like much of an incentive, but considering that the Pac-12 tournament is all that they have to play for at this point and their only path to the NCAA tournament, a 10 seed would be significantly better than a 7 seed. A 10 seed puts Cal up against a very beatable Utah team in the first round, which would then result in a quarterfinal match against Arizona State (at the moment anyways, these are the projections). If all goes as I described above, that would be great for Cal. Cal has played Utah tough as well as Arizona State. Cal does not want to fall in the standings and give themselves a more difficult first round opponent.
Anyways, I'm going to pick Cal to win this game 67-62. I originally picked Oregon to win 67-63 before I found out about Jillian Alleyne's season-ending injury. But with her now out and this being Oregon's first game without her, I have to pick Cal to win this game. Kristine Anigwe should really have a fantastic game and Oregon will have a very hard time making up for the production of their leading scorer and rebounder. Cal caught a huge break with Alleyne going out.
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