Hey guys, here is the game hub for today's Cal women's basketball game against UC Riverside. Tipoff is at 11:30 AM PST in Berkeley. This is part of the "School Haas Rock" event. Clever pun, eh? Anyways, on to my preview! I will list five key things to look for in this game.
#1. UC Riverside has three young ladies that can really score: The Highlanders get the vast bulk of their scoring production from the following three players: Junior forward Réjane Verin (19.5 points per game), Senior guard and Berkeley native Annelise Ito (18.5 points per game), and senior guard Brittany Crain (17.0 points per game). What makes this potentially dangerous is that there isn't really one player for Cal to key on. There's three. Further, all three of these players are experienced upperclassmen. Unlike Cal's previous opponent (Louisville), this team is much more dependent on veteran leadership as a opposed to a bunch of highly-touted freshmen. This team may not be as talented as Louisville from top-to-bottom, but they do pose different kind of threat.
#2. Cal should kill UC Riverside on the glass: Cal has four players listed at 6'3 or taller (Davidson, Range, Anigwe, and Yu). UC Riverside's tallest player is 6'2. Also, not even mentioned on that list for Cal is 6'2 forward Mikayla Cowling, who is averaging a team-high 9.0 rebounds per contest (Anigwe also averages 9.0 rebounds). Anyways, Cal is a very good rebounding team and with all of their size and aggression inside, they should give themselves a huge advantage by grabbing more rebounds.
#3. Will Cal blow UC Riverside out of the building or will there be a letdown? After fending off #8 Louisville on the road and cracking the Top-25 with a #21 ranking in the country, will this Cal team put the petal to the metal and crush UC Riverside or will they have a letdown and not take UC Riverside seriously? My guess is they'll come out with a ton of confidence and momentum, but you never know. How Cal plays early on will be interesting to see.
#4. UC Riverside comes in with some momentum of their own, too: Even though Cal has had the more impressive start to the season, UC Riverside likewise is off to a 2-0 start with sound wins over San Diego State and Fresno State. This UC Riverside team has every right to feel confident as they walk into Haas Pavilion. They haven't lost, either, and they have three very good scoring options.
#5. What tempo will Cal play? Something that I will look for in this game is what kind of tempo Cal runs. They seem to really thrive in the fast break with Anigwe getting it off the glass and getting it to Asha Thomas in transition, who is really good at running the floor and hitting an open Courtney Range. However, with all of their size down low and UC Riverside being smaller, it's possible that a slower game is more favorable for Cal while a quicker, faster paced game is better for UC Riverside. It'll be interesting to see what kind of pace the Cal women prefer. We already know the men love to get out in the fast break as much as possible and it appears like the women do, too. It'll just be interesting for me to see because that will tell me a lot about what kind of style this team prefers to play.
#1. UC Riverside has three young ladies that can really score: The Highlanders get the vast bulk of their scoring production from the following three players: Junior forward Réjane Verin (19.5 points per game), Senior guard and Berkeley native Annelise Ito (18.5 points per game), and senior guard Brittany Crain (17.0 points per game). What makes this potentially dangerous is that there isn't really one player for Cal to key on. There's three. Further, all three of these players are experienced upperclassmen. Unlike Cal's previous opponent (Louisville), this team is much more dependent on veteran leadership as a opposed to a bunch of highly-touted freshmen. This team may not be as talented as Louisville from top-to-bottom, but they do pose different kind of threat.
#2. Cal should kill UC Riverside on the glass: Cal has four players listed at 6'3 or taller (Davidson, Range, Anigwe, and Yu). UC Riverside's tallest player is 6'2. Also, not even mentioned on that list for Cal is 6'2 forward Mikayla Cowling, who is averaging a team-high 9.0 rebounds per contest (Anigwe also averages 9.0 rebounds). Anyways, Cal is a very good rebounding team and with all of their size and aggression inside, they should give themselves a huge advantage by grabbing more rebounds.
#3. Will Cal blow UC Riverside out of the building or will there be a letdown? After fending off #8 Louisville on the road and cracking the Top-25 with a #21 ranking in the country, will this Cal team put the petal to the metal and crush UC Riverside or will they have a letdown and not take UC Riverside seriously? My guess is they'll come out with a ton of confidence and momentum, but you never know. How Cal plays early on will be interesting to see.
#4. UC Riverside comes in with some momentum of their own, too: Even though Cal has had the more impressive start to the season, UC Riverside likewise is off to a 2-0 start with sound wins over San Diego State and Fresno State. This UC Riverside team has every right to feel confident as they walk into Haas Pavilion. They haven't lost, either, and they have three very good scoring options.
#5. What tempo will Cal play? Something that I will look for in this game is what kind of tempo Cal runs. They seem to really thrive in the fast break with Anigwe getting it off the glass and getting it to Asha Thomas in transition, who is really good at running the floor and hitting an open Courtney Range. However, with all of their size down low and UC Riverside being smaller, it's possible that a slower game is more favorable for Cal while a quicker, faster paced game is better for UC Riverside. It'll be interesting to see what kind of pace the Cal women prefer. We already know the men love to get out in the fast break as much as possible and it appears like the women do, too. It'll just be interesting for me to see because that will tell me a lot about what kind of style this team prefers to play.
