Day: Sunday
Date: November 10th, 2019
Time: 1:00
Location: Storrs, CT
TV: SNY
TV: SNY
No. 1 UConn Huskies California Golden Bears 0-0 0-1
Prior Meetings
CALIFORNIA | UCONN LEADS 5-1
H: 2-0 | A: 1-1 | N: 2-0
11/24/91 Cal 76, #15 UConn 60 Berkeley, Calif.
12/28/94 #2 UConn 99, Cal 52 Storrs, Conn.
03/29/09 #1 UConn 77, #13 Cal 53 Trenton, N.J.
12/22/13 #1 UConn 95, #22 Cal 51 New York, N.Y.
11/17/17 #1 UConn 82, #20 Cal 47 Storrs, Conn.
12/22/18 UConn 76, Cal 66 Berkeley, Calif.
Last Years Game Highlights
California did some things that were out of character for their team and that allowed them to be more competitive than I thought. They hit 6 three pointers in the first quarter and 10 for the game. They only average 5 made per game. They had 14 offensive rebounds. They only average 9 per game. They only had 8 turnovers. They average 15 per game.
These three things probably account for at least 10 points if not 20 in the margin. Hey, good for them for overachieving. Playing in front of their biggest crowd (10,000+) in their history might motivate a team to play over their heads.
However, this years game will be nothing like last years. Both teams are very different, especially California.
Team Overviews
California
They bring back one starter, Jaelyn Brown, a 6'1" guard. She started 32 games last season and finished second on the team in rebounding at 4.1 rebounds per game and was fifth in scoring at 7.9 points per game. She shot 49% from the floor on the season and 35.6% from beyond the arc (21-59).
The other two players that return who played against UConn last season are Alaysia Styles, a 6'3" Junior forward and C.J. West, a 6'4" Senior center. Leiani McIntosh is their 5'4" freshman point guard and they are really counting on 6'2" freshman from The Netherlands, Lutje Schipholt for scoring and rebounding.
Unbelievably they opened up their season with a 56-53 loss to Harvard on the road. At one point they had a 10 point lead, but the Golden Bears had a LONG scoring drought and Harvard just kept pecking away finally taking the lead late in the game.
UConn won their two exhibition games, winning 103-40 over Jefferson and 99-54 over Trevecca Nazarene.
UConn brings back three starters in 6'1" Junior Megan Walker, 5'5" Senior Crystal Dangerfield and 5'11" Sophomore Christyn Williams. They added 6'5" Sophomore Olivia Nelson-Ododa and 6'1" Freshman Anna Marurat to the starting lineup. Off the bench are two Seniors, 5'9" Molly Bent and 6'2" Kyla Irwin along with Graduate Senior 6'2" Evelyn Adebayo and Freshman Aubrey Griffin.
UConn will be without hard luck Senior 6'2" Batouly Camara, who is out after having knee surgery and 6' Junior Evina Westbrook, whose transfer waiver request was denied by the NCAA. She has entered an appeal.
It appears to be a deeper UConn team. I hope so.
California
California is in a rebuilding season as they lose four starters from when they last played UConn. Last year the Golden Bears were led by 6'4" center Kristine Anigwe, a second team All-American and Naismith Defensive player of the year. She is now graduated and moved on to the WNBA. They also lost point guard is 5'4" Asha Thomas to graduation and 6' sophomore Kianna Smith guard transferred to Louisville. 5'9" Recee Caldwell, a grad student transfer from Texas Tech last season also graduated.
They bring back one starter, Jaelyn Brown, a 6'1" guard. She started 32 games last season and finished second on the team in rebounding at 4.1 rebounds per game and was fifth in scoring at 7.9 points per game. She shot 49% from the floor on the season and 35.6% from beyond the arc (21-59).
The other two players that return who played against UConn last season are Alaysia Styles, a 6'3" Junior forward and C.J. West, a 6'4" Senior center. Leiani McIntosh is their 5'4" freshman point guard and they are really counting on 6'2" freshman from The Netherlands, Lutje Schipholt for scoring and rebounding.
Unbelievably they opened up their season with a 56-53 loss to Harvard on the road. At one point they had a 10 point lead, but the Golden Bears had a LONG scoring drought and Harvard just kept pecking away finally taking the lead late in the game.
UConn
UConn won their two exhibition games, winning 103-40 over Jefferson and 99-54 over Trevecca Nazarene.
UConn brings back three starters in 6'1" Junior Megan Walker, 5'5" Senior Crystal Dangerfield and 5'11" Sophomore Christyn Williams. They added 6'5" Sophomore Olivia Nelson-Ododa and 6'1" Freshman Anna Marurat to the starting lineup. Off the bench are two Seniors, 5'9" Molly Bent and 6'2" Kyla Irwin along with Graduate Senior 6'2" Evelyn Adebayo and Freshman Aubrey Griffin.
UConn will be without hard luck Senior 6'2" Batouly Camara, who is out after having knee surgery and 6' Junior Evina Westbrook, whose transfer waiver request was denied by the NCAA. She has entered an appeal.
It appears to be a deeper UConn team. I hope so.
UCONN
The player names are clickable to see their Bios
The player names are clickable to see their Bios
UConn Starters
(Last seasons)
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California
Head Coach
Charmin Smith
A mainstay on the Golden Bear bench for over a decade, Charmin Smith was named head coach of the Cal women’s basketball team on June 21, 2019.
Smith becomes the 10th head coach in Cal women’s basketball history after spending the last 12 seasons as an assistant on the Golden Bear staff, including serving as the program’s associate head coach since 2012. Cal has had ten 20-win seasons and made nine trips to the NCAA Tournament since Smith’s arrival in Berkeley in 2007, highlighted by the program’s first trip to the Final Four in 2013.
Highly-regarded throughout the coaching ranks at both the collegiate and professional levels, Smith has played a key role in building Cal into one of the premier programs on the West Coast, handling duties from recruiting and scheduling, to alumni engagement and campus equity and inclusion. She has served on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Board of Directors and was hired in April 2019 to serve as an assistant coach for the WNBA’s New York Liberty.
On the hardwood, Smith has helped coach the Bears to the top three individual seasons in program history. In her first two years in Berkeley, Cal set then-school records for wins in a season, finishing both years with 27-7 marks before Cal pushed itself into elite status with the record-breaking 32-4 Final Four campaign in 2012-13. The Bears also recorded their best Pac-12 record (17-1) and won their first conference regular-season crown that season. Smith has helped lead the Bears to the postseason in 11 of her 12 seasons and was also part of the staff that led the Bears to the 2010 WNIT championship.
California Starters
4 Alaysia Styles
6'3" Junior Forward
33 Jaelyn Brown
6'1" Senior Guard
5 Chen Yue
6'7" RS Senior Center
11 Sara Anastasieska
5'11" RS Senior Guard
1 Leilani McIntosh
5'5" Freshman Guard
California Bench
4 CJ West
6'4" Senior Center
24 Evelien Lutje Schiphoit
6'2" Freshman Forward
2 Cailyn Crocker
5'9" Freshman Guard
Game Analysis
There are so many changes for the Golden Bears, it's tough to make a good analysis of how they play. A new freshman point guard against a team like UConn along with 3 other new starters could make this game get ugly. Losing their All-American center Anigwe is a huge issue and last years point guard played 40 minutes in the UConn game hitting 6 three pointers. I don't see anyone on this roster capable of doing that.
Thankfully, I did get to see the Cal-Harvard game and could make some observations about the Golden Bears. For on thing, they were just terrible in almost every facet of the game.
They played a switching man-to-man defense the entire game with an occasional press. The press was not effective against Harvard. It certainly won't be against UConn. They did put some pressure on the ball early, but it was never sustained. And even though Harvard looked to be moving in slow motion, they were still able to get open shots. They pretty much drove to the basket at will. I can only imagine what Williams, Dangerfield, Walker, Makurat and Griffin will be able to do to that defense.
UConn is going to pressure a ton in this game. Cal's freshman point guard will be hard pressed (pun intended) to run any offense. They tried to get the ball to their 6'7" center Chen Yue, but she doesn't have the post moves to get off her shot. At least she didn't against Harvard.
Thankfully, I did get to see the Cal-Harvard game and could make some observations about the Golden Bears. For on thing, they were just terrible in almost every facet of the game.
They played a switching man-to-man defense the entire game with an occasional press. The press was not effective against Harvard. It certainly won't be against UConn. They did put some pressure on the ball early, but it was never sustained. And even though Harvard looked to be moving in slow motion, they were still able to get open shots. They pretty much drove to the basket at will. I can only imagine what Williams, Dangerfield, Walker, Makurat and Griffin will be able to do to that defense.
UConn is going to pressure a ton in this game. Cal's freshman point guard will be hard pressed (pun intended) to run any offense. They tried to get the ball to their 6'7" center Chen Yue, but she doesn't have the post moves to get off her shot. At least she didn't against Harvard.
On offense for UConn, Cal doesn't appear to be quick enough in a few positions to stay with the Huskies. I would look for a lot of transition baskets for UConn against the slower Golden Bears. Their post players was especially slow. California is just not a very good shooting team. You can tell by the awkward form on most of their players.
UConn is going to run run and run some more getting tons of opportunities on California misses. If the Golden Bears turn the ball over, it's going to get ugly quickly.
UConn is going to run run and run some more getting tons of opportunities on California misses. If the Golden Bears turn the ball over, it's going to get ugly quickly.
Final Prediction
My prediction? Lots of pain for Cal. UConn had two solid preseason games what should have shaken out the rust and got them into game mode. At home for this opener, the Huskies will want to put on a show for the home crowd. California was just terrible in losing to Harvard. I can't imagine them looking better against UConn.
UConn by 35+. Emphasis on the plus!
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