Cal women’s basketball hopes to stop recent skid against Arizona
Fans who have been consistently watching the Cal women’s basketball team this season have a plethora of reasons to be disappointed. If someone isn’t upset by the fact that the Bears haven’t triumphed over a top-25 team since Dec. 20 (which shows a distinct lack of high-caliber basketball), there are a wide range of other issues that could enrage a watcher.
With Friday’s loss to No. 18 Arizona State, Cal (14-5, 2-5) seems to have precipitously fallen through the ranks of the Pac-12, taking its place in the bottom half of the pack. Up against another Pac-12 opponent Sunday with the same losing conference record, Cal will be facing off against Arizona (11-7, 2-5) at Haas Pavilion.
Part of the reason is that the Bears’ offensive game plan, which relies almost exclusively on finding sophomore star Kristine Anigwe down low, has proven easy for opponents to thwart. Often, a double or triple team (understandably) makes it difficult for Anigwe to be as productive down low. But while other players should be filling the gap and being provided with more open looks, the contributions from other players just simply isn’t there.
Anigwe is averaging 22.7 points a game — certainly an impressive number — but the next highest scorer on the team, Courtney Range, puts up only 12.1. And no other Bears are even averaging double digits. If the Bears want to keep up with Arizona, which is scoring 67.1 points per game, Range and Anigwe can’t be the only ones putting up double-digit scoring performances.
And speaking of the Wildcats, their offense is pretty good. With a season field goal average of .417 and a three-point field goal average of .303, they have shown that they are efficient on offense. Arizona’s best shooter from beyond the arc is freshman Lucia Alonso, who has gone 15 of 36 from three-point range, putting her at a .417 average.
For a Cal team that is streaky at best when it comes to three-point scoring, Arizona’s prowess from that range could lead the Bears to fall behind offensively. And if head coach Lindsay Gottlieb doesn’t have another game plan to get her offense going, Cal could fall prey to the offensive demons that they’ve been facing time and time again.
The Bears have been sloppy and careless on offense, recently giving up 17 turnovers against Arizona State, 15 against Utah and 20 against Colorado. The numbers are damaging Cal’s offensive flow and lead to quick baskets for other teams, once again hurting the Bears’ chances at victory. If it wants to secure a win against Arizona, Cal is going to have to limit its turnovers to single digits.
If you were to ask most people at the beginning, or even middle, of the season about the Bears’ chances against Arizona, most would say that it should be a blowout — in favor of Cal. But with the current state of affairs that the Bears have found themselves in, the answer to that question remains increasingly unknowable.
Sophie Goethals is the assistant sports editor. Contact her at sgoethals@dailycal.org