Preview: Stanford Women’s Basketball welcomes Cal to Maples Pavilion
On Sunday, December 14th at 1:00 PM PT on ACCNX, Stanford women’s basketball will welcome Cal to Maples Pavilion to open up ACC play. Stanford comes in at 8-2 overall while Cal comes in at 8-3. Cal swept Stanford last season winning both of their matchups.
Last time out: Stanford fell to No. 19 Tennessee at Maples 65-62 back on December 3rd.
RECAP: Stanford Women’s Basketball falls to No. 19 Tennessee
On Cal: The Golden Bears are 7-0 at home, 0-1 away, and 1-2 in neutral site games. They’ve been really tough to beat at home, but they have struggled away from Berkeley. Part of that is also a function of the quality of opponent. They’ve played Auburn, Grand Canyon, and Vanderbilt in neutral site games, defeating Grand Canyon and then their lone road game was a one point loss at Missouri. Their home schedule has been pretty soft up to this point beating teams like Saint Mary’s, San Jose State, and Idaho.
The Bears are led by junior guard Lulu Twidale, who is averaging 14.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Graduate student guard Sakima Walker and junior guard Mjracle Sheppard are both averaging 10.6 points per game, also scoring in double figures. Walker averaging 7.0 rebounds and Sheppard averaging 5.1 rebounds. The three of them form a nice trio and then freshman forward Taylor Barnes (9.0 points & 5.3 rebounds) is right behind them as a solid fourth option.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is take care of the ball. They turned the ball over a ridiculous 30 times against Tennessee. They will not beat Cal if they are once again sloppy with the ball. Pretty simple.
Secondly, Stanford needs to get 3-point shots fall with more consistency. When they hit their threes, they are tough to beat. When they don’t, they are vulnerable. Going back to the Tennessee game once more, they shot just 4-14 from 3-point range. That is not going to cut it.
Finally, Stanford needs to get a big performance from Nunu Agara. In a rivalry game your stars need to deliver and Agara is the star of this Stanford team averaging 15.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. If she balls out, Stanford should be fine.
Prediction: I got Stanford bouncing back in this one. They’ve had 11 days to reflect on the Tennessee game. I think they’ll be ready for Cal. 79-70 Stanford wins is how I see this one going.
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