Cal Hits The Road At USC Friday

WBB1/11/2023 12:23 PM | By:

Cal Hits The Road At USC Friday

Tipoff Is At 7PM

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BERKELEY – The California women's basketball team (10-5, 1-3) hits the road to continue Pac-12 play taking on the USC Trojans on Friday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game can be viewed on the Pac-12 Network Los Angeles.

This game marks the 77th all-time meeting between the programs with USC holding a 42-34 series lead. The last win against the Trojans came on Feb. 4, 2022 in a 62-59 victory at the Galen Center in which Leilani McIntosh hit a game-winning 3-pointer. 
 

 
GAME INFORMATION QUICK HITS
  • In the 60-56 loss to No. 2 Stanford:
    • Cal was led by Leilani McIntosh's season-high 19 points, which included nine of the Bears' 13 points in the fourth quarter.
    • Kemery Martín led the Bears with a career-high eight rebounds. She is averaging 6.7 rebounds over her last three games.
    • The Bears held Stanford to its lowest FG (32.3) and 3PT (20.0) percentages and 3PT makes (4) of the season while outperforming them in all three categories.
    • Stanford also had its lowest scoring output of the season with 60 points after coming in averaging 84.6 points a game.
    • Cal had a 3-point lead with about three minutes to play before ultimately losing the game.
  • Against Top 10 opponents:
    • Against then No. 9 Notre Dame on Nov. 12, Cal scored the most 3-pointers (9) and points (79), had the most assists (17) and steals (12 - only opponent to register double-digit steals) against Notre Dame among any of its opponents this season. Opponents include No. 5 UConn, No. 9 Virginia Tech and No. 13 Maryland.
    • In the first meeting at No. 2 Stanford on Dec. 23, Cal shot 43.9 percent from deep, the highest percentage allowed by Stanford, held Stanford to just 29.2 percent from 3-point range, its fourth lowest percentage of the season and the 69 points the Bears put up were the third highest total allowed by the Cardinal all season. In the second meeting at home on Jan. 8, Cal held them to its lowest FG (32.3) and 3PT (20.0) percentages and 3PT makes (4) of the season while outperforming them in all three categories along with its lowest scoring output (60 points).Team national rankings: 48h assist/turnover ratio (1.11), 48th FG% (44.7), 59th rebounding margin (+ 6.4), 65th scoring offense (74.0), 70th blocks per game (4.0). 73rd assists per game (15.4)
  • Cal is averaging 72.8 points per game (75th in the country), the highest average in program history since the 1999-00 season.
  • This season, the Bears have done a great job distributing the ball, while keeping turnovers low. Nationally they rank 48th in asst/to ratio (1.11)  and 41st in fewest turnovers per game (13.7).
  • With her 3-pointer against Stanford, Curry kept her streak of consecutive regular season games with at least one 3-pointer going at 37 games. Her streak is the longest among all active Pac-12 players and is the third longest streak of any Pac-12 player since the 1999-00 season.
Shay Murphy, USC 45 02/18/2005 - 01/05/2007  
Kelsey Plum, Wash     38 01/17/2016 - 02/10/2017
Jayda Curry, Cal    37 11/09/2021 - PRESENT
Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon 34 01/29/2017 - 02/04/2018
Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon 30 02/11/2018 - 02/15/2019
  • Curry ranks second among all sophomores in the Pac-12 in scoring (14.9) and 23rd nationally. She averaged 17.7 points per game for the month of December, 5th in the Pac-12.
  • Lutje Schipholt has been a steady rock for the team so far leading the team in rebounding at 5.9 boards per game and ranking fourth in scoring at 9.9 points per game, which is a career-high. 45 of her 89 rebounds this season have come on the offensive end which ranks 5th in the Pac-12 and 86th nationally. Her 50.1 offensive rebounding percentage ranks 1st in the Pac-12 among the top 20 rebounders.
  • McIntosh has greatly improved three-point accuracy, continuing her year-over-year improvement. She is currently shooting a career-high 47.6 percent from distance, which ranks third in the Pac-12, a significant improvement from last season's 36.2 percent. She is one of only two players in the Pac-12 shooting at least 50 percent from the field and 47 percent from deep. For the month of December she was one of only six players in the nation to shoot 50 percent from the field and from 3-point range (min 1 3PM/game and 220 min played).
  • Martín has been one of the Bears' most consistent players from 3-point range this season shooting at a 41.1 percent rate, ranked 12th in the Pac-12. She has hit at least two 3-pointers in 9 of 15 games and 7 out of the last 12. She is shooting 44 percent from deep over her last eight games.
  • Off The Bench: Both Michelle Onyiah and Jadyn Bush have been key contributors off the bench this season. Onyiah is averaging 9.2 points and 6.2 rebounds over her last six games. In just 8.1 minutes per game, Bush is averaging 5.9 points and 3.2 rebounds.
  • Cal has two players in the top 15 of the Pac-12 in 3-point makes: Curry (5th) - 32, Martín (8th) - 30 and 3-point percentage: McIntosh (3rd) - 47.6, Martín (12th) - 41.1. Martín's percentage ranks 57th nationally among qualified players. The duo of Curry and Martín ranks fourth in the Pac-12 for 3-point makes (62).
  • Cal's offense is coming from multiple sources this season with four Bears averaging at or close to double-figure scoring: Curry - 14.9, Martín - 10.6, McIntosh - 10.6, Lutje Schipholt - 9.9. Last season only Curry averaged double-figures.
  • Peanut Tuitele has been instrumental in helping the Bears control the glass this season, ranking second on the team in rebounding at 5.5 boards per game and has had 23 offensive rebounds so far which ranks in the top 36 in the Pac-12, while having missed two games. She had grabbed at least seven rebounds in three of the past five games played.
  • The Bears' bench has been a solid contributing factor this season accounting for 30.1 percent of the team's scoring to date. Cal's bench has outscored its opponents in all but three games this season. 
     
UP NEXT
The Bears stay on the road to take on No. 8 UCLA on Jan. 15 at noon.

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