Going for 18

The Pac-10 season ends as it started for the Cardinal – with a game against its Bay Area rival, the California Golden Bears. A victory will give the Cardinal its second consecutive perfect 18-0 conference season.

The game is on Thursday at 8:00 pm (time changed) at Maples. It will be televised by FSN/CSNBA (with Ann Meyers Drysdale & RosGO providing analysis) and broadcast by KZSU.

Plan to stay after the game for a special presentation honoring our five seniors Ashley, Hannah, Jeanette, Kayla and Mel.

If you haven't already bought your tickets for rounds 1 & 2 of the NCAA Tournament, stop by the ticket window for a bargain – upper reserved all-session tickets (three games) for just $25.

The Bears, who will finish 6th in the Pac-10, have had a frustrating up-and-down season:

• They lack depth. Sophomore Tierra Rogers has a career-ending congenital heart condition; sophomore forward Gennifer Brandon has a season-ending stress fracture of the shin; freshman guard Avigiel Cohen had season-ending ACL surgery. That leaves nine players, with just three in the front court.


• They lack maturity and leadership. Of the nine active players, seven are freshmen or sophomores. The two seniors come off the bench. No one has succeeded in replacing Alexis Grey-Lawson as the team leader.


• They lack a true point guard. Sophomore combo guard Layshia Clarendon has not developed into an effective floor leader or ball handler.

Sometimes all the pieces fit together, and Cal won games they were expected to lose. And sometimes it all fell apart, and they lost games they should have won. Sixth-year coach Joanne Boyle says that the most consistent thing about this team has been their inconsistency.

Which Cal team will show up at Maples on Thursday?

• The team that led ASU all the way by as much as 11 points, then lost in the last two minutes ... that was swept by both Washington and Washington State.


• The team that shot with confidence and sank nine three-pointers to defeat USC ... that snapped a six-game losing streak last week with career-high points, rebounds and minutes from senior guard Rachelle Federico, career-high points from freshman guard Mikayla Lyles, and career-high rebounds and her first double-double of the season from Layshia Clarendon.

I hope it's the latter — that the Bears come to Maples believing that they can win — that they give the Cardinal a good competitive game, as a Stanford/Cal game should be.