Battle of the Bay at Maples

Up next: Round 1 of the Battle of the Bay on Saturday afternoon at Maples.

The game will not be televised, but it will be video-streamed by Stanford All-Access and broadcast by KZSU. You can find the links in the Prior and Upcoming Games schedule on the FBC home page.

This may be the Cardinal's most challenging battle of the conference season — Cal has taken possession of second place in the Pac-12, so it's No. 1 vs No. 2.

An extra bit of incentive for both teams:

• Stanford's last conference loss was to Cal three years ago when Alexis Grey-Lawson lit up Haas Pavilion with 37 points.


• Stanford's last loss at Maples was to Cal five years ago when the Cardinal weren't able to recover from losing JJ to a torn ACL 45 seconds into the game.

Over the last three years Cal has recruited a collection of talent on a par with any other program in college basketball. The juniors on the current Cal team were part of a top 5 recruiting class. The sophomores were part of a top 15 recruiting class. The freshmen were part of a top 5 recruiting class.

This season Cal has a fresh start under new head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. Her enthusiasm has re-energized the Bears, and they are finally realizing their potential and living up to expectations.

The Bears performed very well in a tough non-conference season. The schedule included four ranked teams — Rutgers, Texas, Virginia and Ohio State. Cal's only losses were to three of those teams by a combined margin of six points!

They stumbled as they began conference play with losses to USC and UCLA in Los Angeles, but they won their next six games.

There are a good many similarities between the Bears and the Cardinal:

• They are the top two rebounding teams in the conference and among the top five in the nation.

  Cal leads the Pac-12 and is second in the nation in rebound margin. They grab 16.1 more rebounds per game than their opponents. Stanford is second in the Pac-12 and fifth in the nation with 13.1.



• They are the top two teams in the conference in outscoring their opponents.

  Stanford is first with a margin of 22.6, and Cal is second with 12.5



• They have deep benches that play a significant role in the team's success.

  Cal has ten players that average more than ten minutes per game and one that averages less. The reserves get 39% of the playing time and account for 32% of the rebounds and 39% of the scoring.

  Stanford also has ten players that average more than ten minutes per game and three active players that average less. Assuming its current starting five, Stanford's reserves get 42% of the playing time and account for 35 % of the rebounds and 28% of the scoring.

  Coach Gottlieb said, "We can go 10 deep on a regular-basis. We can play a style that lends itself to up-tempo or aggressive play and we don't have to worry about foul trouble or fatigue." Tara could say the same.



• They have a rapidly improving freshman point guard.

  Brittany Boyd is scoring more points than Amber, but Amber takes better care of the ball.



• Scoring from beyond the arc is not a significant factor in either team's success.

  Only about 15% of Cal's points come from 3-pointers. They have three players who attempt, on average, more than two 3-pointers per game — Layshia Clarendon, Lindsay Sherbert and Mikayla Lyles. Collectively they've attempted about nine per game and made 34% of them.

  About 22% of Stanford's points come from 3-pointers. Our 3-point shooters (Lindy, Toni, Bonnie and Taylor) have attempted about ten 3-pointers per game and made 30% of them.

There are two areas where Stanford is significantly better than Cal:

• Taking care of the ball.

  Stanford is the only team in the Pac-12 that has more assists than turnovers. Our assist-turnover ratio is 1.42. Cal is sixth in the conference with an assist-turnover ratio of 0.84



• Free throws

  Stanford makes 72.6% of its free throws — the best in the conference. Cal makes 61.4% — the worst in the conference. In their three losses to ranked teams by a total of six points, Cal left 24 points at the line.

The probable starters for Cal are:

• #15, 5'9" freshman guard Brittany Boyd is Cal's new point guard. She averages 4.6 assists per game, but turns the ball over 3.4 times. She averages 8.8 points, 2.2 steals and 3.4 rebounds per game. She has been Cal's top scorer twice this season.


• #23, 5'9" junior guard Layshia Clarendon, who ran the point last season, has now been able to move to shooting guard, her natural position. She leads the team in scoring (10.9 ppg) and is the best 3-point shooter with just over one a game at a rate of 32%. She also averages 4.3 rebounds per game. She has been Cal's top scorer in five games this season and has had one double-double.


• #32, 6'0" sophomore guard Lindsay Sherbert takes about half her shots from beyond the arc and matches Clarendon in production — one per game at a rate of 32%. She averages 5.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.


• #25, 6'2" redshirt sophomore forward Gennifer Brandon, who sat out last season with a stress fracture in her shin, has become Cal's strength in the paint. She averages 11.0 rebounds per game — ninth-best in the nation and second-best in the Pac-12. She is also Cal's third-best scorer with 9.8 points per game. She has been Cal's top rebounder in 13 games, the top scorer in five, and has had seven double-doubles.


• #33, 6'3" junior center Talia Caldwell is Brandon's partner in the paint. She averages 8.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. She has been Cal's top rebounder four times this season, the top scorer five times, and has had two double-doubles.

The Cal reserves are::

• #4, 5'7" junior guard Eliza Pierre now shares the point guard duty with Brittany Boyd. She averages 3.0 assists and 2.4 turnovers per game — about the same ratio as Boyd. She doesn't shoot well, but is a beast on defense in ways that don't show up in the box score. She was named to the All-Pac-10 Defensive Team in her freshman and sophomore seasons.


• #2, 6'0" sophomore guard Afure Jemerigbe averages 5.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.


• #30, 5'8" sophomore guard Mikayla Lyles takes about ¬æ of her shots from beyond the arc and makes 24% of them. She averages 2.4 points per game.


• #5, 6'0" redshirt freshman guard Avigiel Cohen is an import from Israel with great potential. She sat out last season with a torn ACL and is still adjusting to playing college ball. She hasn't played much yet this season — just eight games for an average of 3.4 minutes.


• #21, 6'3" freshman forward Reshanda Gray, who was a McDonald's All-American, is a strong addition to Cal's front court. She is their second-best scorer with 10.2 points and also averages 5.1 rebounds. She has been the leading scorer four times, the leading rebounder once, and has had one double-double.


• #40, 6'2" freshman forward Justine Hartman is the highest-ranked recruit ever signed at Cal. She was a McDonalds's and WBCA All-American. she average 5.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

Cal's win-loss record (15-5 overall, 6-2 conference) places them second in the Pac-12, their RPI (35) places them third, and their strength of schedule (67) places them seventh.

Here are Cal's 2011-12 statistics and their roster.