Cardinal wins an epic battle

Stanford 62, Cal 53. But the game could have gone either way right up to the last few minutes.

Cal had the edge all through the first half. They held a 1-6 point lead until two minutes before the break when Toni tied the score with a layup (assist Chiney).Then Layshia Clarendon made two free throws, Jos scored a layup on a fast break (assist Taylor) — fifth tie of the game. Cal finished the first half with a fine flourish in the last three seconds as Brittany Boyd stole the ball and flipped it to Layshia Clarendon, who flipped it back to Boyd, who dashed the length of the court and made a layup.

Whew! Cal fans were exuberant. Everyone was exhausted.

The second half was even closer, with Cal playing catch-up to a 1-3 point Cardinal lead. With almost nine minutes left to play, the score was tied for the 13th (and last) time. Then Chiney began what turned out to be an 11-1 run with a steal and a layup. Cardinal fans didn't breath easily until Chiney increased the Cardinal lead to 10 with about three minutes left to play.

Much about the game was as expected:

• The Bears' defense was awesome. They out-rebounded the Cardinal 45-31, with 21-5 O-boards
• The game was very competitive and there were a lot of fouls called (fairly for the most part, I think) — 18 by the Cardinal, 16 by the Bears.
• The Bears made just 62% of their 21 free throws. Unexpected and disappointing: The Cardinal made just 56% of their 18 attempts.
• Neither team found success outside the paint. The Bears made a miserable two of 21 3-point attempts. The Cardinal was even worse — zero of eight.

In the end, the Cardinal's superior offense triumphed over the Bears' superior defense. The Cardinal made 51% of their shots, the Bears made 30.2%. Not counting the deplorable 3-point attempts by both teams, it was 60.5% - 40.5%.

The Cardinal needed every bit of effort from everyone on the team to win this battle, but these had the most impact.

Amber played the full 40 minutes, and was unrelenting on both offense and defense. She, the shortest player on the court tonight, grabbed eight rebounds — just one less than Cal's game-high. She scored 15 points — three on free throws and the rest on six of ten layups and jumpers. It's a delight to see her soar above the taller players at both ends of the court.

Chiney played for 39 minutes and 38 seconds. She found the basket on 11 of 16 attempts (that's 69%!), many of them seemingly "impossible" shots and scored the game-high 26 points. She also had six rebounds, an assist, three blocks and three steals.

Jos contributed to the victory in many ways, as always. She tallied eight points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.

She had the "Assist of the Game": On an inbound from the sideline almost halfway down the court with two seconds on the shot clock, she banked the ball off the backboard right into Chiney's hands. Awesome!

Toni returned to action and, although she looked tired at times (well, who wouldn't!), played for 38 minutes. She contributed valuable floor leadership, seven points, two assists, three rebounds and a steal.

Mikaela, Bonnie and Taylor were all needed to hold off the strong Bears.

Mikaela had five points, five rebounds and a block.

Bonnie didn't score, but had a rebound, an assist and a block.

Taylor scored one point on a free throw and had one rebound, an assist and a steal.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• No. 5 Stanford Tops No. 7 Cal, 62-53 by the Associated Press
• Stanford toughs out win over Cal by Michelle Smith (espnW)
• Stanford women defeat Cal 62-53 by Elliott Almond (Mercury News), includes a photo gallery
• Stanford women prevail at Cal by John Crumpacker (San Francisco Chronicle), includes a photo gallery
• Ogwumike, Stanford avoid hoops upset by Palo Alto Online
• No. 5 Stanford women beat No. 7 Cal despite getting clobbered on the boards by Jake Curtis
• WBB: Stanford 62 kal 53 from the CARDboard
• Three reasons that Stanford won Game One of the Battle of the Bay by Nate Parham (Swish Appeal)

The box score and play-by-play,

And photos by Ben Margot (Associated Press):

Chiney is out-numbered, but not out-played

Amber drives to the basket

Jos blocks a shot

Chiney avoids a steal

Toni wins this battle

Victory is so sweet!

Battle of the Bay begins tonight

Bay Area sports writers anticipate what one of them thinks, "has to be the biggest Cal/Stanford women's basketball game in the history of the rivalry":

• The Battle Of The Bay: Cal vs. Stanford, Round One by norcalnick (California Golden Blogs)
• Stanford women's Pac-12 streak at stake against Cal by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
• Cal, Stanford women play twice this week by John Crumpacker (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Cal women's basketball team looks to keep historic season going against rival Stanford by Paul Gackle (SF Examiner)

And Nate Parham (Swish Appeal) analyzes the two contenders:

• 2013 Pac-12 women's basketball preview: California Golden Bears
• 2013 Pac-12 women's basketball preview: Stanford Cardinal

Next up: A double dose of Bears

Due to an unusual bit of scheduling, Stanford returns to the Bay Area to play Cal at Haas Pavilion on Tuesday evening at 7:00 (yes, that's tomorrow, Jan 8) and at Maples on Sunday afternoon at 1:00.

Both games will be televised — the away game by the Pac-12 Networks and the home game by ESPN2 — and both will be broadcast by KZSU.

These games will almost certainly be very competitive and very exciting. Under the guidance of second-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb and sixth-year associate head coach Charmin Smith, the Bears have matured into an excellent team. This is their best chance in many years to topple the Cardinal from the top of the conference rankings. The outcome of this week's games may well determine the Pac-12 regular season championship.

Cal is ranked No. 7 in the national polls. They've lost just one game — on the road to then-No. 4 Duke. Both Bay Area teams began the conference season with victories over the Rocky Mountain teams, but Cal's winning margins were somewhat slimmer than Stanford's.

Cal is a strong defensive team that, on average, gets 13.2 more rebounds than its opponents — the fourth-best rebound margin in the nation. They have a very well-balanced offense. Six of the Bears average between 9.8 and 13.6 points per game. Most of their scoring is in the paint. As a team, they average only four three-pointers per game — 238th in the nation. (That's just a bit less than the Cardinal, whose average is 4.5.)

The Bears are poor free-throwers. They're sent to the free throw line about 18 times per game, but make only 62% of their shots.

The Bears' starting five for every game this season have been:

• #23, 5'9" senior guard Layshia Clarendon is a shooting guard and one of Cal's three top scorers with an average of 13.0 points per game. She's Cal's most productive three-point shooter. She takes about 32% of her shots from beyond the arc and makes 36% of them. She also averages 2.6 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game.


• #15, 5'9" sophomore guard Brittany Boyd, who runs the point for Cal, has matured into a dependable as well as a productive member of the team. Her ball handling has improved greatly since her freshman year — she's averaging almost five assists per game and her A/TO ratio is now 1.5. She's one of Cal's three top scorers with 13.6 points per game. She also averages 3.8 rebounds and 2.9 steals per game.


• #25, 6'2" redshirt junior forward Gennifer Brandon is a rebounding machine with an average of 10.3 per game. She's also one of Cal's three top scorers with 12.4 points per game and blocks the most shots — not quite one per game.


• #33, 6'3" senior center Talia Caldwell is Cal's fourth almost-double-digit scorer with 9.8 points per game. She makes 65.9% of her field goal attempts. She's also Cal's second-best rebounder with 6.5 per game.


• #2, 6'0" junior guard Afure Jemerigbe averages 7.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. She's the only other Bear besides Clarendon who takes many long shots. 44% of her attempts are from beyond the arc, and she makes 33% of them.

The Bears have just five other active players on their roster:

• #4 5'7" senior guard Eliza Pierre plays for about 22 minutes per game. She's a tenacious defender in ways that aren't fully reflected in the stats, where she tallies 3.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. She's Cal's backup point guard. Her energy sometimes hampers her ball-handling. On offense, she scores 2.5 points and 2.3 assists per game, but almost as many turnovers.


• #21, 6'3" sophomore forward Reshanda Gray is developing into a key member of Cal's strong front court. She comes off the bench for about 20 minutes per game and averages 9.8 points and 5.2 rebounds.


• #40, 6'2" sophomore forward Justine Hartman, the highest-ranked recruit ever signed at Cal, hasn't yet achieved her potential in the college game. Her playing time as a freshman was limited because of knee problems, and she's played only about eleven minutes per game so far this season. She averages 3.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.


• #30, 5'8" junior guard Mikayla Lyles plays about 11 minutes per game. She averages 2.3 points and 1.5 rebounds.


• #5, 6'0" junior guard Avigiel Cohen has played in only half of Cal's games this season for about six minutes per game. Her only scoring has been one three-pointer.

Cal's win-loss record (12-1 overall, 2-0 conference), their RPI (4) and their strength of schedule rank (5) all place them 2nd in the Pac-12.

Here are Cal's 2012-13 statistics and roster.

Cardinal contains the Utes

The Utes kept it close for 30 minutes, but the Cardinal finally pulled ahead to a double-digit lead and a 70-56 victory.

Good Cardinal defense slowed down the Utes' usual big scorers, Michelle Plouffe and Taryn Wicijowski, and good Utes defense slowed down Chiney, but other players stepped up for both teams.

Sara leads the way

Sara was terrific today. She played for 31 minutes, scored 18 points and dished out four assists — all personal bests. Her scoring included three of five from beyond the arc. She also contributed two steals and two rebounds to the Cardinal's strong defense.

Amber had another great game. She scored 16 points and was unrelenting on defense, with six rebounds, a steal and much more that doesn't show up in the stats.

Chiney's streak of double-doubles was snapped today, but she was still the Cardinal's top scorer with 20 points. She also tallied six rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals!

Jos was strong on offense — 12 points, including two of four three-pointers, and four assists — and on defense — six rebounds, two blocks and three steals.

Jasmine had another good game, as she did in Boulder. Although she tallied just two points, she did a fine job of leading the offense at the point for 13 minutes and was a pesky defender.

Toni did not play today. She may have suffered a slight injury in the Colorado game. Today's AP report says, "... she was held out as a precaution." She has no evident injury and was well enough to lead the Cardinal high fives.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• No. 4 Stanford Takes Down Utah, 70-56 by Lynn DeBruin (Associated Press)
• Stanford beats Utah, 70-56 by Lya Wodraska (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Utes suffer loss to No. 4 Stanford by Sarah Thomas (Deseret News)
• Unsettling the Utes by Wally Mersereau, FBC traveller

The box score and play-by-play,

A gallery of photos by Dave Cortesi,

And photos by Rick Bowmer (Associated Press):

Amber takes it to the basket

Chiney puts up a contested shot

Amber reaches for a rebound

Chiney drives around the defense

Sara puts it into high gear

Chiney is so fouled

CU Buffaloed

... by the Cardinal's smothering defense, which led to a 57-40 Cardinal victory.

The almost-6,000 fans at Coors Event Center stood for four minutes before the Buffs made their first basket, then sat for six more minutes before the next one.

The Buffs came back after the break with their own good defense and held the Cardinal to a tie in the second half, but weren't able climb out of the first half hole.

Chiney led all scorers with 20 points and added eleven rebounds for her tenth consecutive double-double. She also had three blocks and a steal (which she took to a fast break layup).

Jos seems to get extra energy from Rocky Mountain air. She began the Cardinal domination with a three-pointer off the first possession and ended it with a layup on the last possession. She scored 13 points in all and was especially effective on defense — six rebounds, three blocks, several almost-blocks that were deemed held balls and a steal.

Amber was strong on both offense and defense. She scored 13 points, including three critical jumpers after the Buffs had begun to narrow the lead in the last five minutes of the game. She also had six assists with just two turnovers, five rebounds and two steals.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• No. 4/3 Stanford Hands No. 20/25 Colorado First Loss by Pat Graham (Associated Press)
• No. 20 Buffs Start Slow, Fall To No. 4 Cardinal by B.G. Brooks (CU Buffs)
• No. 20 CU Buffs fall to No. 4 Stanford by Brian Howell (Boulder Daily Camera)
• Stanford women crush No. 20 Colorado to extend conference win streak to 79 by Jake Curtis
• Rounding up the Buffaloes by Wally Mersereau, FBC traveller

The box score and play-by-play,

A game highlights video from CU Buffs,

A gallery of photos by Jeremy Papasso (Daily Camera),

A gallery of photos by Dave Cortesi (who doesn't want to post it to FBC Fan Pix with no other input),

And photos by David Zalubowski (Associated Press):

Amber speeds past the defense

Chiney puts up a shot

Super-block by Chiney & Jos

Jos tries to save an out-of-bounds

Go for it, Bonnie!

Hang on, Mikaela!

Next up: A trip to the Rockies

The Cardinal begins the conference season with a trip to the Rockies to play Colorado on Friday evening and Utah on Sunday afternoon.

The Colorado game will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks and the Utah game will be streamed live by the Pac-12 Networks. Both games will be broadcast by KZSU.

Jos soared high in Boulder last season

  Colorado Buffs

The Buffs are riding high in their second season in the Pac-12. They begin conference play as one of just four three undefeated Division I teams in the nation. They've moved up to No. 20/25 in the national polls, and Charlie Creme has them as a #7 seed in his latest bracket.

However, the Buffs may find conference play to be more of a challenge. Although one of their wins was against then-No. 8 Louisville, the rest of their schedule has been quite weak. Collegiate Basketball News ranks their schedule strength at 175, barely into the top half of all Division I teams. Eight of their eleven non-conference games were played at home in front of an average of 2500 devoted Buff fans.

They'll need all their skill to avoid what happened last year, when they also began conference play undefeated, but ended at 10th in the Pac-12.

That said, they're a better team than they were last year. Head coach Linda Lappe says, “A lot of different players are stepping up and making plays. We have a lot of versatility. Last year, we were one-dimensional for a lot of the season. We didn’t have the depth we have this year.”

They still rely heavily on senior guard Chucky Jeffery, but she's getting lots of help from redshirt freshman forward Arielle Roberson and much-improved sophomore forward Jen Reese. All three of them score in double digits.

The Buffs probable starters are:

• #23, 5'10" senior guard Chucky Jeffery is still the Buffs' star player — a dynamic point guard who leads the team in rebounds (8.2 rpg), steals (2.6 spg) and assists (4.7 apg). She's shooting a bit better than last year (42%), but not as much, and is now the second-best scorer with 12.2 ppg. She has greatly improved her ball-handling over last season when she had more turnovers than assists. Her current A/TO ratio is 1.6 — close to twice as many assists as turnovers.


• #32, 6'1" redshirt freshman forward Arielle Roberson sat out last season with a hip injury. She learned a lot as she watched from the bench, and is having a stellar freshman season. She's the Buff's top scorer (15.7 ppg) and second-best rebounder (6.1 rpg)


• #11, 4'7" junior guard Brittany Wilson is averaging 9.5 points and 2.6 assists per game. She takes almost half her shots from beyond the arc and makes 36% of them.


• #40, 6'4" junior center Rachel Hargis is averaging 6.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.


• #1, 5'11"sophomore guard Lexy Kresl came off the bench as the Buffs' 3-point specialist for the first seven games of the season, but is now in the starting lineup.She takes 73% of her shots from beyond the arc and makes 31% of them. She's averaging 6.3 points per game.

The Buffs' most productive reserve is sophomore forward Jen Reese, who plays 20 minutes per game and is the Buffs' third-best scorer (10.5 ppg) and rebounder (5.9 rpg).

Injury has hit the Buffs, but not too severely. Junior guard Brenna Malcolm-Peck missed most of last season due to chronic knee trouble and has not played yet this season. Freshman guard Lauren Huggins has missed the last six games due to a stress fracture in her leg, but is expected to return soon. Junior guard Ashley Wilson (Brittany's twin sister) had arthroscopic knee surgery late in November. She returned for the Buffs' most recent game on December 29 and played limited minutes. Sophomore guard Jasmine Sborov was in the starting lineup, then missed several games while what turned out to be a mild heart condition was being diagnosed. She returned for the Buffs' most recent game on December 29 and played limited minutes as a reserve.

Colorado's win-loss record (11-0) places it 1st in the Pac-12, its RPI (20) places it 4th, and its strength of schedule rank (175) places it 9th.

Here are Colorado's 2012-13 statistics and roster.

  Utah Utes

The Utes have had a good, although not too demanding, non-conference season. They've played eight of 11 games at home in Salt Lake City, where they suffered their only two losses.

They begin the conference season in the top tier of the Pac-12, tied for fourth with UCLA, but Collegiate Basketball News ranks their schedule strength at a very weak 301.

The Utes are a mature team. They've returned four of the five starters from the squad that advanced to the WNIT last season. They've lost just one key player, graduated point guard Janita Badon.

The Utes pound the ball inside to junior forwards Michelle Plouffe and Taryn Wicijowski, who do most of the scoring and rebounding.

The probable starters for the Utes are:

• #11, 6'3" redshirt junior forward Taryn Wicijowski leads the Utes in scoring (16.8 ppg) and rebounding (8/0 rpg). She also blocks 1.2 shots per game.


• #15, 6'4" junior forward Michelle Plouffe was a reserve on the Canadian Olympic team last summer. She's a close second to Wicijowski in scoring (16.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.6 rpg). She scores from the outside as well as in the paint. She takes about ⅓ of her shots from beyond the arc and makes 37% of them. She also averages 2.9 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.


• #3, 5'9" redshirt senior guard Iwalani Rodrigues suffered from a shoulder injury all last season and hasn't yet regained the great promise she showed as a sophomore when she set records for 3-point shooting. She is, however, the Utes' third-best scorer (11.5 ppg) and rebounder (5.3 rpg).


• #13, 5'9" senior guard Rachel Messer is a dependable combo guard who averages 4.8 points, 1.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game.


• #22, 5'10" freshman guard Danielle Rodriguez plays the point for the Utes. She takes good care of the ball. Her A/TO ratio is a very good 2.9. She average 4.1 points, 2.9 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game.

The Utes have a deep bench — seven healthy reserves who account for about 20% of the scoring and 22% of the rebounding.

Utah's win-loss record (9-2) places it 4th (tie) in the Pac-12, its RPI (132) places it 9th, and its strength of schedule rank (301) places it 12th.

Here are Utah's 2012-13 statistics and roster.

New Year Bracketology

Charlie Creme (espnW) has updated his bracket based on the results of the non-conference season. This is what he has to say about the four Pac-12 teams in his current top-64:

1 Stanford: Despite Saturday's result against UConn, the Cardinal remain one of the four best teams in the country. Saturday did illustrate, however, that Stanford needs to make jump shots to compete with the best and that it can, at times, be too reliant on Chiney Ogwumike.

2 California: The win over Kansas just before Christmas showed just how good the Bears can be on offense. This is the rare team that has four legitimate threats. Cal will compete for a No. 2 seed all season.

6 UCLA: The Bruins have played one of the country's toughest schedules, but the loss to Cal State Northridge was not part of it.

7 Colorado: The Buffs are 11-0 in nonconference games for the second straight year, but this time around wins over Louisville and San Diego State are included in the hot start. Stanford and Cal visit Boulder to kick off Pac-12 play.

Click here for his bracket.