Battle of the Bay, Second Skirmish

Our conference season ends on Saturday as it began – with a game against Cal.

What's in it for the winner?

• Bragging rights
• For Stanford, an undefeated conference season, for the first time since 2002
• For Cal, third place in the Pac-10 and possibly an invitation to the Big Dance

Cal is currently #3, with a conference record of 11-6 and just one game left to play. USC is #4 (10-6) and ASU is #5 (9-7). They both have two games left to play – their last game of the season is against each other. So any of these three teams could end up at #3. A victory over Stanford would be HUGE for Cal.

In their first game this season, the Cardinal took care of the Bears fairly easily. Nneka, Kayla and Mel were outstanding.

But the Bears have improved enormously since then – they're not so young and inexperienced any more. The six bear cubs have learned to play effectively as a team, and Alexis Gray-Lawson has stepped up to her position as the senior leader. She has scored at least nineteen points ten times since we last played – 35 against Washington, 39 against Arizona, 47 against Oregon State – and is now the top scorer in the Pac-10. She averages 18.1 points per game, just ahead of Nneka's 18.0.

The Bears' defense has improved too. They're second to Stanford in rebounds per game (41.3) and lead in O-boards (17.25 per game).

And this game is at Haas, and Cal is going all-out to draw a big crowd.

I hope they succeed – were you one of the 10,525 two years ago? It's going to be exciting!