It's time to Beat Cal!

The Cardinal begins (and will end) the 2010-11 conference season with games against the Golden Bears

Cal is one of the youngest teams in the country with nine freshmen and sophomores. The sophomores who led the Bears to the WNIT championship last season are now this team’s leaders.

They've had a fairly good non-conference season, but have played only unranked teams. This is how the Cardinal and the Bears match up statistically.

	Stanford	Cal
Points per game	77.5	68.9
Scoring margin	+17.5	+11.5
Field goal %	.477	.424
3-pointers per game	6.6	4.5
3-point %	.380	.320
Free throw %	.751	.646
Rebounds per game	43.0	45.8
Rebounding margin	+8.4	+12.4
Assists per game	16.8	14.3
Turnovers per game	14.3	18.7
Assist/turnover ratio	1.18	0.76
Steals per game	6.7	9.5
Blocks per game	4.1	2.9
Win-loss record	9-2	8-3
RPI	6	47
Schedule strength rank	4	80

Cal's win-loss record (8-3) places them 6th in the Pac-10, their RPI (47) places them 6th, and their strength of schedule (80) places them 6th.

Two of Cal's young players have had serious injuries. Highly-touted freshman guard Avigiel Cohen had a second ACL surgery in September and is out for the season. Sophomore forward Gennifer Brandon, who was Cal's leading rebounder, suffered from a stress reaction in her shin last season and all summer and has not played yet this season. There is no timetable for her return — rumor has it that she will redshirt.

The remaining nine players all get significant minutes. No one plays more than about 30 minutes per game. The probable starters are:

• #4, 5'7" sophomore guard Eliza Pierre plays the point and is Cal's defensive specialist. She averages 7.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 steals per game (best in the Pac-10 and #2 in the nation). Her assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.38
• #23, 5'9"' sophomore guard Layshia Clarendon also plays the point. She averages 13.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.1 three-pointers per game. Her assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.14
• #32, 6'0" freshman guard Lindsay Sherbert earned McDonald's, WBCA, and Parade Magazine All-American honors as a high school senior. She is a versatile guard who can play the two through four. She averages 8.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 three-pointers per game.
• #11, 6'3"' sophomore forward/center DeNesha Stallworth was on the Pac-10 All-Freshman team last season, an All-Pac-10 honorable mention and a member of the WNIT Tournament All-Tournament team. She leads the team in points (16.7, up from 12.9 last season) and has the second-most rebounds (7.2). She is one of the best front court players in the Pac-10 with five double-doubles in 11 games. She’s had four games of more than 20 points. Her field goal percentage is 58.9, the 10th best in the nation.
• #33, 6'3" sophomore center Talia Caldwell is the leading rebounder (9.3, up from 5.9 last season) and averages 11.0 points per game.

The reserves are:

• #2, 6'0" freshman guard Afure Jemerigbe earned McDonald's, WBCA, and Parade Magazine All-American honors as a high school senior. She is, "a slasher who finds her own path to the rim." She averages 5.6 points and 2.9 rebounds pergame.
• #30, 5'8" freshmen guard Mikayla Lyles is an outside shooter who averages 2.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. She was named the second best shooter of the summer from the 2010 class by ESPN Hoopgurlz.
• #22, 6'5" redshirt senior center Rama N'diaye is getting back into the game after two years of knee problems. Coach Boyle says that she is rebounding well and playing pretty good defense.
• #3, 5'11" senior guard Rachelle Federico, although she gets the least playing time, is a leader of the young team

Here are Cal's 2010-11 statistics and their roster.