The Oregon women’s basketball team will look to rebound from its first loss in over a month when they face No. 23 Cal at noon on Sunday.
Oregon’s seven-game winning streak came to end on Friday when the Ducks fell 96-66 to No. 4 Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif. The Ducks were suffocated by the Cardinal’s swarming defense and were unable to get their offense going.
Even with the nation’s highest scoring offense at 102 points per game, the Ducks will have to find a way to score against a Golden Bears defense that is giving up just 61 points per game.
Chrishae Rowe and Jillian Alleyne are the highest scoring teammates in the Pac-12, averaging a combined 44.2 points per game but might struggle with the depth, height and athleticism that Cal has on defense.
Courtney Range averages 8.8 rebounds and one block per game and might give Alleyne some trouble down low with her long arms in Alleyne’s face. Brittany Boyd, who averages 3.6 steals per game, is expected to be guarding Rowe.
Apart from Rowe and Alleyne, Katelyn Loper averages 15.1 points per game and is one of the top three-point shooters in the nation. She’s hit 40 three-pointers on the season, top on the team. Point guard Ariel Thomas is the catalyst for Oregon, constantly pushing the tempo by finding teammates in transition. She averages 9.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.
Cal is led by Reshanda Gray with a team-high 15.4 points while Boyd and Afure Jemerigbe average 11.8 and 11.0 points per game, respectively. Although Gray leads the team in points, Boyd might be the best all-around player, averaging 6.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game.
Like Oregon, the Golden Bears have an identical 9-3 record but two of those losses have come against UConn and Duke, the first and second ranked teams in the country.
The best way for Oregon to be successful against the Golden Bears is to control the pace of the game, making Cal play at a very fast pace, hopefully forcing the Golden Bears into a lot of turnovers.
If Cal can control the pace by slowing the game down a lot and making Oregon try and beat them in the half court, it’ll be a good day for the Golden Bears.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka