In October, the California women’s basketball team was selected by media and Pac-12 coaches to finish 11th in the conference this season. In both polls, the Golden Bears were much closer to being voted 12th than 10th.
Midway through the season, Colorado head coach JR Payne certainly doesn’t view Cal as a bottom of the pack team. The fifth-ranked Buffaloes (13-1, 3-0 Pac-12) are expecting a battle when the Bears (12-3, 2-1) visit Boulder on Friday night.
“They’re night and day different than what they were a year ago,” Payne said. “They’re playing really, really well and they’re healthy. They have all their players back and, yeah, they look really good.”
Fresh off a weekend sweep in Arizona and just head of a stretch of three consecutive games against top-10 ranked teams, the Buffs don’t have the luxury of coasting through Friday’s game.
At home last weekend, Cal knocked off Washington and Washington State, earning its first weekend sweep in conference play in five years. And, the Bears have almost matched their win total for the entire 2022-23 season (13-17).
“(Their confidence) makes them one of most dangerous teams in the league, especially when you think, well, they’re going to come up and say, ‘We have nothing to lose. Letap just go up there and beat them,’” Payne said. “I would think they’d be feeling really good.”
Cal returned two of its top players from last year in senior point guard Leilani McIntosh and senior forward Michelle Onyiah, but overall has a significantly different look this season.
Transfers Ioanna Krimili (San Francisco) and Marta Suarez (Tennessee) lead the Bears in scoring, while McKayla Williams (Gonzaga) has been one of the top rebounders.
Freshmen Lulu Laditan-Twidale (Australia) and UCSB transfer Ila Lane have also made big impacts.
“They are really good,” CU guard Frida Formann said. “They have some European players that play really well and thatap always tough to guard because they just read the game. They just take what the defense gives you.”
With seven players from overseas, including Krimili (Greece) and Suarez (Spain), Cal is playing a different style, too.
“They’re playing a very international style and they have many that can shoot the three,” Payne said. “They’re great in transition. Itap a tough matchup for us for sure.”
CU is coming in with a bunch of confidence, too, though. Arizona has been a historically difficult trip to the Buffs, but they got through it with two wins and have won seven straight overall.
“Yeah, definitely we are locked in,” Payne said. “We recognize how important every single game is, and how important it is to be really focused on a daily basis. We’re pretty intentional talking about that, like, ‘Letap have great focus today. Just today – and then we’ll let tomorrow take care of itself.’ We’re focused.”
That focus is important in the Pac-12, where there are no easy nights – even against a team picked near the bottom of the conference.
“It’ll just take a lot of preparation, a lot of discipline,” Formann said of beating Cal. “But thatap why we love the Pac-12 because all these teams are good and all these teams have something unique that they bring.”
No. 5 CU Buffs women’s basketball vs. California Golden Bears
TIPOFF: Friday, 7 p.m., CU Events Center in Boulder
TV/RADIO: Pac-12 Network/630 AM
RECORDS: Colorado 13-1 (3-0 Pac-12); California 12-3 (2-1)
COACHES: Colorado — JR Payne, 8th season (132-94; 233-207 career). California — Charmin Smith, 5th season (49-68).
KEY PLAYERS: Colorado — G Frida Formann, 5-11, Sr. (13.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.6 spg, .471 FG%, .446 3PT%, .880 FT%); C Quay Miller, 6-3, Sr. (9.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg); G Maddie Nolan, 5-11, Sr. (5.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, .393 3PT%); G Jaylyn Sherrod, 5-7, Sr. (14.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.7 apg, 2.5 spg, .500 FG%); C Aaronette Vonleh, 6-3, Jr. (15.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.9 apg, .630 FG%); G Kindyll Wetta, 5-9, Jr. (6.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.9 apg, .500 FG%). California — G Ioanna Krimili, 6-0, Sr. (16.5 ppg, 2.0 apg, .529 FG%, .474 3PT%); G Kemery Martin, 6-0, Jr. (7.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg); G Leilani McIntosh, 5-5, Sr. (11.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.3 apg, 1.9 spg); F Michelle Onyiah, 6-3, Sr. (7.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg, .523 FG%); F Marta Suarez, 6-3, Jr. (13.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.3 spg); G McKayla Williams, 6-1, Sr. (7.7 ppg. 6.9 rpg, 2.1 apg, .449 FG%, .941 FT%).
NOTES: This is the first of four consecutive home games for the Buffs. … CU is seeking its first 4-0 start to conference play since the 1994-95 team went 14-0 in the Big Eight. … CU is 6-0 at home this season and 18-2 over the past two seasons. … This is the only regular-season matchup between CU and Cal this year. Itap also potentially their last meeting as Pac-12 rivals (unless they match up in the conference tournament), as CU will head to the Big 12 and Cal the ACC next year. … The Buffs lead the all-time series with the Bears, 14-12, including 7-5 in Boulder. … CU swept the two-game set with the Bears last year and has won the past seven meetings against Cal, dating back to an 80-60 loss in Boulder on Jan. 27, 2019. … Cal is off to its best three-game start to conference play since 2014-15 (3-0). … This is the Bears’ first Pac-12 road game of the season. They were 2-19 in Pac-12 road games the previous three seasons.
