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After a tough loss to Stanford, Oregon State will look to get to their winning ways at Gill Coliseum against our other Bay Area rivals, the Cal Golden Bears. Tip-off is at 1:00 PST, and you can watch the game on the PAC-12 Network, or listen on Oregon State All Access. Let’s take a look at the Bears
California (#25 in AP Poll, 15-7 overall, 6-5 conference)
Cal started their year off strong, but has stumbled in conference play. While the team was able to put together a good string of wins early in their non-conference schedule, they have yet to get a good win against a ranked team, which has hurt them in a tough PAC-12 conference.
The Golden Bears are coming off a couple of tough losses. The team lost at home against Arizona State last weekend, and had to start their road trip this weekend in Eugene against Sabrina Ionescu and the Ducks. That’s a tough test for most teams, and the Bears did not rise to the challenge, suffering a blowout loss by almost 40 points.
Still, this is not a team to sleep on, and they’ve got a lot of talent. Junior Forward Kristine Anigwe is a top 5 scorer in the conference, averaging 16.9 points per game. She is also one of the PAC-12’s best rebounders, with 9 per game. Guard Asha Thomas will the other top scorer for the Beavers to watch out for, with 11 points per game.
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Prediction
Cal’s a tough team, but hasn’t been able to succeed yet against top competition. I don’t think that will end here. The Golden Bears don’t particularly match up well with the Beavers; they don’t defend the three well, which should open up opportunities for Kat Tudor. They’re also not adept at generating turnovers, second to last in the conference in steals and turnover margin (ahead of only the Beavers), which have been the bane of Oregon State so far this season.
While Stanford succeeded in shutting down the Beavers offensive options and exploiting their mistakes, I don’t think Cal is poised to copy that. I predict a closely fought victory for the Beavers, and another disappointing result for the Golden Bears.