On Sunday, Cal women’s basketball defeated Vanguard 79-55 in their second of two exhibition games. Senior forward CJ West and junior forward Alaysia Styles each finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds while freshman forward Evelien Lutje Schipholt chipped in 10 points and 9 rebounds for Cal. Senior guard Victoria Chea was the top performer for Vanguard with 20 points.
“Thanks for being here. Just excited to get the ‘W’,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said after the game. “Obviously excited to be able to play a lot of different people and try some different things both offensively and defensively. We have a lot of work to do, but I’m very pleased with the effort and where we are thus far as we get ready to start this season.”
Cal got off to a 6-0 start with 4:56 to go in the 1st quarter as redshirt senior guard Sara Anastasieska had 4 quick points to start the game. Cal would build on that lead to go up 15-5 at the end of the quarter thanks to their solid defense holding Vanguard to 2-15 shooting from the field. West also got going towards the end of the quarter, scoring 4 points of her own. Cal wasn’t shooting particularly well (6-16), but were shooting well enough to have the lead.
With 6:03 to go in the 2nd quarter, Cal was up 24-15 as Schipholt and West each had 6 points. Styles was up to 5 points after knocking down a nice 3-pointer. Cal was still in a comfortable position, though they would have been up by even more had their perimeter shooting been more on point as they were 1-7 from 3-point range.
Coming out of a break, Cal went on a 6-0 run to go up 30-15 with 4:12 to go in the half. A forced 10 second violation caused by a full court press sparked that run. While the offense was a little shaky, Cal raised their level of play on defense, making life difficult on Vanguard. Cal would go on to take a 36-24 lead at the half as Schipholt and West each had 8 points. Chea was doing her thing for Vanguard with 14 points, but clearly needed more support.
With 4:46 to go in the 3rd quarter, Cal was up 41-30, letting Vanguard hang around more than they would have liked. Cal was shooting just 17-46 (37.0%) from the field and 1-10 from 3-point range. Fortunately, Cal’s defense continued to hold down the fort. A big part of Cal’s strong defense was the interior presence of Chen Yue and Schipholt, who were both doing a terrific job on the boards.
“I think that’s just a natural thing I’ve always had,” Schipholt said of her rebounding. “When the ball goes up, I wanna go get it. I used to tell my teammates every missed shot is an assist for me and that’s what I go by.”
With 2:32 to go in the 3rd quarter, Cal had extended their lead 51-35 after some sloppy turnovers from Vanguard. West was up to 10 points after a bucket inside and it was becoming clear that Cal was going to cruise to victory as they should. One important spark plug for Cal was freshman guard Leilani McIntosh, who finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 block. She was doing a little bit of everything and really brought the energy on defense. As a result of McIntosh’s defense and Cal’s collective teamwork, they found themselves up 59-40 at the end of the 3rd quarter.
“We got her in July and oftentimes I’m like oh my goodness, where would we be without this kid,” Smith said of McIntosh. “We’re just really fortunate. I think she really controls things on both ends of the floor. Today you saw a lot of the defensive intensity. She’s a great ball stopper, she’s really active, she can pick up and guard 94 feet and always positive with her head up. I think she’s going to be a great leader for us.
“Didn’t shoot the ball as well as she’s capable of shooting it today. So, I told her to keep shooting the three, keep shooting the three, because you guys are going to see her make a lot of those down the road.”
With 3:58 to go, Cal was up 70-48 as CJ West was up to 15 points and 9 rebounds. It was clear at this point that all remaining stats would just be window dressing on the final score. This game was over. Cal would finish with a 79-55 victory, doing just as they were supposed to do. It was truly an all-around team victory for Cal as they got a little bit of something from everybody. Chen Yue’s 8 points, 10 rebounds, and 1 block are a good example of everyone chipping in where they could.
“I think everyone, we’ve talked about it a lot as a group, everyone has to raise it up a notch,” West said. “Everyone’s in a different position. Everyone has a bigger role and I think my transition from sophomore to junior year was physical and feeling right in my body, and I think jumping to senior year was all mental. So, I’ve had to change my mindset to have a scorer’s mentality, I’ve had to embrace a bigger role. I have to be way more aggressive on offense and defense and I have to kinda fight through fatigue and still be able to communicate to my teammates and also at the same time be a leader. So, it’s a lot of mental changes this year.”
Up next for Cal is the regular season and a trip to the East Coast. They’ll face Harvard on Friday, November 8 at 4:00 PM PST before taking on UConn on Sunday, November 10th at 10:00 AM PST.
“We’re so excited because UConn is a big name, Harvard is a big name,” Schipholt said of the upcoming road trip. “I love playing good players and this is an opportunity for us to prove ourselves and to see where we’re at right now.”
Cal’s first regular season game at Haas Pavilion will be on Sunday, November 17th against UC Riverside at 5:00 PM PST.
Note: Mi’Cole Cayton once again did not play as she continues to recover from her knee injury. She is still out indefinitely.
