After 21 days of having to pause their season due to COVID-19 tracing, Cal women’s basketball will resume their season on Friday against Utah at 6:00 PM PST on Cal Live Stream and KALX 90.7 FM. Cal comes in at 0-11 overall and 0-8 in the Pac-12 while Utah comes in at 4-10 overall and 3-10 in the Pac-12.

Last time out: In Cal’s last game, they battled hard in a 75-59 loss at Colorado. Cal sophomore guard Leilani McIntosh (14 points & 10 assists) and Cal freshman forward Ugonne Onyiah (13 points & 12 rebounds) notched their first career double-doubles.

RECAP: Cal WBB battles hard in Boulder loss

Cal hitting the reset button: Due to having paused their season for such an extended period of time, it does feel as though this Cal team is hitting the reset button a bit. The hope is that they’ll be able to win a couple of games down the stretch of the season and build some momentum for next season. It’s been a rough season due to all the injuries that have kept Cailyn Crocker, Alma Elsnitz, and Jazlen Green out for the season. Perhaps getting some time to cool off a bit and regroup will do them good.

Cal did receive some good news during the break that freshman guard Mia Mastrov will be joining the team this semester, giving her a chance to get some minutes while also not having any of it count against her future eligibility thanks to special rules implemented by the NCAA for this season.

CalBears.com: Mia Mastrov Joins Cal Women’s Basketball

On Utah: The Utes are led by sophomore guard Brynna Maxwell (13.6 points), who is shooting 38.6% from the field, 35.0% from 3-point range, and 96.8% from the foul line. Around Maxwell is solid group consisting of sophomore guard Kemery Martin (10.9 points), junior guard Dru Gylten (8.0 points), and junior guard/forward Niyah Becker (6.6 points).

The Utes have had a rough season overall, but they have managed to win some league games, which is no small feat in the Pac-12. Their most recent win came at Arizona State by a final score of 65-51. Given how tough it is to get wins in this league, they have to be looking at Cal as a great opportunity to pick up another win.

As a team, the Utes are averaging 63.6 points per game on 39.0% shooting from the field, 32.0% shooting from 3-point range, and 71.8% shooting from the foul line. They’re averaging a -1.1 rebound margin, 11.9 assists, 8.6 steals, 4.1 blocks, and 19.1 turnovers per game. Their opponents are averaging 72.6 points per game on 43.3% shooting from the field, 35.7% shooting from 3-point range, and 72.6% shooting from the foul line.

Keys to the game: For Cal, the first thing they need to do is get some shots to fall early. When you haven’t played for the length of time they have, it’s natural to come out of the gates a bit rusty. If Cal can shake the rust off early and get some shots to fall, that would be huge. Something that they definitely should look to do is work the ball inside to get some easy baskets for Dalayah Daniels, Evelien Lutje Schipholt, Ugonne Onyiah, and others.

Secondly, Cal shouldn’t be afraid to test the waters with Mia Mastrov. The backcourt has been decimated by injuries and they brought Mastrov in to give their backcourt a boost. If Cal can build her confidence early and get her into a flow, that could make a huge difference.

Lastly, Cal needs to take advantage of their size. This Cal team has tremendous talent up front and Utah has not done a great job of controlling the glass. If Cal can win the battle on the glass and get into a nice groove inside, that will go a long ways towards winning this game.

Prediction: I was going to pick Cal to pick up their first win of the season at Utah before the COVID pause hit. So, I find it funny that they’re resuming play against Utah at home. This is certainly a game that they can win and if there’s any team they’d want to play in their first game back, it’d be Utah.

That said, I do think we’ll see at least some signs of rust early from Cal and Utah isn’t that bad of a team. So, I think we’ll see Utah win 64-58.