On Sunday at 2:00 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks, Cal women’s basketball will take on the Washington Huskies. Cal comes in at 11-5 overall and 2-3 in the Pac-12 while Washington comes in at 8-10 overall and 1-5 in the Pac-12.

Last time out: On Friday, Cal defeated Washington State 77-63 in the annual “School Haas Rock” game. Kristine Anigwe had a monster game for Cal with 29 points and 23 rebounds while Borislava Hristova was the top performer for Washington State with 21 points and 3 rebounds.

RECAP: Cal gets back on track with win over Washington State

On Washington: The Huskies are led by junior guard Amber Melgoza, who is averaging 18.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game on 39.9% shooting from the field, 22.7% shooting from 3-point range, and 85.4% shooting from the foul line. The number two option on this Huskies team is sophomore guard Missy Peterson, who is averaging 9.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. No one else is averaging more than 7 points, putting a lot of pressure on Melgoza to carry the scoring load every night.

The Huskies average 67.1 points per game on 40.2% shooting from the field, 28.6% shooting from 3-point range, and 74.5% shooting from the foul line. Their opponents average 69.6 points per game on 42.8% shooting from the field and 33.4% shooting from 3-point range. The Huskies also average a +1.6 rebounding differential per game.

Keys to the game: If Cal wants to win this game, the first thing they need to do is do a good job defending Amber Melgoza and not let allow her to get easy looks at the basket. If she scores 18 points or fewer, Cal should be able to win this game with little trouble. If she scores 25 points or more, this game could get interesting.

The real key is to keep Melgoza away from the foul line, where she gets 25% of her points. Her shooting percentages from the field aren’t that great, but she makes up for it with a really good free throw percentage. If Cal keeps her away from the line and forces her to get her points from the field, it will be really hard for her to score above her average.

The second key for Cal is to get Kristine Anigwe going inside. The only legit post defender Washington has is 6’4” freshman Darcy Rees, who averages close to 1 block per game to go along with 5.5 points and 3.7 rebounds. I’m not sure Washington has an answer for Anigwe inside, which means Cal should take advantage all night long.

Lastly, Cal needs to take care of the ball. Cal averages 14.25 turnovers per game while their opponents average 11.7 turnovers per game, giving their opponents close to 3 additional possessions per game. Cal’s carelessness with the ball often keeps games closer than they should be. If Cal can take better care of the ball in this game and not give Washington free possessions, they should win with little difficulty.