On Sunday, Cal women’s basketball defeated UC Riverside 84-61 in their home opener, improving to 1-2 on the season while UC Riverside falls to 1-4. Freshman guard Leilani McIntosh (15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals) and senior guard Sara Anastasieska (17 points) led the way for Cal while Jannon Otto (24 points) was the top performer for UC Riverside.
“Thank you, it’s good to get the first win,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said after her first career win as a head coach. “What I told the team in the locker room is that I’m just really excited and happy that this first season for me as a head coach is with this group because they really couldn’t be a better group of people and it just feels good every day and I don’t know, I’m just really grateful that I get to share this experience with them.”
“I think both the coaches, all the staff, and the players really helped me get back to where I am,” Anastasieska said after dealing with so much injury and setbacks. “They push me every day to be better. In games I’m given opportunities and great passes from my teammates to make shots and I think it just feels really good that we get wins as a team and I think our chemistry as a team is very good and I think that’s what made it easier to come back quicker.”
This game was tight early on as Cal led 12-10 with 4:12 to go in the 1st quarter. McIntosh and Anastasieska each had 5 points while Alaysia Styles had two points, knocking down a corner jumper that she had been working on in pre-game.
Cal would extend their lead to five points (19-14) at the end of the quarter as McIntosh was up to 8 points on 3-5 shooting from the field and 2-4 shooting from 3-point range. UC Riverside was doing a good job on the boards, possessing a 12-9 edge overall while collecting 7 offensive rebounds.
With 6:31 to go in the 2nd quarter, Smith called for time as Cal had 0 field goals in the last 2:32. Cal was shooting 9-22 (40.9%) from the field while UC Riverside was shooting 7-22 (31.8%). Cal held a 25-19 lead, but they were not playing their best brand of basketball.
Cal’s sloppy play continued down the stretch as they would go into halftime tied 36-36. Anastasieska (10 points) and McIntosh (8 points) were doing their part to pace Cal while Otto was up to 14 points for UC Riverside. Cal was getting beat on the boards 20-19 in the first half, allowing UC Riverside to have their way inside. If Cal was to win this game, they were going to have to do a much better job controlling the paint.
Cal got off to a good start in the 3rd quarter, leading 46-37 with 5:01 to go in the quarter. McIntosh picked up her 4th steal of the game to go along with her 10 points. Her defense was making a real difference and as a whole, Cal was playing with a lot more energy and focus.
“Yeah, I thought we were very sloppy in the first half and we had really poor shot selection,” Smith said. “I articulated that in the locker room at halftime and I think the group agreed that we weren’t playing up to our potential and they wanted to make a statement in the second half and show who we are as a team and I think we did a really good job of that for the last 20 minutes.”
As a result of Cal’s strong start to the second half, Cal led 57-45 at the end of the 3rd quarter, outscoring UC Riverside 21-9. Cal was shot 7-13 from the field in the quarter while UC Riverside was shot 3-21. CJ West was up to 12 points and 8 rebounds, putting together a nice performance.
The 4th quarter continued to go Cal’s way as they were up 77-54 with 3:19 to go. Anastasieska was up to 17 points while McIntosh was continuing to round out her stat line with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals.
“With my size, it’s kinda like it’s harder for me to play defense, but I kinda use my quickness as a strength and I really brought that into my game and tired of being doubted on the floor because of my height and everyone thinking that they can just post me up,” McIntosh said. “So, I feel like the more I am aggressive on defense and pressuring the ball, the more steals I’ll get and the more offensive chances we’ll have on offense.”
In the end, Cal walked out with an 84-61 victory as Sierra Richey knocked down a 3-pointer for good measure. After a sketchy first half, Cal found a way to dominate the second half and cruise to victory just like their men’s basketball counterparts. They found a way to win the battle on the boards 45-37 and get to the line much more frequently, shooting 19-21 (90.5%) for the game.
“I think we have a mindset where whoever’s doors we walk into, we play them the same,” Anastasieska said. “We think they’re the same, but obviously UConn is a very good team and I think that we did play very well against them, but like Charmin and we feel, it wasn’t our best game. So, I think we have a lot more to show and I think that Riverside was a really good team, they matched us in the first half, and then we went in and talked about things we need to improve on and we did that and then we came out with the win.
“Every day after, like at the end of practice, we shoot ten free throws in a row and everyone has to make it in like a four minute interval and then if whoever doesn’t make it, everyone stays back and shoots those ten in a row, so I think that’s what’s given us the ability to make so many free throws and want to get to the line, because we want to shoot the free throws that we can make.”
Up next for Cal is a road game at San Diego State. That game will tipoff on Thursday, November 21st at 6:30 PM PST.
Note: Freshman Jazlen Green made her Cal debut after being in concussion protocol. She finished with 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist. Mi’Cole Cayton once again was inactive and is still out indefinitely. Also, Leilani McIntosh picked up a steal in the first half that wasn’t counted in the official stat line. That’s why she was credited with 5 steals in our recap and not 4.
