On Sunday, November 6, at 2:00 PM, Cal women’s basketball will take the court in their exhibition game against Westmont. This will be the first time Cal fans will get a chance to see the Golden Bears in action before the regular season starts on Friday at Saint Mary’s. With that in mind, here are some things to look for in Sunday’s exhibition.
1. The newcomers: Cal has added three quality freshmen in forward Celeste “CJ” West, forward Jaelyn Brown, and point guard Mi’Cole Cayton. Both West and Brown should prove to be quality additions to the frontcourt while Cayton should prove to be a quality replacement in the backcourt for Gabby Green, who transferred to LMU. It will be interesting to see what these new faces bring to the table and how they blend in with a Cal team that didn’t have a single senior on the roster last season.
2. How will Kristine Anigwe play with Mi’Cole Cayton at point? With a year under her belt, Kristine Anigwe is poised to truly emerge as one of the top players in women’s college basketball. Much like Ivan Rabb, she is expected to be the go-to player on a Cal team with NCAA tournament aspirations. Even though it’s an exhibition, it will be important to see how she plays alongside freshman point guard Mi’Cole Cayton, who has the important responsibility of getting the ball to Anigwe down low along with sophomore point guard Asha Thomas.
3. Chen Yue is back: After missing the end of last season due to a foot injury, Chen Yue is back in the lineup and ready to make an impact on this Cal team. It’ll be important to see how much she plays and how well she plays in her first game back. Cal really needs as much frontcourt depth as possible and Chen Yue staying healthy is critical to making that happen.
4. The rotation: With a lineup that is fully healthy, it will be important to see what rotation and starting lineup Lindsay Gottlieb rolls with. Last season, the bench rotation got pretty depleted and so Gottlieb was pretty much forced into her rotation. But now, she’s got some options and will get a chance to mix and match with her backcourt and frontcourt. It should be fun to see what combinations Gottlieb comes up with.
5. Scoring balance: Cal has a lot of options in terms of scoring. They can go down low to Kristine Anigwe, Jaeyln Brown, and CJ West or they can pop some threes on the perimeter with Courtney Range, Asha Thomas, and Mikayla Cowling. It will be interesting to see what the scoring distribution is like and how much Cal pounds it inside versus taking shots out on the perimeter. Cal can do both very well, so finding an appropriate scoring balance will be key.
