Cal Women Roll Without a Big Game From Jayda Curry
Cal had five women score in double figures on Wednesday and none of them was Jayda Curry. The fact that the Golden Bears still scored more than 80 points and beat Idaho 84-71 even though Curry did not have a big game was a pleasing sight for coach Charmin Smith.
“Yeah, that’s a great thing,” she said. “We know what Jayda can do. This is who we want to be – with Jayda as well in double figures. I think we have this in us every night. Where we’re headed is really scary for our opponents, because we can be really good.”
Curry led the Pac-12 in scoring as a freshman last season, when she averaged 18.6 points and led the Bears in scoring in 16 of the 23 games she played.
The Bears are 2-1 this year, and Curry was the team's leading scorer in neither of Cal’s wins. She was held to nine points in the season-opening win over CSUN, and she was limited to 18 minutes against Idaho because of foul trouble and finished with just six points on 2-for-8 shooting.
The Bears’ leading scorer on Wednesday was Utah transfer Kemery Martin, who finished with 19 points on 8-for-15 shooting, including 3-for-6 on three-pointers.
And why did she transfer to Cal?
“Well, I wanted to be part of something big,” she said, “and I think Cal is going in that direction.”
She had help against the Vandals, who were picked to finish third in the Big Sky in the preseason coaches poll and are now 0-2, including a 25-point loss to Utah.
Evelien Lutje Schipholt scored 14 points for Cal, Michelle Onyiah tallied 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting in just 12 minutes of court time, and Peanut Tuitele had 11 points while going 3-for-3 on three-point shots.
However, the Cal player with the best stat line was senior point guard Leilani McIntosh, who had 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting to go along with nine rebounds and six assists.
“She’s developed into one of the best point guards in our conference,” Smith said. “What has made it that way is her ability to knock down shots now. Before she was just a facilitator and defensive specialist, and now she’s a threat offensively as well.”
Everything worked well offensive for Cal, which shot 50% or better in each of the four quarters and finished shooting 53.8% from the field.
In fact, the Bears shot much better from the field than from the foul line, making only five of their 13 free throws.
