Cal Women's Basketball: Two Freshmen Contribute to Bears' Exhibition Win
Cal’s 79-55 exhibition victory over Vanguard on Sunday afternoon indicated that two freshmen will play significant roles in Charmin Smith’s first season as the Bears' head coach.
One of those freshmen is 5-foot-5 Lailani McIntosh, who was the Bears’ starting point guard Sunday and figures to be the starter at that spot when Cal opens its regular season on Friday at Harvard before facing Connecticut two days later in Storrs, Conn.
McIntosh’s numbers were not impressive on Sunday, as she shot 3-for-13 from the field, including 0-for-6 on three-pointers, while collecting just one assist and one turnover. Smith said afterward she is confident McIntosh will shoot better in future games.
The other freshman of note is 6-foot-2 Evelein Lutje Schipholt, who is from The Netherlands and is No. 24 in the video above. She had 18 points and 11 rebounds in last week’s exhibition win over Beijing National University, and she added 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting and nine rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench on Sunday against Vanguard.
Long and athletic, Lutje Schipholt showed an ability to maneuver effectively in the lane in Sunday's game, albeit against mediocre competition.
The Bears had a significant size advantage over Vanguard, an NAIA school, and that helped Cal to a whopping 62-21 advantage in rebounding.
Senior CJ West, one of just two current Cal players who had significant playing time last season, had 15 points and 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes of court time.
“I’ve had to change my mindset to have a scorer’s mentality,” West (No. 30) said in the video above. “I’ve had to embrace a bigger role. I have to be way more aggressive on offense and defense.”
Cal lost four starters from last season, and the three McDonald’s high school All-Americans who were on the team last year are gone: Kristine Anigwe was a first-round draft choice in the WNBA, and Kianna Smith and McKenzie Forbes both transferred after last season, Smith to Louisville and Forbes to Harvard.
Cal was picked to finish 11th in the Pac-12 in the coaches' preseason poll.
If Sunday’s game is an indication, one of the Bears’ problems this season may be perimeter scoring. Unlike the Division I men, who have to shoot the three-pointer from about 17 inches further back this season, the women’s three-point line is still at 20 feet, 9 inches.
However, the Bears were just 1-for-14 from long range on Sunday, and that was against a team that did not offer a lot of defensive pressure.
