Cal Women's Basketball Team To Take On Wac Champions

via c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com

Cal is matched up against Fresno State in the first round of the women's basketball NCAA Tournament.  Let's take a look at FSU.  Where to first?  Where else, but their MySpace page:

***Welcome Fresno State Fans, Players, Possible Future Players, and friendly Visitors. This is a myspace site dedicated to the Greatest Team in the Central Valley: The Fresno State Women's Basketball Team.

**For the Newcomers now, and the one's to come** You are entering a team who's legacy makes them who they are today. They're a team that excels not only on the court during practice and/or a game, but they excel off the court as well in the classroom and in society. We're a team of Student Athletes, and Student comes first. This team is a team who shows the true meaning of the word "TEAM".

**For those who have left... You are the ones who made the legacy that Fans have come to appreciate. You have molded the younger generation and have set the bar, and that bar seems to get higher and higher.

**What this team brings is anything but average. This team is an above average team regardless of what a score may say after a game or a record after a season. This team brings to younger people role models, idols, and in many ways heroes. This team is filled with Great Amazing Women, who endure many feats and many challenges that makes this team the Fresno State Women's Basketball Team. I hope you will follow this team's legacy either in person at the Save Mart Center or by checking back every now and then to this page. GO DOGS!

Let's learn more about this above average team regardless of what the score or record may say!

Their head coach is this guy:

via i31.photobucket.com

Adrian Wiggins is his name.  And he took over in 2005.  Since that time, he's gotten FSU to be the WAC Champ twice, last year and this year.  And he's done it even with the handicap of being the whitest white to ever white.  Even his teeth are white!

First let's look at some team stats before looking at a few key players:

                     2008-09 Fresno State Women's Basketball
                   Fresno State Overall Team Statistics (as of Mar 14, 2009)
                                           All games

TEAM STATISTICS                     FS          OPP
---------------------------------------------------
SCORING..................         2204         1913
  Points per game........         68.9         59.8
  Scoring margin.........         +9.1            -
FIELD GOALS-ATT..........     781-1942     743-1927
  Field goal pct.........         .402         .386
3 POINT FG-ATT...........      305-875      145-462
  3-point FG pct.........         .349         .314
  3-pt FG made per game..          9.5          4.5
FREE THROWS-ATT..........      337-503      282-429
  Free throw pct.........         .670         .657
  F-Throws made per game.         10.5          8.8
REBOUNDS.................         1337         1181
  Rebounds per game......         41.8         36.9
  Rebounding margin......         +4.9            -
ASSISTS..................          464          386
  Assists per game.......         14.5         12.1
TURNOVERS................          516          512
  Turnovers per game.....         16.1         16.0
  Turnover margin........         -0.1            -
  Assist/turnover ratio..          0.9          0.8
STEALS...................          248          247
  Steals per game........          7.8          7.7
BLOCKS...................           72          100
  Blocks per game........          2.3          3.1
WINNING STREAK...........            5            -
  Home win streak........            2            -
ATTENDANCE...............        33128        13911
  Home games-Avg/Game....      15-2209      13-1070
  Neutral site-Avg/Game..            -          4-0

SCORE BY PERIODS:                1st  2nd    Total
------------------------------  ---- ----     ----
Fresno State..................  1103 1101  -  2204
Opponents.....................   888 1025  -  1913

All stats are from here.

Many of FSU's stats are similar to their opponents.  Similar steals per game.  Not a huge difference in boards per game.  Fewer blocks per game.  But over TWICE the amount of 3 points made?  That is a key stat there to keep an eye on.  Cal's offense isnt really 3 point focused anyway.  But they'll have to keep an eye out for FSU's 3 point sharp shooters. 

Also, note that FSU has fewer points in the second half than first and has allowed many more points in the second half than first.  That stems from many blowout victories wherein FSU played scrub players in the second half.  However, it also shows the importance of Cal getting off to a good start.  FSU gives up about 27 points in the first half on average.  Cal has had some rough starts to recent games, so they don't want to find themselves behind early. 

 SCORING              GP   FG-FGA   FG%  3FG-FGA  3PT%   FT-FTA   FT%   PTS PTS/G
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Ross, Jaleesa....... 32  160-362  .442   93-225  .413   30-40   .750   443 13.8
 Munro, Hayley....... 32  104-291  .357   36-113  .319   84-103  .816   328 10.3
 Amundsen, Bailey.... 32  111-268  .414   72-184  .391   32-39   .821   326 10.2
 Arnold, Marnique.... 32  121-249  .486    8-29   .276   40-73   .548   290  9.1
 Fears, LaShay....... 32   81-217  .373   27-94   .287   41-57   .719   230  7.2
 Filipe, Joh-Teena... 32   76-224  .339   20-68   .294   33-52   .635   205  6.4
 Walker, Ashley...... 30   55-160  .344   40-120  .333   14-25   .560   164  5.5
 Edwards, Taja....... 28   50-88   .568    0-1    .000   37-74   .500   137  4.9
 Jones, Brittny...... 21   14-45   .311    5-20   .250   13-18   .722    46  2.2
 Brown, LaToya....... 31    9-38   .237    4-21   .190   13-22   .591    35  1.1
 Kaufmann, Kaitlin...  3    0-0    .000    0-0    .000    0-0    .000     0  0.0
 Total............... 32  781-1942 .402  305-875  .349  337-503  .670  2204 68.9
 Opponents........... 32  743-1927 .386  145-462  .314  282-429  .657  1913 59.8

Firstly, they have their own Ashley Walker.  WHA!?!?  Bizarro Ashley Walker, who isn't as good as Cal's Ashley Walker and is, most likely a Pirate Zombie, only averages 5.5 points a game.  I wonder if Bizarro Pirate Zombie Ashley Walker will ever guard Righteous Great Aunt Leader Ashley Walker.

Who is this imposter?!?!?! via grfx.cstv.com

Jaleesa Ross leads the team with almost 14 points a game.  She loves to shoot the 3 in comparison to her teammates.  She's shot about 50 more than the next highest person.  Stopping her will be key to slowing the FSU attack down.

Jaleesa Ross via grfx.cstv.com

Right behind her is Hayley Munro.  First thing that jumped out at me there is that Ms. Munro is from Australia!  Yay!  Second thing is that she shot 103 Free Throws this season.  Next highest is in the 70s. Not exactly sure what to make of that, but it could show agressiveness which leads to a lot of fouls on her.  Easier to get fouled if one is always making moves towards the basket.  Looking at the numbers, Cal should let her shoot, her percentages don't appear to be all that high.  She's taking the 2nd most shots on the team, but has one of the lowest success rates.  Sounds good for Cal!

Hayley Munro via grfx.cstv.com

Another player who averages about 30 minutes a game is LaShay Fears.  The only player who plays more than her is Ross.  But Ross scores quite a bit more than her.  Fears only averages about 7 points a game, half of Ross.  Her percentages aren't very good.  Again, this is a player we want shooting the ball.  Shut down Ross, let Fears, let Munro shoot the ball.  Let them take the 3s!

LaShay Fears via grfx.cstv.com

The player with the 3rd most minutes on the team is Bailey Amundsen.  She appears to be a dangerous players.  Essentially tied for 2nd best scorer on the team, but with a lot better percentages than the other candidate Munro.  She takes the 2nd most threes on the team and makes a goodly amount of them.  Amundsen appears to be a player that can hurt Cal here and one we want to limit, if possible.

Bailey Amundson via grfx.cstv.com

One final player is Marnique Arnold.  She has a terrible 3Pt percentage (although she doesn't take a lot of shots).  She has a bad free throw percentage.  But, overall, she has the highest field goal percentage, even with her terrible 3 point percentage.  So, she is another player to keep an eye on.  She might not be the #1 threat out there for the Bulldogs, but she's another efficient player who can definitely hurt Cal.  We want players who shoot poorly taking shots, not ones who hit nearly half their shots! 

Marnique Arnold via grfx.cstv.com

REBOUNDS              G  Reb  Reb/G             ASSISTS               G  No.    A/G
-----------------------------------             -----------------------------------
Munro, Hayley....... 32  217    6.8             Fears, LaShay....... 32  103    3.2
Filipe, Joh-Teena... 32  201    6.3             Ross, Jaleesa....... 32   78    2.4
Arnold, Marnique.... 32  195    6.1             Munro, Hayley....... 32   71    2.2
Amundsen, Bailey.... 32  173    5.4             Filipe, Joh-Teena... 32   53    1.7
Ross, Jaleesa....... 32  152    4.8             Amundsen, Bailey.... 32   45    1.4

REBOUND AVERAGE       G  Reb  Avg/G             STEALS                G  No.    S/G
-----------------------------------             -----------------------------------
Munro, Hayley....... 32  217    6.8             Ross, Jaleesa....... 32   56    1.8
Filipe, Joh-Teena... 32  201    6.3             Filipe, Joh-Teena... 32   35    1.1
Arnold, Marnique.... 32  195    6.1             Arnold, Marnique.... 32   33    1.0
Amundsen, Bailey.... 32  173    5.4             Munro, Hayley....... 32   30    0.9
Ross, Jaleesa....... 32  152    4.8             Fears, LaShay....... 32   28    0.9

There rebounding stats are interesting here.  Not a single person here who stands head and shoulders above the others here.  But 3 people above 6 is pretty good.  Compare it to Cal, where All That Is Decent And Light Ashley Walker has 8 boards a game and the next highest in 5.  So, they spread the boards around here, not really relying on a single person to secure them all. 

Final Thoughts:

Fresno State is a team that Cal should handle.  They have a great player in Jaleesa Ross, but even with their Zombie Pirate Ashley Walker, nobody quite on Ashley Walker's level.  Even their Ashley Walker isn't Ashley Walker!  They are sort of the opposite of our team, because they focus on the 3-ball and don't have as strong of an inside presence.  I believe, even though the Cal women have stumbled lately, that they can handle this team.  They nearly lost to Utah State in the WAC tournament.  If Cal loses here in the first round, it will be a major disappointment.