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Colorado hosts Cal today to end Cal's road schedule (not counting postseason). So far in conference play, the Bears are 0-8 on the road... they've had a few close calls but usually they've come against the other bad teams. Nearly beat Arizona but lost the lead late. Had a tight close contest with Utah on Friday but ultimately faltered. They even played Stanford pretty well. Unfortunately, other than that, the road games have been pretty painful to watch. Luckily, this game is against one of the worst teams in the Pac-12.
- WHERE? Boulder, Colorado
- WHEN? Sunday February 21 at 11am
- TV: Pac-12 Mountain or HERE (more on that below)
You may remember that Cal's conference home opener was against Colorado, and we saw an amazing defensive effort by the Bears. They shut out the Buffs the ENTIRE second quarter and nearly the third as well... ultimately giving up one more point than the Cal women's basketball record for fewest points allowed (34) in the 64-35 win. One might consider that rule changes have allowed for better offenses in college basketball, so that effort may still be more admirable than the 2009 62-34 win over Washington.
That win put the Bears at 1-2, and we all know what happened after that.
In Colorado's defense, their best player Jamee Swan was unable to play that night. She will be in the lineup today. However her return has not been nearly enough to give the Buffs success, and they are currently 1-14 in Pac-12 play and 6-20 overall. Their one win came at home against USC on January 31 and *puts on Captain Obvious hat* they have not won since. This is Senior Day for the Buffaloes, and I'm sure they know Cal is vulnerable and want to send their fans a day to remember.
How can Cal prevent that?
- My Captain obvious hat is still on so... score a lot of points! Colorado gives up 70 points allowed a game, it would be nice to see the Cal offense deliver with a solid effort, much like they had in the blowout win against Arizona and the close loss at Utah. There's no reason we should have a letdown game today.
- More obvious! Defense. Now I'm not saying Cal needs to shutout Colorado in a quarter again. I doubt we'll see that happen... but you know the Buffs are looking for redemption and on Senior Night will put up a great fight. The Cal Bears are still learning to close out games... and having a shut down game in that scenario will do wonders for the team going into their final homestand against two tough teams.
- Anigwe: She had a double-double in the last meeting against Colorado (20 points, 13 rebounds) and she has played really well in the two games following her one game benching. It would be a really great story to see her continue the pace, and it looks like she's settling in and understanding her role on this rebuilding team.