With a losing streak off their minds, Cal heads into conference play confident and excited. First up: Utah
| California vs Utah, Saturday, Jan. 3 | 3:00 pm PT |
| TV: Pac-12 Networks (Krista Blunk & Mary Murphy) |
| Live Stats: CalBears.com |
| Series History: Cal leads, 1 0-4 |
| Last Meeting: California 68, Utah 59 (Jan. 12, 2014) in Salt Lake City |
BERKELEY, Calif. – After starting the season ranked No. 15 in the country and landing on the top of the media’s Pac-12 preseason poll, Cal (8-3) hit a rough patch in December, with three straight losses beginning with two defeats on the road against unranked teams, first at Kansas on Dec. 7 then six days later at Long Beach State.
The third disappointment came at Haas Pavilion against then No. 10 Louisville on Dec. 21. Even though Cal did not pull out the win over the Cardinals, they were more pleased with their effort vs. Louisville after a 62-39 trouncing at the hands of the Jayhawks in the Midwest and a 58-56 overtime defeat in Long Beach.
However, after the Christmas break the Bears rebounded at home with a sound victory over Old Dominion on Dec. 29, the last contest before the beginning of Pac-12 Conference play. The win over the Monarchs was “huge” for the confidence of the Cal according to head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
“Nothing feels like a win and it’s been since December 3rd since we’ve won a game and that’s an eternity in this program. I’m just happy for the kids.”
After the three losses, Cal dropped out of the polls but continue to receive votes. They have been without the offensive production of sophomore guard/forward Courtney Range who suffered a strained knee at Kansas and has not played since. Range was on the floor an average of 29.8 minutes before the injury contributing 14.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Her absence appeared to affect Cal’s success on the floor and their on-court chemistry as well.
The Bears seemed to overcome missing Range in the Old Dominion contest as senior point guard Brittany Boyd managed a squad that played in harmony and with confidence from the tip to the last buzzer. In her own right, Boyd flirted with a quadruple double finishing with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 14 assists and 7 seven steals.
“I think we made a concerted effort to be better tonight and to do the things we’ve been working on,” said Gottlieb after the win over Old Dominion.
However, as the second part of the season begins with rising programs such as No. 13 Oregon State, USC and Washington State on the horizon along with No. 15 Stanford and No. 22 Arizona State to contend with, Cal has to continue the momentum to have a chance at re-entering the polls and finishing strong to ensure a place in the NCAA tournament.
For Gottlieb, the win over the Monachs set a “really good tone for going into Pac-12 and finishing on a high note.
Cal opens their Pac-12 slate hosting Utah (6-5) at 3 p.m. PT. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
Utah enters Saturday’s matchup on a two-game winning streak and are led by sixth-year senior Taryn Wicijowski’s 15.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. Before picking up an injury and missing Utah’s last seven games, Malia Nawahine added 13.3 points per game for the Utes who average 58.9 points per game as a team.
