Cal hopes for the NCAA this year

Last season Cal won the WNIT with six straight wins at the end of the season. They finished with a 24-13 record, 11-7 in Pac play.

LOSSES:

Alexis Gray-Lawson is one of the greatest players in Cal history. She averaged 18 points and 5 rebounds per game, and made more threes (61) than the next three on the Cal team.

Natasha Vital averaged 6.5 points per game while averaging 24 minutes per game.

Lauren Greif saw her playing time reduced last season and averaged only 2.4 points per game. And she now works for Stanford.

Brenna Heater left mid year.

ADDITIONS:

Avigiel Cohen is a 6-0 Frosh Guard from Israel who played on their 19U team in
2009. However she hurt her knee for the 2nd time recently and is now out for the season.

Afure Jemerigbe is a 6-0 Guard. She was a McDonalds All American.

Mikayla Lyles is a 5-8 Shooting Guard who was named the 4th best shooter in the nation last year.

Lindsay Sherbert is a 6-0 Wing who also was a McDonalds All American.

NON CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:

Not a very strong schedule, highlighted by Rutgers, Texas A&M (projected as a Top 10 team) and Illinois.

BY POSITION:

POSTS:
DeNesha Stallworth is a 6-3 Soph who ideally would be the Center but with the injury to Forward Gennifer Brandon, Stallworth may start the season at Forward. Last season Stallworth averaged 13 points, 6 rebounds in 30 minutes per game. All 2nd on the team. She’s a strong inside player with excellent post moves. Stallworth started every game this past season, most at the Forward position. She was a McDonalds All American and just turned 18 in May, having skipped a grade.

Talia Caldwell is another 6-3 Soph who averaged 5 points and 6 rebounds in 23 minutes per game while starting 27 of the 37 games at Center. Caldwell shot 61% from the floor, one of the top shooting percentages in Cal history.

Rama N’diaye is a 6-5, 5th year Sr who missed last season with a knee injury and most of the previous season with the same knee problem. As a Soph when Hampton missed the first 12 games, Rama averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds in her place.

POWER FORWARDS:

Gennifer Brandon is a 6-2 Soph nursing a stress reaction in her leg. She may miss some early season time, but probably, and hopefully, not much. Last season she averaged 7 points and led the Bears with 8.5 rebounds per game. Brandon only started a few games but played 22 minutes a game. She was a McDonalds All American.

Stallworth will also play here.

WINGS:

Layshia Clarendon is a 5-9 Soph, who averaged 9 points, 3rd on the team, and 4.5 rebounds per game last season. Clarendon was also 2nd on the team in assists and will also play Point Guard. Layshia scored 29 points with 6 assists in a WNIT game and had an assist to turnover ration of a great 2.1:1 in the 6 game WNIT run the Bears enjoyed.

Lindsay Sherbert is a 6-0 Frosh who was ranked as the # 6 wing in High School. Sherbert was a McDonalds All American and averaged 27 points per game in High School. She can light it up from all over the court and is a good rebounder.

Afure Jemerigbe is a 6-0 Frosh, the # 2 Guard in High School last season. Also a McDonalds All American. Afure is very quick and with Pierre will really be a defensive star.

Rachelle Federico is a 5-11 Sr who hasn’t played much but is a decent three point shooter when she plays more than her average of 10 minutes per game, which will be needed this season.

Mikayla Lyles is a 5-8 Frosh who can be an excellent three point shooter. She won’t create many shots but Cal figures to be strong inside offensively so if they kick out well Lyles can be a perimeter scorer this season. HoopGurlz named Lyles the # 4shooter last season.


POINT GUARDS:

Eliza Pierre is a 5-7 Soph who started more than half the games last year sharing the position with the Sr Vital. Pierre only averaged 2 points per game but led the team in steals by a lot and also had a plus assist to turnover ratio. She was a terrible shooter last year, excelling with her quickness. However we saw her hit two straight threes at Kezar and word is she has improved in this area.

Clarendon is the back up here.

FORECAST:

A very young team with 2 Srs and no Jrs. So the youth factor must be overcome. However they have talent with 4 McDonalds All Americans. They went into the WNIT with a record of 18-13 so they must improve by about 4 wins to achieve the NCAA.