Preview of Louisville & Notre Dame Home Games

Thursday, Jan 29 at 5 pm vs #7 ranked Louisville at Stanford.  Winning this game would be a big upset but they have had some close games on the road that say it's possible.  Two OT wins were against North Carolina and NC State and they had close wins against Notre Dame and Miami.  These 4 games were all on the road.

Louisville Website

Whether we have Nunu Agara or not after her head injury (head hit the court after falling backwards) last game against Cal is of course a very big question.  Also, Lepolo did not play the last game, likely from a leg problem.  On the plus side, the recent play of Alex Eschmeyer, including scoring a career high 16 pts with 7 rebounds and 4 blocks in 29 minutes vs Cal, was a big positive.

Louisville is 19-3 and 9-0 in the conference.  The game will be aired on ESPN.
Louisville's last loss was Dec 4 by 2 to South Carolina. Their other two losses
are to UConn and Kentucky. Tajianna Roberts, 5-10 Soph Guard, leads the team at 12 ppg and Imari Berry, a 5-10 Soph Guard, is averaging 11 ppg. The kicker is five others are averaging between 7.6 and 10.4 ppg. The team is shooting 46% and 34% from three.

Louisville vs Notre Dame 11 min. Condensed Game Video

Sunday, Feb 1 at 1 pm vs Notre Dame at Stanford for the annual Pink Game. This should be a tough but winnable game, especially if Nunu plays.  Notre Dame's net ranking is #30 while Stanford's is #38.  The've played a very challenging schedule, losing to the top teams in the ACC and had big losses to UConn and highly ranked Michigan.  Their recent loss to Louisville at home was 66-79 and they lost  55-69 to a good Clemson team at home as well.  

Notre Dame Website

Notre Dame is 13-7 and 5-4 in conference play. They did beat North Carolina recently.
All American Hannah Hidalgo, 5-6 Jr Guard,  is averaging 25 points 6 rebounds and 6 steals per game.  Cassandre Prosper, 6-3 Sr Wing, is averaging 15 points and 7 rebounds. They shoot almost 36% from 3-pt range with 4 players averaging more than 40%, despite Hidalgo only hitting about 22% of her threes.  They are a high scoring team averaging more than 80 points/game with opponents scoring 65 ppg.  Stanford has a big edge on rebounding averaging 10 rpg more than opponents while Notre Dame is equal to opponents for the season.

As a team ND is averaging 14 steals per game while Stanford averages 8/game.   

Cal Away Game Preview - Sunday, Jan 25 at 3 pm

The Sunday showdown at Cal will be a true "Big Game" for both teams.  It's the 15-5 Stanford team with a net ranking of 34 vs the 12-5 Bears with their net ranking of 58.  With tough matchups for both teams coming up the following week against 8th ranked Louisville and 23rd ranked Notre Dame a loss could lead to a 3-game skid for either team.

Included below is a video with highlights of the December match-up won by Stanford.  

12:00 Video Highlights of December Stanford vs. Cal Game 

Cal Website | The Daily Cal Preview of the Game

Cal features very balance scoring with 7 players averaging 7.3 ppg or more, led byLulu Twiddle at 14.5 ppg followed by the senior transfer 6'6" Sakima Walker with 11.5 ppg and 6.2 rebounds per game.    In the December game won by Stanford 78-69 at Maples, the Cardinal held Twidale to 5 points while allowing Walker to get 16 points but only 2 boards.  Cal was only 5 for 20 on their three pointers and that's unlikely to happen again.  Stanford was hot from threes going 8-14 and that's unlikely to be repeated given our challenges from 3 point range this season.

Cal Player Stats - click on image to enlarge

Preview of road games at Boston College and Syracuse

The key matchup on this road trip will be Sunday's game against Syracuse, a very solid team.

At Boston College, Thursday Jan 15.  BC is 4-15 and 0-5 in league play.  Their net ranking is #250 while Stanford is at #35.  Stanford will be heavily favored in this game.  BC's player statistics show them behind opponents in every category.

Boston College Website 

8:14 Video vs Virginia Tech

Lily Carmody, 5-11 Soph Guard from Australia,  is the only one scoring in double figures at 11.7 ppg.

BC Player Statistics - click on image to enlarge  

At Syracuse, Sunday Jan 18, Syracuse is 14-3 and 4-2 in league play. Syracuse plays Cal on Thursday.  Their net ranking is #42 while Stanford is at #35 so as an away game this should be a very competitive matchup.  

Syracuse Website 

11:37 condensed game vs UVA

Laila Phelia, 6-0 Sr Guard,  is averaging 14 ppg.  Uche Izoje, 6-3 Frosh Center,  is averaging 13 points and 8 rebounds while shooting 60% from the floor.  

Dominique Darius, 5-10 Grad Student Guard,  is averaging 11 ppg.   Syracuse is shooting 43% overall but only 29% from three. They are out rebounding opponents by 16.  They  have impressive wins against Utah, Auburn and Florida State.

Syracuse Player Statistics - click on image to enlarge

Duke Preview of Sunday, Jan 11 Game

 Jan 11 vs Duke, with a net ranking of 24, is at Stanford, with a net ranking of 33. Duke is 10-6, 5-0 in conference play and has won 7 in a row. This should be a tough match-up against an athletic team on a roll.  Their most recent condensed game highlights vs Cal was a nail biter as shown  below.  

Duke Website

11:34 Duke at California Condensed game won by Duke 78-74

NOTE:  Video jumps ahead and back in 1st half - 2nd half OK

Duke's losses are to South Carolina, LSU, UCLA, South Florida, West Virginia and Baylor.

Duke's Full Player Stats - click on image to enlarge

Toby Fournier, 6-2 Soph Forward, is averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds. Taina Mair, 5-9 Sr Guard, is averaging 12 ppg.
Ashlon Jackson, 6-0 Sr Guard, is also averaging 12 ppg. Duke shots 43% and 33 % from three.

Two assistant coaches once coached at Stanford, Karen Middleton and Tia Jackson.