PAC 12 Preview: Colorado

PAC 12 Preview:  Colorado

Last Season:  Colorado went 25-9 overall, and 13 - 5 in the conference.  

The Coaches:  

Head Coach JR Payne will be in her 8th year at Colorado after two seasons at Santa Clara.  

JR Payne

Payne led Santa Clara to its first winning season in 8 seasons and finished 23-9.   JR, no periods, and real name Ali-Marie, is a graduate of St Mary’s where she played for now Oregon coach Kelly Graves.   Her first coaching job was at age 23 for Graves when he started at Gonzaga.  

Toriano Towns is the Associate Head Coach and is also in his 8th and also coached with Payne at Santa Clara.  Towns coached at Gonzaga with Payne and later at Arizona where he was the Post coach for the great, late Polk.

Alex Earl is in her 8th year on the staff.    Alex was an assistant with Payne three seasons ago at Santa Clara and played for years at ASU graduating in 2013.   Alex was a HS teammate of JJ Hones on a team where all five starters player Division 1 basketball.  

Taelor Karr is in her first year at Colorado after two years as an assistant at Oklahoma State.  Before that Kerr was an assistant at Santa Clara.

Losses:

Assistant Coach Tim Hayes

Jada Wynn, 6-0 F to be Soph, daughter of the former Washington coaches, who averaged 3 points and transferred to Texas Tech

Lizzie Holder, 6-1 to be Soph who played in just 2 games and    Transferred to Navy

Ali Fitzgerald, 6-2 to be Soph who played in just 6 games.  She    Transferred to UC Davis

Tayanna Jones graduated after averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds.

Additions: 

Ruthie Loomis-Golti, 6-3 Post from NE, ranked # 78

Kennedy Sanders, 5-8 PG from MN, ranked # 75

Saulele Tanuvasa, 5-11 Guard from NorCal, not ranked

Jadyn Atchison 6-1 Guard from TX, not ranked

Mikayla Johnson 6-1 Wing from Alaska who enrolled early but did not play. 

Maddie Nolan, 5-11 5^th year Guard transfer from Michigan where she averaged 9 points also 7^th all time in threes made at Michigan, 167.

Sara Rose Smith, 6-1 Sr Guard transfer from Missouri where she averaged 7 points and 7 rebounds.

Shelomi Sanders, 5-6 Redshirt Frosh Guard who transferred from Jackson State during the season.  Daughter of Football Coach and Hall of Famer Dion.  

The Schedule:   

Colorado will host Stanford and Cal and Travel to Arizona and ASU.   Colorado opens with LSU and plays Oklahoma State, Kentucky, Cincy and North Carolina State.  

The 9 Returning Players:   with the 8 new additions above, that's 17 players

Jaylyn Sherrod

Jaylyn Sherrod, 5-7 5^th year Point Guard who averaged 11 points and 5 assists. 

Tameiya Sadler is a 5-8  Sr Guard Washington.  Sadler averaged 5 ppg.

Quay Miller is a 6-3 5^th year Post.   Miller averaged 13 points and 9 rebounds.

Frieda Formann, 5-11 Sr Guard from Denmark.   Formann averaged 12 points per game. And made 75 threes at 39%.

Charlotte Whittaker is a 6-4 5^{t h Year}  Post from Australia who averaged 1 point and 1 rebound. 

Kindyll Wetta is a 5-9 Jr Guard who averaged 5ppg.  Her Mom played Basketball at Colorado.  

Sophie Gerber, 6-0 Jr Guard who played just 18 minutes.  

Aaronette Vonleh, 6-3 Jr Post Center transfer from Arizona.  Vonleh averaged 12 points and 4 rebounds at Arizona. 

Brianna McLeod, 6-3 Soph Forward from Canada averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds.

+ 8 new additions

Predictions:  

Yes 17 players, Sanders may be a walk on given Dad the Football Coach, and one other.     4 are Grad students.   Colorado returns 4 players who averaged between 11 and 13 ppg.  That’s huge.  Add Wetta and Sadler both returning guards plus Smith and Nolan transfer guards and this is a very good team.    

2024 Recruiting:    

Lova Lagerlid, 6-1 Guard from Sweden  

Pac 12 Preview: Cal

  

Pac 12 Preview:  Cal

Team Website

Last Season:  13-17 overall and 4-14 in conference play.   

The Coaches:

 Charmin Smith with 2 degrees from Stanford returns for her 16th

Charmin Smith

season at Cal and is now the Head Coach for her 5th year.  

Eliza Pierre is in her 3th year after 4 years at UCSB.

Heidi Heintz is in her 2nd year.  Heintz was an assistant at St Mary’s the past three years. 

Cal has an opening after Glover left recently.  

Kai Felton is back for her 11th year at Cal.  Kai has been an Assistant at Oregon, 2 years, and at USC, 5 years.  Kai is no longer an official coach but she is a Special Assistant. 

 

Losses:  

Paul Reed, assistant coach 

Jayda Curry, 5-6 to be JR Guard averaged 15 points.  She transferred to Louisville.

Jaden Bush,  Graduated after averaging 5 points and 3 rebounds in 12 games before she was injured.

Evelien Lutje Schipholt, graduated  she averaged  9 points and 5 rebounds.    She grad transferred to South Florida

Sela Heide, graduated but with injuries she only played 39 minutes.  She Grad transferred to Oregon State 

Peanut Tuitele, graduated after averaging 5 points and 5 rebounds.

Karisa Ortiz, graduated after averaging 3 ppg

Amaya Bonner, scored just 17 points on the season.    Ranked # 51 and had offers from ASU, Arizona, UCLA, Utah and Washington.   Transferred to Florida State.  

 

Additions:

Lulu Laditan-Twidale 5-10 Frosh Guard from Australia 

Anastasia Drosouni, 5-11 Frosh G From Greece     

Ila Lane, 6-4 Post Grad student from UCSB who averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds last season 

Makayla Williams 6-1 Sr Guard who transferred from Gonzaga where she averaged 8 ppg.

Ioanna Krilimi, 5-10 Guard Grad student who transferred from U of San Francisco.  Last season Ioanna averaged 19 points and made 97 threes at 45%.

Marta Suarez , 6-3 Redshirt Jr Forward from Spain and a transfer from Tennessee.  Last season Marta averaged 5 points and 3 rebounds.  

The Schedule:   

Cal plays USC and UCLA only at home and plays Colorado and Utah only on the road.  Non-conference games include Gonzaga and Texas A&M as their strongest opponents.   Just before Christmas they play a 4 team tournament in Florida and Cal will play Illinois.     

                                        

The Team:

Leilani McIntosh, 5-5, 5^th year Grad student Guard who averaged 9 points and almost 4 assists.  

Claudia Langarita, 6-4 Jr Post averaged 4 points and 1 rebound. 

Kemery Martin, 6-0 Sr Wing who averaged 10 points and 4 rebounds.

Mia Mastrov, 5-11 Jr Guard who graduated early from HS to join the Bears.  Mia averaged 2 points 

Ornela Muca, 5-7 Sr Guard from Greece.  She played just 31 minutes.  

Michelle Onyiah, 6-3 Sr Post ranked # 35 out of HS.   She averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds.  

Alma Elsnitz, 5-11 Sr Guard who sat out last season.

Bella Stevens 5-5 Soph Guard who played 9 minutes last season.

 

Predictions:  

Cal starts with depth at the Post with Onyiah, Langarita and Grad transfer Lane.   McIntosh returns as the starting Point Guard and Martin as a starting Wing.    The hope is that newcomers Williams, Krilimi and Suarez start or contribute heavily.   However they did lose three starters and their top scorer from a 4-14 conference team.   With so many new players it’s hard to guess, 10^th place or better?   

 

2024 Recruiting:  

Gabrielle Abigor, 6-3 Post from NorCal not ranked

Kamryn Mafua, 6-2 Forward, Nor Cal, ranked # 52.

 

 

 

Pac-12 Previews: Arizona State

 

Pac 12 Previews:  Arizona State University

 

Last Season:   The Sun Devils were 8-20 and 1-17 in Pac 12 Play.   

The Coaching Staff:   

Head Coach Adair

Natasha Adair is in her 2^nd year as the Head Coach after 5 years as Head Coach at Delaware going 95-58 and last season to the NCAA tournament.   Previously Adair was the Head Coach at Georgetown.

Darrell Mosley is in his 2^nd year after one season at Delaware and before that Head Coach at Lincoln University.

Mykala Walker is in her 21nd year after spending the previous 5 years as an assistant coach at Delaware.

Camille Collier is in her 2^nd year after coaching at Virginia Tech.

 

The Losses:

Meg Newman would be Soph averaged 4 points and 5 rebounds.  She ranked # 35 out of HS.  Newman transferred to Alabama

Sydney Erikstrup, would be Jr who averaged 3 ppg.  She transferred to Grand Canyon 

Kayla Mokwuah who graduated after averaging 6 points and 5 rebounds.  

Imogen Greenslade, 6-4 Sr Post who averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds transferred to Montana.

Lauryn Satterwhite 5-7 Guard Grad transfer who seldom played.

  

Additions:  

Hanna Miller 6-1 JC transfer from Dodge City KS

Mallory Miller 6-4 Post from South Dakota, not ranked.

Marina Radocaj, 6-2 Wing/Forward from British Columbia

Sandra Magolico, 6-4 Post South Dakota, unranked

Kadidia Toure, 6-3 Soph Forward transfer from James Madison where her high game was 10 points.

Kiley Sours-Miller, 6-3 Fr Post.  Kiley averaged 13 points and 11 rebounds for a top Arizona HS team last season

Jalyn Brown, 6-1 Soph  Guard who transferred from Louisville where she played 7 games however ranked # 78 out of HS.

Adison Novosel, 5-11 Jr Guard who transferred from St Francis. 

 

The Schedule:  

The Sun Devils play Utah and Colorado only at home and play Oregon and Oregon State only on the road.  They play Thanksgiving week in the Virgin Islands against Texas, High Point and South Florida.   They play Fresno State in Phoenix.

 

The Team:  

Tyi Skinner

Tyi Skinner, 5-5 JR  Guard averaged 19 ppg .  Also made 68 Threes at 35%.  

Jaddan Simmons, 5-9 Sr PG, averaged 12 points and 4 assists.

Trayanna Crisp, 5-7 Soph Guard who averaged 5 ppg. 

Jaylah Robinson, 5-11 Redshirt Frosh Guard who played one game.

Journey Thompson, 6-2 Soph  Forward who averaged 3 points in 13 games. 

Treasure Hunt, 6-2 Sr Wing  who averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds.

Morasha Wiggins 6-0 Jr Wing who didn’t play.  However Wiggins was ranked # 18 out of HS.  

Isadora Sousa, 6-0 Guard Grad Student who averaged 3 points and 3 rebounds. 

Maggie Besselink, 6-3 Sr Wing who missed last season with an injury. 

 

Predictions:   

The Sun Devils have three good starters back in Skinner, Hunt and Simmons.   They also have five unproven players at 6-3/6-4.   Possible they will step up.  

However it does look like a long season for the Sun Devils.          

 

2024 Recruiting:  None yet          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2023-24 Preview: Arizona Wildcats

 

Preview:  Arizona

Last Season:  Arizona was 22-10 overall and 11-7 in Pac 12 play, under Head Coach Adia Barnes.     

 

The Coaches: 

Adia Barnes is the all time leading scorer at Arizona and is in her 8th year the Head Coach.  Barnes had been at Washington as an assistant  for four years as the Huskies came from the 2^nd division of the Pac 12 to the NCAA Final Four.  Barnes played professionally for 12 years including for 4 WNBA Teams.  

Salvo Coppa, or Mr Barnes is a 8th year assistant.  Coppa is from Italy and has extensive overseas coaching experience.

Bett Shelby is in her first year as an assistant, last season she was special assistant to Barnes.  Before Shelby coached at West Virginia.

Anthony Turner is in his first year after 4 years at Weber State 

 

Losses:  

Assistant Coaches Ashley Davis and Erin Grant are no longer at Arizona 

Lemyah Hylton, would have been a soph and averaged 1 point in 15 games.  She transferred to Miami of Florida.

Paris Clark, would have been a Soph and averaged 4 ppg.  She transferred to Virginia

Lauren Fields would have been a 5^th year and she averaged 4 ppg.  She transferred to West Virginia.

Jade Loville, graduated after averaging 10 ppg

Cate Reese graduated after averaging 13 ppg and 6 rebounds per game. 

Lauren Ware would have been a SR but missed last season with an injury.  The year before she averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds.  She transferred to Texas A&M

Shaina Pellington graduated after averaging 13 points.

Madison Conner would have been a Jr after averaging 6 ppg.    She transferred to TCU

 

Additions:  

Jada Williams, 5-6 PG from SoCal ranked # 21

Breya Cunningham, 6-4 Post SoCal ranked # 14

Montana Dew, 6-2 Wing NV ranked # 8.   *** Sadly Dew suffered a knee injury and is out for the year. ***

Fanta Gassama, 6-1 Wing, JC transfer

Skylar Jones, 5-10 Wing, IL, unranked but some good offers.

Courtney Blakely, 5-8 Jr Guard transferred from Middle Tennessee State where she averaged 7 ppg.

Salimatou Kourouma, 5-11 Sr Wing from Mali transferred from Little Rock University where she averaged 18 ppg in each of the last two seasons.   She was the Ohio Valley conference POY. 

Isis Beh, 6-3 Jr Post/Forward transfer from West Virginia where she averaged 3 points and 2 rebounds a game.  

 

The Schedule:  

Arizona plays Utah and Colorado only at home and only away to play Oregon and Oregon State.  Arizona will play in the Bahamas where the toughest teams will be Ole Miss and Michigan.   Also there are games against Texas and Gonzaga.  

 

The Team:  

Esmery Martinez

Helena Pueyo is a 6-0 5^th year Guard who averaged 5 points.

Maya Nnaji, 6-4 Soph Post who averaged 4 points and 3 rebounds.  She was ranked 9 out of HS.

Kailyn Gilbert, Soph and averaged 5 PPG last season. 

Esmery Martinez, 6-2 5^th year Forward Martinez averaged 10 points and 9 rebounds.

 

Predictions:          

The Wildcats return only 24 points and only one player averaged more than 5 ppg.   Martinez averaged 10 and Nnaji was highly ranked but played behind a very good post last season, Reese who graduated, so Nnaji should be a big part of the team.  Great recruits in Cunningham and Williams and maybe a good transfer in Kourouma.   It’s not even a rebuilding year as 3 of the projected top 7 players are Srs.   It will be hard for the Wildcats to be in the top 6 in the league.

 

2024 Recruiting:  None yet.

The Regular Season is in the Books!

 

Pac 12 Results of the Week:

 

Utah, Stanford, Colorado and Arizona have the byes on Wednesday for the Pac 12 Tournament. 

            

Stanford: (27-4, 15-3) Beat Colorado in double Overtime 73-62.   Jones had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists.  Jump and Betts each had 14 points.  Lost to Utah 84-78.  Jump had 24 points, 6 of 9 from three.  Brink had 14 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists, plus 4 blocks

 

Utah: (25-3, 15-3) Beat Cal 101-76.  Pili had 26 points and Johnson added 21 points.   Beat Stanford 84-78.  Kneepkens had 28 points, 5 of 9 from three.  Pili had 14 points.  Utah was 12 of 27 from three.  

            

Colorado (22-7, 13-5) Lost to Stanford in double overtime 72-63.  Sherrod had 19 points and Miller had 17 points.   Beat Cal 95-69.  Vonleh had 25 points and Foreman 19 points.   

 

Arizona: (21-8, 11-7) Lost to Oregon 73-59.  Reese had 19 points.  Lost to Oregon State 78-70.  Martinez had 16 points. 

 

UCLA: (22-8, 11-7)  Lost to Washington State 62-55.  Osborne had 14 points.   Beat Washington 70-62.  Osborne had 19 points and Rice had 15 points.  

 

USC: (21 -8, 11-7) Beat Washington 47-43.  Sissoko had 19 points.   Beat Washington State in 2 Overtimes 68-65.  Sissko had 16 points and 13 rebounds.  Littleton had 14 points.  

 

Washington State: (19-10, 9-9)    Beat UCLA 62-55 at UCLA.  Murekatete had 15 points and 10 rebounds.  Wallack also had 15 points.   Lost to USC is double Overtime 68-65.  Leger-Walker had 17 as did Murekatete.  

 

Washington: (15-13,7-11) Lost to USC 47-43.  Ladine had 9 points.  Lost to UCLA 70-62.  Van Dyke had 12 points, Stines and Ladine each had 11 points.  

 

Oregon: (16-13, 7-11) Beat Arizona 73-59.  Paopao had 21 points, 5 of 8 from three.  Rogers had 18 points.   Beat ASU 77-48.  Paopao had 23 points, 7 of 10 from three.  Rogers had 17 points.  

 

Cal: (13-16,4-14) Lost to Utah 101-76.  Curry had 27 points.  Lost to Colorado 95-69.  Curry had 26 points.  

 

Oregon State: (12-17, 4-14) Lost to ASU 75-73.  Beers and Blacklock each had 14 points.  VonOelhoffen is out for the year.  Beat Arizona 78-70.  Blacklock had 22 points, Beers had 24 points and 13 rebounds and Mitrovic had 10 points and 15 rebounds.  

  

ASU: (8-19, 1-17)  Beat Oregon State 75-73.  Skinner had 27 points.  Lost to Oregon 77-48.  Skinner had 15 points and Hunt had 13 points.  

Next to last week of Pac-12 Season

Pac 12 Results of the Week:

            

Stanford: (26-3, 14-2) Beat USC 50-47 as Cameron Brink set the all time career Block record at Stanford.   Brink had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 6 blocks. Beat UCLA 71-66.  Brink had 25 points, Jones had 18 points and Lepolo added 11 points 3 of 5 from three.  Betts had 12 points in 15 minutes.  

 

Utah: (23-3, 13-3) Lost to Arizona 82-72.  Pili had 26 points and Johnson had 19 points.  Beat ASU without Pili 74-69.  Kneepkens had 22 points and Johnson had 15 points and McFarland back from last year’s injury had 9 points and 9 rebounds.

 

Colorado (21-6, 12-4) Beat ASU 70-62. Miller had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Sadler had 16 points.  Lost to Arizona 61-42.  Sadler had 12 points.  Colorado shot just 28%.

 

Arizona: (21-6, 11-5) Beat Utah 82-72.  Pellington had 35 points, 13 of 18 from the floor.  Beat Colorado 61-42.  Pellington had 19 points.  

 

UCLA: (21-7, 10-6)  Beat Cal 67-54.  Jones had 19 points. Lost to Stanford 71-66.  Jones had 14 points, Rice, Osborne had 11 points. 

 

USC: (19 -8, 9-7)  Lost to Stanford 50-47.  Littleton had 15 points.  Lost to Cal in OT 81-79.  Sissoko had 30 points and Marshall was back with 14 points and 9 rebounds.  

 

Washington State: (18-9, 8-8) Beat Oregon 64-57. Murekatete had 17 points and Teder had 13 points. Beat Oregon State 67-57. Murehatete had 19 points and Leger-Walker had 15 points.

 

Washington: (15-11,7-9) Beat Oregon State VanDyke 17 points, Ladine 11 points and Daniels 11 points and 7 rebounds. Beat Oregon 68-60.  Six 8 -13 players had points.  

 

Oregon: (14-12, 5-11) Lost to Washington State 64-57.  Gray had 18 points and Rogers 17 points.    Lost to Washington 68-60.  Paopao had 22 points. 

 

Cal: (13-14,4-12) Lost to UCLA 67-54.  Curry had 15 points, Martin and McIntosh each had 14 points.  Beat USC in OT 81-78.  Curry had 27 points.  

 

Oregon State: (11-16, 3-13) Lost to Washington 64-59.  Blacklock and Hansford each had points, Beers had 11 points and 13 rebounds.  Lost to Washington State 67-57.   Gardiner had 17 points.

 

ASU: (7-18, 0-16)  Lost to Colorado 70-62.  Skinner had 27 points.  Lost to Utah 74-69.  Erikstrup had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Pac-12 Results of the Week ending Feb 12

 

Pac 12 Results of the Week:  Stanford, Utah, Colorado, UCLA and USC won 2 games.  WSU, Oregon, Washington, Oregon St. and ASU lost 2 games.

                     

Stanford: (24-3, 12-2)  Beat Arizona 84-60.  Brink had 18 points, Jones 18 points & 12 rebounds and 6 assists.  Betts had 12 points.  Beat ASU 96-64.  Emma Nnopu had 17 points 5 of 6 from three.  Brink with 15 points, Betts with 13 points.  Stanford was 12 of 23 from three, Jump 4 of 8.  
 
 
Colorado (20-5, 11-3)  Beat Washington State 71-68 after being down 9 after 3 quarters.  Sherrod had 27 points, shooting 10 of 12.  Beat Washington 65-43.  Miller had 17 points and 12 rebounds. 
 
 
Arizona: (19-6, 9-5)  Lost to Stanford 84-60.  Beat Cal 80-57.  Pellington had 24 points.  Martinez had 15 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists.
  
 
Washington: (13-11,5-9)   Lost to Utah 92-69.  Ladine had 18 points. Lost to Colorado 65-43.  
 
 
Oregon State: (11-14, 3-11)  Lost to UCLA 62-54.  Lost to USC 60-54.  Beers had 18 points and 16 rebounds. 
 
 
Cal:  (12-13,3-11)  Beat ASU 72-61.  Curry had 21 points.  Lost to Arizona 80-57.  Curry scored 15.     
 
 

Utah:  (22-2, 12-2)    Beat Washington 92-69.  Utah was 16 of 29 from three.  Kneepkens had 19 points and Pili had 17 points.   Beat Washington State 73-59.  Pili with 15 points and 4 others in double figure scoring.  

 

UCLA:  (20-6, 9-5)     Beat Oregon State 62-54.  Jaquez had 14 points.   Beat Oregon 67-57.  Bessoir had 20 points with 4 threes.  Jones had 17 points.  

USC:  (19 -6, 9-5)    Beat Oregon 56-51.  Adika had 18 points and 11 rebounds.  Littleton had 18 points and Marshall had 11 rebounds.   Beat Oregon State 60-56.   Littleton had 18 points and Marshall had 11 points and 14 rebounds.

 

Washington State: (16-9, 6-8)    Lost to Colorado 71-68.  Leger-Walker had 17 points and 10 rebounds.   Lost to Utah 73-59.  Leger-Walker had 17 points and Murehatete had 18 points and 14 rebounds.  

 

Oregon:   (14-11, 5-9)       Lost to USC 56-51.  Rogers had 14 points and Kyei had 15 rebounds.  Lost to UCLA 67-57.  Rogers had 19 points.  

ASU:  (7-16, 0-14)  Lost to Cal 72-61.  Skinner had 17 points.   Lost to Stanford 96-64.  Skinner had 23 points.