2021-2022 Washington State University Women's Basketball (PDF) - Washington State University Athletics (wsucougars.com)

The Cougar's defense has held eight opponents below sixty points. Washington State has only scored 62.55 ppg while allowing their opposition only 57.18 ppg. Their winning margin has averaged 5.37 points. In their three losses, Wazzu has simply been outscored. They have not been a high scoring team this season but have been disciplined on the defensive side of the ball. Their margin for error is small. One problem for Cal-nobody has been able to beat the Cougs in the Palouse in 2021. They lost to #3 NC State in a tourney in the Bahamas and lost two road affairs at #21 BYU & Stony Brook. I watched approximately half of the BYU game and WSU was down by four points in the beginning of the 4th quarter. Only NC State really dominated 'em and blew them out by 28. They shut down the Cougars top scorer, Charlisse Leger-Walker, from New Zealand to three points. The soph averages 17.2 ppg.

If Cal can score in the seventies, I believe that they'll emerge triumphant in their Pac 12 opener. This is the only one of six opening games that is still scheduled to play on New Year's Eve. Cal has not faced Wazzu since 2019
so they have not played Charlisse previously. The Cougars have not defended Jayda Curry, yet, either. I expect that the game will be competitive and close. Remember, however, that the Washington State went to the NCAA Tournament last year and they were a pre-season pick to make it, again, this season. The Bears were picked last

GO BEARS!

Did any of you view the Live Stats lineups? Alma Elsnitz is starting in place of Jadya Curry and also no Jazlen Green or Dalayah Daniels starting. WSU has their normal five starters. If Curry is out due to Covid, Cal should postpone this game like the rest of the conference is doing...We'll see in five minutes when the game starts.

If Curry is not available for the Bears-it will be a blowout for the Cougars. Fingers-crossed. GO BEARS!

that is some brace Elsnitz is wearing - amazing how she can move with it on

I see a few players missing from the bench. Is there any word if they stayed in Berkeley or they traveled with the team?

Daniels
Green
Heidi
Curry

First media timeout WSU 7 Cal 6 (Alma with 4, one bucket, 2 FT - ELS with an 8 footer)

These announcers are terrible. Where is Jayda? They say she's out but not why.

And Onyiah was first off the bench.
So, Daniels is out for the whole game. Sheesh.

Only 4 players in uniform on the bench. I believe Dalayah Daniels, Jazlen Green & Jadya Curry are out but the announcers have not told us why? Why is game being played with a nine player roster out of fourteen? Ten teams postponed their games so why in the world is this being played in these conditions. It reminds me of our football team flying to Arizona without 24 players and lost to a winless team.

ELS and Onyiah miss in close.... Tough to win when you don't make those shots.
Cal without a point for last 4:25

Cal is getting the ball in low, but Cal is not finishing. Sigh

quarter to forget - 18-6 WSU on top.
Cal was 2-12 in first - and had 6 turnovers
Scoreless last 5:45 of the first...

I've only watched for a bit but we've missed 3 layups. And when I say miss, I mean we missed the entire rim.From 3 feet away. I really don't understand. We are lucky to only be down 12. It isn't that WSU is playing incredible defense. Really no excuse for missing these shots.

We are also turning the ball over for no reason. Frustrating to watch.

Correct-Schipholt has missed two layups and Onyiah has missed one. Cal getting beaten down the court for fast-break layups. According to Live Stats-the Bears have made 2 of 9 layups. This is Div I basketball?

Charmin Smith had better have a reason for playing this game and undoing the confidence that the team had built prior to this rout.

This offense is bad. No idea what they are trying to do.

Cal can't shoot - 4 of 19 and Cal is down 34-12 with 2 to go in the half.
And ... I am ..out.

Gosh, this is painful. It's Bear Bloke's birthday, so we're drinking champagne and eating chocolate. And almost weeping.

The irritating thing is that Wazzu is good, but not that good. It's a mental defeat, thus far. And where the hell is Jazzy Green? Are we to imagine that this game should have been cancelled because of "Covid protocols"?

HoopDreams said:

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This looks like last year

Why can Stanford MBB cancel due to Covid, but we can't???

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We have enough players to play, so we should play. The problem is that we don't look prepared at all. We have apparently been relying on Curry too much. No off ball movement. Screening is poor. Too much dribbling. Really, really poor passing. Poor shooting but mostly because we are taking contested shots. We take too long to set up our offense (maybe 15 seconds left on the clock when we initiate our offense) so we need to rush. Not boxing out properly on the defensive end so we are giving up lots of second and third shots. Going for cheap steals leading to open shots on their side. Pretty much a cmplete melt down.

HoopDreams said:

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This looks like last year

Why can Stanford MBB cancel due to Covid, but we can't???

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I believe that the threshold is 7 players. Unfortunately, 3 of Cal's best players are out.

I was so hopeful but as far as tonight, it's time to check out. Can Cal ever catch a break?

BearBint said:

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Gosh, this is painful. It's Bear Bloke's birthday, so we're drinking champagne and eating chocolate. And almost weeping.

The irritating thing is that Wazzu is good, but not that good. It's a mental defeat, thus far. And where the hell is Jazzy Green? Are we to imagine that this game should have been cancelled because of "Covid protocols"?

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Jazzy is sitting on the bench but not in uniform.

Cal will never recover from this 40-50 points loss. I'm angry-I checked all day today to see if the game would get cancelled like the other five conference contests. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AND THIS IS A DISGRACE. I watched the West Coast Jamboree from Tuesday thru Thursday and the top high school teams play superior fundamentals than Cal. The coaching staff should not have let this happen to their team. This is how your team debuts in the Pac 12 with a massacre. I'm out of here and I will not watch the second half. This is a joke and I want to hear why Charmin Smith allowed this to happen when no other conference coach did. They are attempting to reschedule those games but even if the game is not played-its better than having your players humilated in your conference opener.

You cannot just cancel a game. I put the voice on mute, cannot handle the announcers. I am changing the channel, will check back much later. I feel badly for the players.They are so out of snyc. Maybe Charmin should set up Cailyn Crocker and let her keep shooting? Charmin is not an excuse kind of coach. Jazzy is on the bench but not suited up. I wish we knew why Jayda and Dalaylah did not make the trip. Do they have the flu? It cannot be Covid or no trip to Washington. I still like this team.

Bear8995 said:

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HoopDreams said:

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This looks like last year

Why can Stanford MBB cancel due to Covid, but we can't???

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The problem is that we don't look prepared at all. We have apparently been relying on Curry too much.

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Yeah, I was thinking about Curry, and how simple it was to assume that she, like Steph, would come streaking in during the third quarter and make everything all right. Cal used to do that with Kristine as well.

I read somewhere that the rule was seven healthy athletes and one coach in order to play a game.

Game isn't over but we aren't going to win. Better effort in the 2nd half but simply stated, we lost this game in the first half. You have to play the full 40. Defensively, our bigs play flat footed and give up easy shots. Still don't understand why we start our offense with about 15 seconds left on the clock. Also no excuse for not running back hard on defense. Lots of jogging tonight. That is really just effort. We aren't good enough to play at 75% and win.

Bear8995 said:

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Game isn't over but we aren't going to win. Better effort in the 2nd half but simply stated, we lost this game in the first half. You have to play the full 40. Defensively, our bigs play flat footed and give up easy shots. Still don't understand why we start our offense with about 15 seconds left on the clock. Also no excuse for not running back hard on defense. Lots of jogging tonight. That is really just effort. We aren't good enough to play at 75% and win.

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we slowed it down this game, but haven't this season

I think they recognized they couldn't play their regular pace with 3 starters out

WSU's player and ball movement was such a big contrast with Cal's. Not sure if WSU has a veteran team, but they certainly run a good offense. They shot the lights out from 3, but most were wide open because of their player and ball movement

Can't think of many positives for Cal, but I was wowed that Michelle went coast to coast and scored on a layup after out sprinting two WSU guards

The announcer said Curry has COVID, DD they did not specify, and Green is injured. Cal had enough players to play the game so no need to cancel it.

Pac12 play is going to be tough, Pac12 play w/o your top scorer is going to be tough. What this game exposed is that players have gotten marginally better but none of them showed a leap from year one to year two. Team looked out of sync and shell shocked in that first half. It was a bit better in the 2nd. But jeeez that was a shock to the system watching that game. Or, it was a reality check.

Also, Sela did not travel with the team.....will we know why three players did not travel with the team? Sorry to see Jazzy not dressed. Hopefully, she will be back on the court soon.I wonder if the Oregon teams will be in the bay area next weekend....I do not know their Covid status.

Kamie Ethridge has faced Charmin Smith 3x:

2019 in Pullman (92-66 ) 26-point loss
2019 in Berkeley (96-75) 21-point loss
2021 in Pullman (69-42) 27-point loss

Prior to these mis-matches, Cal beat the Washington State teams regularly.
When will the Bears stop getting mauled by the Cougars?

Btw, Wazzu coming into to this game had shot only 29,4% on three point shots for the season. Yet tonight the Cougars were left uncovered and hit almost 50% (11-23). What's up with the coaching?

Ashfield63 said:

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I wonder if the Oregon teams will be in the bay area next weekend...I do not know their Covid status.

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Their games against Colorado and Utah were postponed because of COVID issues within the host schools. Hopefully, all teams will be ready to play next week.

If Jayda Curry tested positive for Covid or was exposed to someone, I would think the entire team and staff would have to isolate per protocol. Does anyone know the situation, and why the game was not postponed?