As well-coached and as gritty as the Bears are, they're always going to
have problems against teams like Stanford. Although Ashley Walker's got great hands
and terrific footwork, she's basically an undersized center. This won't be a problem
against 95% of the teams the Bears play in Division I. Walker is quicker and more
talented than most players her size, and many taller players she goes against aren't
skilled enough to match up with her. But the operative word is many and not all.
Whether it's Brooke Smith of years gone by or Jayne Appel now, taller, skilled
players will always give Walker and Hampton trouble underneath, on both the offense and
defensive ends. If that happens, the Bears will need the guards to pick up the
scoring, and if the Bears hope to win the rematch at Haas, they'll need more than 22
points out of Gray-Lawson, Greif, and Vital.
First vs. Second Half (minimum 2 minutes)
First Half Top - Rama N'Diaye - 6-11, -5
Second Half Top - Lauren Greif - 23-23, 0
First Half Bottom - Lauren Greif - 14-32, -18
Second Half Bottom - Alexis Gray-Lawson - 33-40, -7
Difference Makers
There really weren't any difference makers in Saturday's game. All seven
players who usually play in Cal's rotation saw plenty of time and no player's presence
seemed to stem the bleeding. It may be a source of frustration that there was no one
combination that managed to make any inroads into Stanford's lead that the Bears can try
to exploit when the two team play each other again in February. In the second half,
the Bears played the Cardinal relatively even so players who played most of their minutes
during the first half will have numbers that look severe. For example, the Bears
were -16 during Ashley Walker's 27 minutes, but -4 during the 13 minutes that she didn't
play. Yet it should be considered that -13 of that was during the first half, when
Stanford was blasting every combination the Bears threw at them.
Keeping in mind that no players would really constitute difference makers,
we'll look at the splits, nonetheless.
One note of interest is that with Hampton in the game, the Bears averaged
1.56 points a minute (63 points/40 minute pace), but just 0.65 points a minutes (26
points/40 minute pace) when she was out of the game. This was the biggest difference
of any Bear.
N'Diaye, in addition to her 12 points and three rebounds, had another
defensive impact for the Bears. Cal did allow 1.43 points per minute (57 points/40 minute
pace) when she was in the game, compared to 2.21 points per minutes (88 points/40 minute).
On the downside, the Bears struggled offensively with her as they managed just 0.95
points per minute (38 points/40 minute pace) with her in the game compared to 1.68 points
per minute (67 points/40 minute pace). For someone who's generally not considered a
go-to player on offense, N'Diaye scored 12 of Cal's 20 points during her 21 minutes.
With Kelsey Adrian in 22 minutes - 30-40, -10
Without Adrian in 18 minutes - 22-32, -10
With Rama N'Diaye in 21 minutes - 20-30, -10
Without N'Diaye in 19 minutes - 32-42, -12
With Devanei Hampton in 29 minutes - 45-60, -15
Without Hampton in 11 minutes - 7-12, -5
With Ashley Walker in 27 minutes - 33-49, -16
Without Walker in 13 minutes - 19-23, -4
With Alexis Gray-Lawson in 30 minutes - 42-59, -17
Without Gray-Lawson in 10 minutes - 10-13, -3
With Lauren Greif in 29 minutes - 37-55, -18
Without Greif in 11 minutes - 15-17, -2
With Natasha Vital in 35 minutes - 43-62, -19
Without Vital in 5 minutes - 9-10, -1
Lineups
Starting lineup
Vital, Greif, Gray-Lawson, Hampton and Walker in 13:27 - 17-23, -6
All other lineups in 26:33 - 35-49, -14
Contribution Evaluation
| Player |
Minutes |
Expected |
Actual |
Difference |
| Sneed |
6 |
-3.00 |
+3 |
+6.00 |
| Federico |
1 |
-0.50 |
+2 |
+2.50 |
| Adrian |
22 |
-11.00 |
-10 |
+1.00 |
| N'Diaye |
21 |
-10.50 |
-10 |
+0.50 |
| Hampton |
29 |
-14.50 |
-15 |
-0.50 |
| Vital |
35 |
-17.50 |
-19 |
-1.50 |
| Gray-Lawson |
30 |
-15.00 |
-17 |
-2.00 |
| Walker |
27 |
-13.50 |
-16 |
-2.50 |
| Greif |
29 |
-14.50 |
-18 |
-3.50 |
Description: This stat measures the significance of a player's
contribution to the team's effort. If a team wins by 10 points, and a player plays in half
of the team's minutes, his expected contribution would be a +5. For example, when Cal
defeated Grambling by 19 points. Brian Wethers played 28 minutes or 70% of the game. If we
multiply 70% x +19, Wethers' expected contribution would be a +13.30. But for the game he
was a +26, so his net for the game for a +12.70. In a perfect team situation, if everyone
contributed equally, the difference column would consist of a row of zeros.
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