Kianna Smith

McIntosh arrives in Berkeley after an accomplished career at Xavier College Preparatory in Phoenix, Arizona, where she was the 2019 6A Premier Region Player of the Year and became a member of the school’s 1,000-point club.

We have seen several times this season when Cal guards dribble around and find Anigwe in the perfect spot or just drop the ball to her on the post, but seeing a guard put a screen for her post player is not an everyday sighting.

The downfall for the Bears was 3-point shooting, as when Anigwe was taken out of the equation by the Cardinal defense, Cal relied heavily on the deep shot. The Bears, however, made only one (yes, one) of their 13 attempts behind the arc in the second half.

After another 0-2 weekend, the Bears now sit at 5-9 in conference play and have dropped to ninth place in the Pac-12. While they’ve remained competitive against the top tier of the conference, their only win against the top six teams was on a buzzer-beater versus Stanford.

Cal closed out the toughest stretch of the season, playing four top-10 matchups and managing to steal one game. Even though the weekend ended with two losses, the Bears gained a lot of learning experience by going head to head with the top teams in the nation.

Whatever the outcome and whomever Cal faces, the Bears will need to bring their best performance on the court every game from now on, but it is especially crucial against two top-10 teams this weekend.

Playing at home is always an advantage, but the Cal faithful were in sync with the Bears all game long, providing crucial energy on a late Thursday night. Everyone got extra motivation for Friday as Thomas called game.

The Battle of the Bay is around the corner, and this is one battle Cal (13-6, 4-4) cannot bear to lose. The Cardinal will visit Haas Pavilion on Thursday for round one of the home-and-home before the Bears head down to Palo Alto on Saturday.

Unfortunately for Anigwe, her milestone came during an intense game that ended in Cal’s loss to the Wildcats. Arizona stands as one of the best defensive teams in the Pac-12, and they didn’t hesitate to show it during this conference battle.

The Cal faithful might not be able to see their team ranked in the top 25 next week for the first time this season, depending on how the Bears respond against USC.