Michelle Onyiah Dominates in 79-65 win over Georgia Tech

Cal executes the gameplan to perfection in key late season matchup

Consider this a play-in game.

Photo courtesy Rob Hwang

Coming into tonight’s game, Cal was seeded 7th in the ACC Conference standings, Georgia Tech 8th. The path forward for the #7 seed is much easier than the #8 seed. My weekend recap broke down why the #7 seed has a much easier path to advance, and all the tiebreaker scenarios that greatly favor Cal with a victory tonight*. In addition to the conference pecking order, both teams are fighting for better seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Various mock NCAA brackets have both teams as an 8/9 seed. The numbers are;

• Georgia Tech: #28 NET ranking, 1-5 against Quad 1, 6-2 against Quad 2.

• Cal: #40 NET ranking, 3-5 against Quad 1, 4-2 against Quad 2.

This is the last chance either team has in the regular season to improve both their conference standings and gain another Quad 1 win.**

The scouting report showed Cal with a definite advantage on the inside. Georgia Tech leads the conference in assists at just over 18 per game. They are led by a trio of ball-handling and dribble penetrating guards, most notably Kara Dunn who average nearly 16 points and 6 rebounds per game. They have 2 players in their rotation who are just over 6’, but do not have the strength or size to battle Michelle Onyiah and Cal’s other frontline players over the course of the game. Cal’s best strategy was to attack the lane directly or through dribble penetration going towards the basket. Michelle would need to stay out of foul trouble and provide help defense on GT’s penetrating guards.

Cal dominated the first quarter, going inside either with direct plays to Onyiah, or dribble penetration from Lulu Twidale and others. Twidale had 7 early points, while Onyiah added 4. Cal held a 11-5 rebounding edge. Most importantly, Onyiah played 8 minutes and committed zero fouls. The game plan was being executed to perfection, as Cal held a 23-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter continued the script. Michelle Onyiah scored 6 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in the period as Cal continued to focus on interior scoring. The interior focus also opened up outside shooting looks, as Cal was 5-of-10 from outside in the first half. Lulu Twidale had a nice mix of dribble drives and outside snipes, scoring 12 points in the half on efficient 5-of-8 shooting. Tech’s Kara Dunn scored 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, but was getting no help from her teammates. Cal led 40-26 at halftime.

Photo courtesy Rob Hwang

The third quarter was more of the same. Cal continued to look inside to Michelle Onyiah, who added 8 more points to her game leading 18. Georgia Tech improved their shooting numbers, hitting 8-of-15 shots for the quarter. Cal was keeping up, hitting 7-of-14 shots and adding 7 free throws. Cal led 63-47 going into the final quarter.

Cal held steady in the fourth quarter, as Georgia Tech could not make a dent in the score. The starters were subbed out to thunderous applause with several minutes left in the period, as Cal cruised to the 79-65 victory.

Michelle Onyiah scored 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting, while collecting 10 rebounds. Lulu Twidale added 17, and Ioanna Krimili scored 15. Cal shot 21-of-32 on two point attempts, showing how dominant the inside game was for the Bears. Cal won the rebounding battle, 36 to 25. Cal had 19 assists on 30 made baskets, and committed 16 turnovers.

Cal’s defense prevented Tech’s offense from getting into a consistent rhythm. The Yellow Jackets were held to 12 assists, well below their season average of 18. In her postgame comments, Golden Bears Coach Charmin Smith praised Assistant Coach Jenny Huth’s scouting report for the defensive strategy, saying “when (Dani) Carnegie got into the game, we switched ball screen coverage….and we wanted to make it tough on her. It’s hard to shut down all three.” Georgia Tech’s Kara Dunn scored 18 and grabbed 6 rebounds, and fellow guard Tonie Morgan added 13 points. Dani Carnegie was held to 3 points, well below her season average of 13.5 points per game.

With the other results tonight, Cal is now locked into the #7 seed in the conference tournament. Coach Smith’s comments bounced between eyeing the #7 seed (“I want off the 8 line”) and focusing on Sunday’s home finale against the Miami Hurricanes. After tonight’s solid win, the Bears are loose and confident. Towards the end of the postgame comments, Coach Smith gave herself and her players a chance to look ahead;

Coach Smith: “Do you guys know we did 4 cross country trips in 8 weeks? And we’re about to do our 5th in 10. And we’re ready for it.”

Ioanna Krimili: “We are ready for it.”

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* With Notre Dame’s upset loss to Florida State tonight, Notre Dame slips to the #2 seed in the conference and NC State moves up to #1. One of the goals of the #7 seed was to avoid Notre Dame as long as possible.. The #7 seed looses a tiny bit of luster, as Cal would have preferred NC State (whom they have already beaten) as a potential quarterfinal opponent.

** Yes, I know there is one more game Sunday. But it’s largely irrelevant now that Cal has won this game. Cal is playing Quad 3 Miami, a game Cal should win but now has no impact on conference standings (is still impacts the NCAA profile). Georgia Tech has a solid Quad 2 matchup against Stanford. Cal fans should be rooting for Stanford to lose (duh), mainly due to currently Stanford is the 10-seed and a potential first game matchup for the Bears. I have an aversion to facing a team for the third time after beating them both consecutive times, especially in an elimination situation.