Cal Women's Basketball: Bears Win Opener, Prepare for Notre Dame

Cal tops CSUN and next faces No. 9 Irish in St. Louis on national TV Saturday

Cal's women's basketball team made quick work of CSUN in the Bears' season opener on Monday, but they face a much bigger challenge on Saturday when they play ninth-ranked Notre Dame on Saturday in St. Lous.

Cal did not need to depend on Jayda Curry while blowing out CSUN (Cal State Northridge) by a score of 86-56. Curry, who led the Pac-12 in scoring last season as a freshman when she averaged 18.6 points, had just nine points on 3-for-10 shooting.

But point guard Leilani McIntosh scored 14 points while hitting 3-of-6 three-point shots, and post player Evelien Lutje Schipholt added 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting.

The Bears broke the game open by scoring 33 points in the third quarter, with Curry scoring just five of those points. The quarter ended with McIntosh making a halfcourt shot to beat the buzzer.

"We need balanced scoring," Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. "We don't want to just rely on Jayda. That's what we've been emphasizing this whole offseason is having other people step up. This is going to make us a better team."

The Bears will need all the firepower they can get when they face national powerhouse Notre Dame in a Saturday afternoon game that will be televised nationally (NBC) from Enterprise Arena in St. Louis, which is Smith's hometown.

"We're super-excited," Schipholt said in the video atop the story. "There's nothing more fun than getting to play a ranked opponent."

For Smith the challenge has been focusing on the opener while trying not to think about returning to her hometown where she will have family and friends in attendance.

"To be completely honest it's been really challenging for me to not look ahead," she said. "I've been really careful in practice, we something this week, and I'm like, 'That's not going to work against [Notre Dame guard Dara] Mabrey, but wait, wait wait, we're not playing Mabrey yet.'

"I think this will be great for our team, and I'm also excited really excited about having a game in front of my family."

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