Cal Women's Basketball: Bears Picked to Finish 11th in Pac-12

Cal finished ahead of one team in the preseason coaches poll

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Well, Cal is not picked to finish last.

First-year Cal women's basketball coach Charmin Smith knew her rookie season as a head coach would be a challege after the Bears lost the top four scorers from last year's squad, which wound up 9-9 in the Pac-12.

And the preseason coaches poll released Monday refelcted the losses. The Bears were picked to finish 11th in the Pac-12, ahead of just one team, Colorado.

Cal received 28 votes, to leave it just behind Washington State, which received 34 votes, and ahead of Colorado, which wound up with 16 votes.

Oregon, which might be ranked No. 1 in the preseason national rankings when they are released, is picked to finish first and received all 11 first-place votes it could get.(Coaches are not allowed to voted for their own team.) Stanford, which is also expected to be placed among the top 10 in the preseason poll, was picked to finish second and received the other first-place vote.

The Bears lost four key players. Asha Tomas and Recee Caldwell ran out of eligiblity, Kianna Smith transferred to Louisville, and second-team All-American Kristine Anigwe was a first-round pick in last spring's WNBA draft.

The one returning starter is Jaelyn Brown, who is also the top returning screr after she averaged 7.9 points in 2018-19. The Bears are expected to lean heavily on sophomore McKenzie Forbes, who averaged 5.3 points and player a bigger role late in the season. She considered transferring after Lindsay Gottlieb left to take a job in the NBA, but she decided to stay when Smith, a Cal assistant last year, was named head coach. 

CJ West will be expected to handle a lot of the low-post duties, and freshmen will be asked to play a lot.

The poll, with (first-place votes) and total voting points:

1. Oregon (11) 121 points

2. Stanford (1) 111 

3. Oregon State 99

4. UCLA 93

5. Arizona State 77

6. Arizona 73

7. Utah 58

8. USC 47

9. Washington 35

10. Washington State 34

11. Cal 28

12. Colorado 16