Cal Poly -- Wednesday @ 7 PM

The 5-4 Pilots come back home for one more game before going cross-town on Saturday against PSU and then hitting the road after Christmas to begin WCC play.

The Pilots opponent Cal Poly is 6-4 on the year, but they are also on a 4 game winning streak…..two of those wins coming against WCC foes USF and Pepperdine.  

It’s pretty obvious the Mustangs go inside and outside…..their two leading scorers are 6-5 and 5-6.  Both are juniors and both are averaging close to 16 points per game.

Look for 5-6 guard, #5 Ariana Elegado to drive and shoot from the outside, and 6-5 center, #43 Molly Schlemer to pound the boards and score on the inside.  If past games are any indication, the Pilots may have no answer for Schlemer without putting the Mustangs in the double-bonus from the line 10 minutes into the game.

Schlemer has so far proven the adage that it takes a big player a couple of years to develop.  In two years at Cal Poly she’s averaged less than 2 points per game….now she’s the leading scorer.

Gawd, those ladies can be frustrating at times.....but they pulled it out against a Top-100 RPI team, 83-76.  

Yes, Schlemer and Elegado got their numbers (24 pts and 16 rebounds for Schlember and 16 pts for Elegado), but somehow in the last 90 seconds of play the Pilots put it together with some very good stops and excellent free-throw shooting.

Leading by as much as 12 a couple of times in the first half, and by 7 relatively late, the Pilots almost threw the game away with errant passes, wild shots, and passive defence that allowed the Mustangs to take the lead with under 2 minutes left....but then the Pilots defensive pressure caused Cal Poly to take wild shots and commit turnovers down the stretch.

The Pilots were awful from the field and behind the arc (27-74 and 5-20), but they pulled down 19 offensive boards

The Pilots were 24-27 at the line (Cassandra Brown was 9-9 while scoring 21 points), where they outscored the Mustangs by 13....Cal Poly was 11-15.

The Pilots now head to the South Park Blocks for a 2 PM tipoff on Saturday.....can they stay focused knowing they’re leaving for home and Christmas right after the game?

Having seen PSU play a couple of times this year, the Pilots should win the game. However they are scrappy as usual and Coach Murrell is good at getting the most out of her teams.