Blue Gold Scrimmage gives preview of CSUB women basketball’s upcoming season

Susan Rodriguez, Sports Reporter

With the annual Blue and Gold Scrimmage, CSUB women’s basketball fans were able to catch a glimpse of what is to come in the upcoming season. The Women’s team played two, five minute quarters, and six of their players participated in a 3-point competition where fans could win a pair of Dre Beats. Six fans were each partnered with a different player; if their player won, they took home a new pair of Dre Beats.

During the first quarter, the Gold team took the lead over the Blue team with a score of 12 to 8 with 1 minute 29 seconds left in the quarter. As the players hustled up and down the court, the Gold team remained on top and welcomed in half-time with a score of 14 to 8, having kept Blue team from scoring.

Although these players were competing against their own team in this scrimmage, they did not hold back as both freshman point guard, Morgan Edwards (2), and sophomore point guard, Tatyanna Clayburne (1), both scored 3-pointers in the game.

Head Coach Greg McCall, as he prepares for his twelfth season, gives insight on what to expect. “I think you can expect a lot of excitement, a lot of up and down. We like to really get up and down on our tempo… of course a lot of three point shooting, as you can tell.”

To showcase the player’s talent, there was a 3-point competition. Starting off the competition, freshman guard Sophia Tougas (5) competed against junior shooting guard Shaunae Brown (10), with a final score of 14 to 7. Freshman guard Julia Riley (33) finished off the competition with 18 points, making her the winner of the competition.

Talent was visible throughout both quarters. The Gold team maintained their momentum and kept scoring keeping the final score of the second and final half at 20 to 14. This is something that both the players and Head Coach McCall are excited about in the upcoming games.

“We have several players that you can kind of look out for. [We] Continue to work hard every single day in practice, stay consistent, stay disciplined. Those are the things that we really work hard on,” explains Head Coach McCall.

Senior center Soli Herrera (13) mentions what can be expected from her in future games, “More rebounds to help my team. A lot of communication, talk on the court”. Confidence is something Herrera (13) also mentions there is a gain of for this season. In addition to her individual expectations, Herrera (13) explains, “Right now we’re looking really good. Good chemistry, everybody is cool with each other, so we operate well.”

Good communication and teamwork is the theme of the season. Freshman point guard Morgan Edwards (2) explains her contribution for upcoming games, “Getting my teammates involved, I’m a point guard so I definitely want to get my teammates started early in the game and looking to score”. Edwards (2) adds, “I think we’re doing really good right now. We have a lot of chemistry on the team and I just can’t wait to get on the court and start playing with my teammates.”