Wednesday, November 16
Stanford, CA
8 P.M.
at
Stanford
Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Mustangs Travel to No. 2 Stanford, Fresno State This Week
11/14/2022 6:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball
WEEKLY NOTES (PDF)
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Beginning its toughest stretch of the season, playing two of the top ranked teams in the country over its next three games, Cal Poly hits the road this week for a pair of games. The Mustangs (1-1) head north to take on No. 2 Stanford Wednesday for an 8 p.m. tip. The game will be streamed live on Pac-12.com. They then head east to face Fresno State Friday at 6 p.m. That game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network. Links to watch both games and follow live stats can be found on the schedule page. Last week, Cal Poly opened the season with a road loss to UCLA. The Mustangs then picked up their first win of the season a few days later against Simpson in the home opener. Through the first two games, senior forward Julia Nielacna leads the Mustangs in scoring at 12.5 points per game. Sophomore guard Annika Shah leads the team in assists at 4.5 per game and junior forward Natalia Ackerman paces the team in rebounds at 6.5 per game. For the first time in 25 years, the Mustangs will have a new head coach at the helm as Shanele Stires enters her first year as head coach. She was hired in April following the retirement of Faith Mimnaugh, the winningest coach in Cal Poly women's basketball history, after 25 seasons with the program. The team's top three scorers return from last year and eight total letterwinners. On top of that, the new coaching staff brought in seven newcomers. Those consist of four true freshmen and three Division I transfers. Following Friday's game, the schedule doesn't get any easier as the Mustangs welcome in No. 1 South Carolina to Mott Athletics Center Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 5 p.m. Scouting Stanford: The Cardinal are off to a 4-0 so far this season. The 2021 national champions return 10 players from last year's team, including All-Americans Haley Jones and Cameron Brink. The last time the Mustangs played Stanford was Nov. 24, 2020 with the Cardinal winning, 108-40. Scouting Fresno State: The Bulldogs head into the week 1-1 so far this season with a win over Fresno Pacific and a loss to CSU Bakersfield. Last year, Fresno State was 11-18, losing in the first round of the Mountain West Tournament. Their top three scorers from last season are gone and this year's team features nine underclassmen on the roster. Returning Mustangs: Despite losing two starters from last year, Cal Poly brings back plenty from last year's team. The team's top three scorers are all back this year. Senior guard Maddie Vick led the team in scoring, assists, and minutes last season. Senior guard Maddie Willett returns after being second on the team in scoring last year at 8.9 ppg while leading the team in made threes and three point percentage. Senior forward Julia Nielacna is also back after averaging 8.3 ppg last season while playing in 24 of 25 games and starting 11. In addition to those three, there are five players back this season who played in at least 22 games last year. New Stangs: Cal Poly added eight newcomers to this year's team, five freshmen and three Division I transfers. The three transfers consist of graduate student Nikola Kovacikova, graduate student Oumou Toure, and junior Taylor Wu. Kovacikova comes to Cal Poly after previously playing at both Penn and Georgetown. Last season at Penn, she played in 19 games with eight starts. Off the court, she earned Penn's Norman J. Goldring Prize and George H. Frazier Prize which is given to a senior female student-athlete with the highest GPA. She spent her first two collegiate seasons at Georgetown. As a sophomore in 2019-20, she appeared in 27 games with 12 starts and was the Hoyas' third-leading scorer, averaging 7.9 ppg. Toure comes to Cal Poly after having spent the last three years at Butler. She played her freshman season before missing the next two due to injury and the COVID pandemic. As a freshman in 2019-20, she was named to the Big East All-Freshman Team. That season, she appeared in 27 games, making 20 starts and ranked second on the team in scoring at 9.1 points per game while shooting 46 percent from the field to go along with 6.1 rebounds per game. She also led the Big East and ranked 45th in the NCAA in steals per game at 2.33. Wu spent the last three seasons at California Baptist University where she played in 70 career games. She made her mark as a freshman in 2019-20, averaging 6.6 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.7 apg in 18.4 minutes per game. She broke the program's freshman single game scoring record after dropping 37 points against Ottawa (AZ) and in the same game broke the program record for threes made in a game with 10. As a sophomore, she started 19 of 27 games, averaging 8.9 ppg, 1.7 apg, and 21.9 minutes per game. She scored in double figures 11 times including a season-high 15 against Pepperdine.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Beginning its toughest stretch of the season, playing two of the top ranked teams in the country over its next three games, Cal Poly hits the road this week for a pair of games. The Mustangs (1-1) head north to take on No. 2 Stanford Wednesday for an 8 p.m. tip. The game will be streamed live on Pac-12.com. They then head east to face Fresno State Friday at 6 p.m. That game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network. Links to watch both games and follow live stats can be found on the schedule page. Last week, Cal Poly opened the season with a road loss to UCLA. The Mustangs then picked up their first win of the season a few days later against Simpson in the home opener. Through the first two games, senior forward Julia Nielacna leads the Mustangs in scoring at 12.5 points per game. Sophomore guard Annika Shah leads the team in assists at 4.5 per game and junior forward Natalia Ackerman paces the team in rebounds at 6.5 per game. For the first time in 25 years, the Mustangs will have a new head coach at the helm as Shanele Stires enters her first year as head coach. She was hired in April following the retirement of Faith Mimnaugh, the winningest coach in Cal Poly women's basketball history, after 25 seasons with the program. The team's top three scorers return from last year and eight total letterwinners. On top of that, the new coaching staff brought in seven newcomers. Those consist of four true freshmen and three Division I transfers. Following Friday's game, the schedule doesn't get any easier as the Mustangs welcome in No. 1 South Carolina to Mott Athletics Center Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 5 p.m. Scouting Stanford: The Cardinal are off to a 4-0 so far this season. The 2021 national champions return 10 players from last year's team, including All-Americans Haley Jones and Cameron Brink. The last time the Mustangs played Stanford was Nov. 24, 2020 with the Cardinal winning, 108-40. Scouting Fresno State: The Bulldogs head into the week 1-1 so far this season with a win over Fresno Pacific and a loss to CSU Bakersfield. Last year, Fresno State was 11-18, losing in the first round of the Mountain West Tournament. Their top three scorers from last season are gone and this year's team features nine underclassmen on the roster. Returning Mustangs: Despite losing two starters from last year, Cal Poly brings back plenty from last year's team. The team's top three scorers are all back this year. Senior guard Maddie Vick led the team in scoring, assists, and minutes last season. Senior guard Maddie Willett returns after being second on the team in scoring last year at 8.9 ppg while leading the team in made threes and three point percentage. Senior forward Julia Nielacna is also back after averaging 8.3 ppg last season while playing in 24 of 25 games and starting 11. In addition to those three, there are five players back this season who played in at least 22 games last year. New Stangs: Cal Poly added eight newcomers to this year's team, five freshmen and three Division I transfers. The three transfers consist of graduate student Nikola Kovacikova, graduate student Oumou Toure, and junior Taylor Wu. Kovacikova comes to Cal Poly after previously playing at both Penn and Georgetown. Last season at Penn, she played in 19 games with eight starts. Off the court, she earned Penn's Norman J. Goldring Prize and George H. Frazier Prize which is given to a senior female student-athlete with the highest GPA. She spent her first two collegiate seasons at Georgetown. As a sophomore in 2019-20, she appeared in 27 games with 12 starts and was the Hoyas' third-leading scorer, averaging 7.9 ppg. Toure comes to Cal Poly after having spent the last three years at Butler. She played her freshman season before missing the next two due to injury and the COVID pandemic. As a freshman in 2019-20, she was named to the Big East All-Freshman Team. That season, she appeared in 27 games, making 20 starts and ranked second on the team in scoring at 9.1 points per game while shooting 46 percent from the field to go along with 6.1 rebounds per game. She also led the Big East and ranked 45th in the NCAA in steals per game at 2.33. Wu spent the last three seasons at California Baptist University where she played in 70 career games. She made her mark as a freshman in 2019-20, averaging 6.6 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.7 apg in 18.4 minutes per game. She broke the program's freshman single game scoring record after dropping 37 points against Ottawa (AZ) and in the same game broke the program record for threes made in a game with 10. As a sophomore, she started 19 of 27 games, averaging 8.9 ppg, 1.7 apg, and 21.9 minutes per game. She scored in double figures 11 times including a season-high 15 against Pepperdine.
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