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		Micheal Duca on Cal basketball By Micheal Duca January 24, 2010

	Sportsradio: Alexis Gray Lawson was a force last Saturday in Corvallis with a huge win for Cal over Oregon State. Gray-Lawson had 47 points scored against the Beavers. Looking at this win and Alexis' performance do you see her being the go to player on the team and that she will make a difference for the future for the Bears? Well, Lee, I guess it depends on how you define "make a difference". The Cal women's team has struggled mightily this season, generally not meeting pre-season expectations -- but perhaps they are peaking at the right time, and that surely will not happen without major contributions from Alexis. Sportsradio: The Women's team now have won four straight including that incredible victory over Oregon State on Saturday in a game that went overtime in a four point 79-75 road win. How much does the above capture the character of what this team is about and tell us about the job that head coach Joanne Boyle has done for the team this year? If this team had wanted to, it could have given up much earlier this year -- they have been through a lengthy "bad patch", but good coaches convince their teams to put out their best effort on a nightly basis, and let the chips fall where they may. Cal's women's hoops squad appears to be on the upswing at this time, and a lot of that has to do with the seniors and the coach, who have helped the other players keep their heads up and their performances inspired. Sportstalk: In another close game the Cal Men's won a four pointer themselves at home against 65-61 against Oregon State to maintain first place in the Pac Ten, they have won four of their last five games. With Arizona State and Arizona coming up Thursday and Saturday do you look at these games as part of their biggest test of the season? Every game the men's team plays from now, until their last one, is their biggest test of the season. Facing the Arizona schools on the road, when they have had a light week previously (each playing only the other this past week), is a very, very tough row to hoe. Jerome Randle has misplaced, everyone hopes temporarily, his shooting touch, but against the Beavers Cal got good contributions from Jamal Boykin and Patrick Christopher, and they will have to continue winning, and especially defending, as a team. They especially will have to play their best against the zone Arizona State will throw at them; they have not done well against zone defenses this year, and although they topped Oregon State, they shot poorly from outside the arc. That will have to improve next week to think about a sweep of the Arizona schools, or even a split.