For the first time in about 15 years, the Cal women’s hoops team finds itself in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

But the Bears’ next opponent may give them fits, so much so that ESPN predicts a nice little second-round upset when sixth-seeded George Washington plays Cal tonight at Maples Pavilion.

We’ll see if that happens, but for now, the Bears can relish finally winning a first round game. Some keys for tonight’s game:

• San Diego’s Amanda Rego did her thing, dishing out eight assists in the Toreros loss to Cal. But one thing I noticed about Rego’s game is that she isn’t a scorer. She had several drives to the bucket where she couldn’t finish the layup. Rego also didn’t look for her jump shot. Expect that to change when another great guard matches up against the Bears. The Colonials’ All-America candidate Kimberly Beck may have only shot 1-of-7 from the field in her team’s win over Auburn on Saturday, but Beck is averaging 13.0 ppg and isn’t afraid to take her shots.
• Beck can be the difference maker, but the focus will be on the battle down low between the Bears’ Ashley Walker and Devanei Hampton and GW’s Adair twins. Whoever wins that physical clash will come out with this game.

One other interesting note is that Cal coach Joanne Boyle is 0-7 against the Colonials in her career, but all seven losses came when she was with Richmond. I think her current squad has a little bit more talent than those Spiders she used to coach. But it’s still interesting. Maybe Boyle can break her own curse tonight and get Cal to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.

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