Krimili tops USF 3-point list

Ioanna Krimili looked a lot more like herself Monday, but that came after a slow-shooting start to the season.

The USF junior scored 35 points, going 8-for-13 from 3point range in a 73-65 win over Penn, following a 74-48 loss to USC two days prior. She moved into first place on the Dons’ career 3-point list with 207, eclipsing Shay Rollins (2005-09), who had 205.

“She’s been a player the past two years who starts out slowly,” USF head coach Molly Goodenbour said, “and then she’ll hit her stride as we get through more games.”

Kennedy Dickie, averaging 12.2 points and 11 rebounds per game, also added a career-high 19-rebound performance against the Quakers.

Dickie played her first two seasons at Eastern Washington and was named to the All-WCC second team after starting 19 of 33 games in her first season with the Dons. She has started all five games this season.

“I needed to figure out how to coach her, and she needed to figure out how to play in this system and what the expectations were,” Goodenbour said. “I think she’s had tremendous growth over the last season.”

At 3-2, the Dons fell to both of their Pac-12 opponents (Washington State was the other). The Penn win was one of their best rebounding performances of the past few seasons, a positive as they prepare for WCC play.

Lepolo thrives

Not many Stanford performances against No. 1 South Carolina were too memorable Sunday. One came from Cameron Brink. The other was Talana Lepolo.

Head coach Tara VanDerveer added Lepolo to the starting five before the fourth game of the season, and the point guard will likely will keep that spot. Haley Jones was projected to play the point without an obvious successor to Anna Wilson and Lacie Hull, but VanDerveer might have struck gold with Lepolo.

“I thought she played beyond any freshman point guard I’ve seen do,” VanDerveer said after the 76-71loss in overtime.

Lepolo’s hustle produced five rebounds in addition to six assists and seven points. Her consistency making point guard an anchor has been a pleasant surprise of the early season for a Stanford squad that expected to tinker with its answer at the position. That leaves Jones free to play off the ball and better positions her to focus on scoring in the majority of her minutes.

Indya Nivar has been the first guard off the bench, and VanDerveer cited her as someone who can learn from Lepolo’s early-season performance.

“Having that guard play going forward, it’s great for our team and our program,” VanDerveer said.

Cal faring well

The Bears were picked to finish 11th in the Pac-12, but they’ve played like a team that deserved to be rated a lot higher.

At 3-1, the Bears’ lone loss was to then-No. 9 Notre Dame, a game they trailed by just three in the fourth quarter. Since then, victories over Idaho and St. Mary’s have shown Cal to be a team beyond sophomore guard Jayda Curry.

Leilani McIntosh leads the Bears with 12.5 points per game after her 18-point performance against St.. Mary’s, and she has had double-digit points in all games but one. Evelien Lutje Schipholt also has added 10.8 points per game, and USF transfer Claudia Langarita is 11-for-13 from the floor.

Cal’s schedule doesn’t get much tougher until it plays Stanford at the end of December. Perhaps the Bears can pile up some wins and some confidence before then.

Games to watch this week

Friday: Stanford vs. Florida Gulf Coast, in Hawaii, 5 p.m.

Saturday: Santa Clara vs. Washington, in Las Vegas, 1:30 p.m.

Saturday: Kansas at St. Mary’s, 2 p.m.