By: Joe Lami

Going into halftime, the Stanford Cardinal were trailing the Cal Bears 32-23 in what looked like the start of another disappointing loss. However, the Cardinal were able to turn it around in the second half as they completely shut Cal down to earn the 59-47 victory. Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer commented on the second half, “Our second half was really special.”

Cal struggled during the second half and finished the night shooting 27%, going just 15 of 55. Cal head coach Lindsey Gottlieb commented, “You can’t win a lot of games shooting 15 for 55. There’s real no way around that. Stanford’s too good to not score for long stretches of time”.

The Bears were able to dominate most of the first half. After trailing 15-11, they were able to string together a 19-2 run, which included 15 straight, to storm ahead going into halftime.

The stars came out to play for the Cardinal, as Amber Orrange led Stanford with 19 points. Lili Thompson finished right behind her with 18. Britney McPhee was the next highest scorer with nine points.

Mercedes Jefflo led the Bears with 14 points, going 6 of 16 shooting. Gabby Green followed with ten points. Britney Boyd, who is highly regarded as one of the top players in the county and is actually a consideration for a top pick in the WNBA draft finished with only six points with multiple WNBA scouts in attendance.

It won’t take long for Cal to have their chance at revenge as the Cardinal host the Bears in the backend of rivalry week on Sunday.