By Morris Phillips

Won-loss records and national rankings don’t win games, seizing an opening and capturing the moment does, just like the Clemson Tigers did on Thursday night.

A 12-0 run that followed 15 lead changes broke open a close game in the fourth quarter and carried Clemson past the Cal Women 69-58 at Littlejohn Coliseum. The loss thwarted Cal’s attempt to achieve a program-first 14-1 start to a season.

“We’re slowly building this, and we’re trying to do it the right way, in a way that feels like we’re part of Clemson,” coach Shawn Poppie said of his initial win over a Top 25 opponent as Tigers head coach.

“I think they were just really aggressive, and you could tell they had a sense of urgency, and they really wanted to win this game. And, I didn’t think we matched their intensity level. It was a poor shooting night for us, for sure. But this is road basketball in the ACC, and we’ve got to be better,” coach Charmin Smith said.

Loyal McQueen led Clemson with 18 points, 14 of those before halftime, when she gave the hosts narrow leads to end the first quarter and again at the halftime break. Mia Moore, Tessa Johnson, and reserve Raven Thompson also scored in double figures for Clemson, who found success driving to the rim for scores or by getting to the free throw line.

Cal got 18 points, including three 3-pointers, from Ioanna Krimili. But her teammates were 1 of 13 from distance, which doused any opportunities for a fourth quarter comeback. The Bears four made threes, and 20 percent shooting from distance were well below the visitors’ season averages.

“I thought we fouled a lot it looks like. I don’t know the foul discrepancy was, but it was very significant. They got a lot of trips to the line in that quarter, and we
weren’t able to keep people in front of us. We let them get downhill, get to the rim. We know that we have to be better defensively, and our defense usually
sparks our offense. So if we’re not getting stops, we’re not scoring as many points either.”

Cal gets a chance to salvage their road swing at SMU on Sunday afternoon. The Mustangs won’t be an easier target after they pulled past Stanford 67-63 on Thursday.