By Morris Phillips

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.–The only women’s basketball coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a career losing record left Lawrence Joel Coliseum a winner on Sunday afternoon, another sign that things are changing quickly for Charmin Smith.

Smith’s Golden Bears racked up a tidy 67-55 win over Wake Forest that solidifies their position among the ACC’s elite, a small group of teams that have multiple weekend aspirations for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. A lopsided loss on Thursday to Duke didn’t help Cal’s hopes, but the quick bounce back against the Demon Deacons did. The team’s play at both ends was exactly what was needed to right the ship.

“I feel like we all knew we got our butts kicked, and we were all eager to have a chance to do it better,” Smith said. “I don’t think you have to say much when you when you get beat the way that we did (at Duke). Everybody knew that it wasn’t our best performance and we had to clean up a lot.”

Cal’s defensive hiccups came early when they struggled to cover Wake Forest in the paint. That kept the game close until the second quarter when Cal pulled away with a mix of starters and reserves. Ioanna Krimili and Lulu Twidale combined for five threes in the second quarter, and Cal led comfortably at halftime, 32-24.

“When we shoot the three-ball well, we’re really hard team to beat, and Ioanna did a great job of knocking down shots when we really needed it,” Smith said.

Wake Forest, desperate to get their initial conference win, played well initially but saw their energy drained by missed shots. The hosts shot 32 percent from the floor and missed 16 3-point attempts. The rebounding disparity was a bigger issue for Wake as Cal controlled the glass, 45-26.

Marta Suarez came up with a personal bounce back performance after she was plagued by turnovers against Duke. The senior led Cal with 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Cal returns to the Bay for Thursday’s rematch with Stanford in Palo Alto. The Cardinal fell to 10-7 with an uneventful loss at Duke.