Cal Bears guard Andrej Stojakovic guard (2) goes for the throw down against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Haas Pavilion on Sat Jan 11, 2025 (Cal Bears photo)
By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, January 11, 2025
Despite a valiant Comeback, California came up short in its men’s basketball game against Virginia Tech, as the Hokies earned a 71-68 Atlantic Coast Conference victory at Haas Pavilion.
It was Cal’s sixth loss in its last eight games.
The Golden Bears (8-8 overall, 1-4 ACC) were down 22 points in the second half. Cal’s Andrej Stojakovic scored 22 of his game-high 24 points to spark the Golden Bears late rally. Stojakovic’s 3-point attempt rimmed out as time expired.
Jeremiah Wilkinson scored 14 points for Cal, including 11 in the second half. Stojakovic and Wilkinson combined to score 30 of the Golden Bears’ last 31 points of the game.
Jayden Young was the top scorer for Virginia Tech with 14 points, while Tyler Johnson turned in a double-double (11 points and 12 rebounds) for the Hokies (7-9 overall, 2-3 ACC).
The Golden Bears missed their first 13 shots of the game, trailing 15-4 early, eventually trailing 42-33 at halftime. Cal was trailing by 21 seven minutes into the second half when it used a 26-7 run, and tied the game at 58-58 with 6:03 remaining. Virginia Tech reeled off a 9-0 run to maintain the lead for good.
Next weekend, the Golden Bears travel to Tobacco Road for ACC games against North Carolina on Wednesday (4 p.m.) and North Carolina State on Saturday (3 p.m.).
BERKELEY, CA–Brooke Wyckoff’s Seminoles have never been to Berkeley. This season, they’ve yet to face a ranked opponent and No. 24 Cal is up next. And they’re coming off a frustrating loss at Stanford in which they scored 84 points, and lost in regulation.
When you’re 13-3 with big goals, you crawl back to the hotel, recharge, and spend little time waxing poetically about your beautiful January weekend in Northern California.
“What it takes is a standard of excellence on both ends of the floor,” Wyckoff said immediately, in reflecting on the trip so far, including a loss at Stanford that was simply not what she wants from her experienced, talented team.
The host Cardinal came in a mess, and left blessed. Losers of five of their last six, Stanford pushed the pace, and made shots. They also dominated the glass, and never trailed after 9-8 early in the first period. Wyckoff demanded her team assess themselves, individually and collectively, and take responsibility for their performance in the 89-84 loss.
“We need better defense, no uncontested threes,” she said. “We scored 84 points, which is less than what we normally score, but enough to win a basketball game.”
Ta’Niya Latson, the nation’s leading scorer at 27.7 ppg, put up 24 but wasn’t on her game. Two games ago, she scored 40, and she’s exceeded 24 on ten other occasions. But against Stanford, she needed 22 shots to reach that 24, and defensively, she got caught on a couple of instances outside of reach of Stanford shooters.
Latson’s response to a subpar game could be Cal’s biggest concern. The junior guard is rarely out of pocket and produces big numbers effortlessly and seemingly from muscle memory. Cal will dial up several different defenses, but Latson’s unlikely to be phased.
“It’s the natural growth as a player, from day one she’s seen every type of coverage thrown at her,” Wyckoff said of Latson. “She’s more comfortable now than ever.”
Latson’s body maturity after a couple of seasons in a university-style gym is noticeable. At 5’8″, she’s exceptionally smooth, and now, with the increased muscle, far less likely to be impeded in the paint, even by defenders that are five or six inches taller.
Cal will counter with their uncanny shooting prowess that ranks them 12th nationally in made threes per game at 10.1. They shoot 46 percent from the floor, which ranks 37th. At Haas Pavilion, the Golden Bears are 10-0 and their crowds are building as their 15-2 won-loss record gains notice.
Wyckoff, a year removed from a cancer diagnosis, and an intense regime with chemotherapy, is again enjoying the process, and the intense competition within the ACC that coaches crave.
“You’re preparing for opponents, you’re playing games,” Wyckoff said, in comparing her coaching career to a form of therapy.
“(Having that distraction) was a huge blessing. And an amazing staff supported me through it,” she said about last season before declaring that her chemo treatments have ended for now.
BERKELEY, CA–By the time Kayla Williams went washing machine, and put N.C. State defender Zoe Brooks into a spin cycle at the elbow before finishing over fast closing post Tilda Trygger, the Golden Bears shot making display was already in full effect.
Coach Wes Moore hinted to Thursday’s game as being a continuation of his opponent film study that clearly demonstrated Cal’s basketball team as exceptional shooters. The game validated Cal, and the show started early and continued late.
Ioanna Krimili struck first with a floater in the game’s first 13 seconds. Then Lulu Twidale buried a three as soon as Kayla Williams’ pass arrived on a rope. Marta Suarez casually dropped a three. The Haas Pavilion crowd, minus a few friends, perked up fast and got loud.
The No. 24 Golden Bears would limp through the remainder of the opening quarter, then suddenly seize control early in the second. Suarez’s three 3-pointers in less than a minute neatly erased the visitors’ lead, put Cal in the driver’s seat, and frustrated Moore, who abruptly called a timeout.
“They’re a very explosive offensive team,” Moore said. “We knew that coming in. Four starters shoot over 40 percent from three. I thought (Michelle Onyiah) really did a nice job for them tonight as well. So they had a great balanced attack.”
In the first, authentic big game at Haas since 2018, Cal showed out. Coach Charmin Smith knew it and expressed joyous relief.
“I’m just really proud of this team. I think this was a great program win,” Smith said. “Those (N.C. State) guards have been to a Final Four.”
“That’s what we do. That’s what we say. We make threes in tough moments. I was just feeling it,” Suarez said.
“Having shooters all around the floor, it creates a lot of space for everybody, so that was what coach kind of mentioned.”
On a night where the referees effectively kept both teams away from the free throw line (only 16 free throws were attempted in the game), shooting was the key to victory. Both teams displayed Top 25 shot making, but Cal had the ball in Williams’ hands, and she was either efficient or spectacular all night.
For the entire 40 minutes without a substitution, Williams probed, attacked, and dechipered. Each time down the floor, and with the ball in her hands, she broke the Wolfpack defense and found her teammates. When the defense relaxed, she got to the basket with a series of jaw-dropping finishes.
“I thought Williams killed us off the bounce,” Moore admitted.
Suarez led Cal with 17 points. Krimili, Onyiah, and Williams each added 15. Twidale contributed 11, and Gabrielle Obigor and Jayda Noble provided critical play off the bench.
N.C. State’s unflappable duo of Saniya Rivers and Aziaha James combined for 33 points, but they missed 19 shots, and couldn’t string together a flurry of buckets that would have surely given the hosts pause.
Cal (15-2, 3-1) hosts Florida State on Sunday at 2 p.m. The game provides Cal an opportunity to remain connected to league-leader Notre Dame, the only conference team that’s undefeated in league play. The Bears visit the Irish on February 9.
Cal Bears forward Joshua Ola-Joseph (1) throws down on the Virginia Cavaliers at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley on Wed Jan 8, 2025 (Cal Bears X photo)
By Daniel Dullum
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
California came up with its first Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball victory of the season Wednesday at Haas Pavilion, as the Golden Bears defeated Virginia 75-61.
After the Bears’ win, Cal (8-7 overall, 1-3 ACC) and Virginia (*-7 overall, 1-3 ACC) are tied for 13th place in the conference race.
Andrej Stojakovic topped the scoring column for the Golden Bears, popping in a game-high 23 points on 6 of 11 field goals and 11 of 13 at the fee throw line. It was the eighth 20-point game for Stojakovic, who transferred to Cal from Stanford.
DJ Campbell was next for Cal with 11 points, followed by Joshua Ola-Joseph and Jeremiah Wilkinson with 10 points each off the bench.
Mady Sissoko scored nine points while leading Cal with 11 rebounds, as the Golden Bears had a 40-33 edge on the boards.
Andrew Rohde led the Cavaliers with14 points and six assists, followed by Jacob Cofie with 12 points and Elijah Saunders with 11 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
The Golden Bears shot 43.1 from the field (22 of 51, 4 of 13 3-pointers) and 27 of 33 at the free throw line. Virginia was held to 32.8 percent shooting 19of 58 field goals, 7 of 23 3-point) and 16 of 18 free throws.
The announced crowd of 3,696 watched the Golden Bears snap a three-game losing streak.
On Saturday, the Golden Bears host Virginia Tech. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Cal Bears head coach Charmin Smith goes over instructions with the players during a time out (photo by Cal Bears Athletics program)
On the Cal Bears WBB podcast with Morris Phillips:
#1 The Cal Bears (14-2, 2-1 ACC) will tip off against No.21 NC State (12-3) on Thursday night at 7pm here at Haas Pavilion. It is the first top 25 match up played here in Berkeley since the 2017-18. This is the first ever meeting between Cal and NC State.
#2 If Cal were to win on Thursday that would give them two top 25 wins at home for the first time since 2018-19 when they beat No.8 Stanford and No.17 Arizona State.
#3 Morris, what could have been the Bears could have been 10-0 but lost a couple game between win number nine and the two loses but just the same they’ve been a tough customer.
#4 Marta Suarez is having a season she has a leading 19 points hitting eight of 12 shots with six rebounds and was three for three from downtown. What do you look from Marta going into Thursday’s game?
#5 Morris, one important note the NC State Wolfpack are no pushovers they bring a seven game win streak into Haas Pavilion on Thursday night and defeated the Boston College Eagles (10-8) in their last game by a clear decision 91-52 at NC State last Sun Jan 5th.
Cal Bears forward Marta Suarez led with 19 points against the SMU Mustangs in Dallas on Sun Jan 5, 2025 (Cal Bears photo)
By Morris Phillips
There’s nothing like weekend travel in the ACC. The Golden Bears know that after experiencing 48 hours of idled frustration following an unanticipated loss at Clemson. In this case, a rough Friday and Saturday prior to a triumphant Sunday afternoon at SMU in Dallas.
It wasn’t easy excursion, but it was productive.
The Bears relied on great shooting, including 10 made threes to get past Clemson. Five of those threes fell in the third quarter when Cal extended a four-point halftime lead to 64-51 after three quarters. Marta Suarez was the most aggressive shooter with 19 points on 9 of 12 from the floor.
“That’s a really good team,” SMU coach Toyelle Wilson said of Cal. “They’re Top 20 for a reason. They can shoot the ball, they can get downhill. They’re physical. Charmin has done a great job with that program.
“But it wasn’t our day, and the girls know: we’re going to have to take some bumps and bruises to get through this ACC conference. Today was a good day for us to learn a lot.”
Cal returned to physical play with 40 rebounds and a healthy edge on the glass, along with 36 points in the paint. The referees weren’t all plussed, and they assessed fouls to Michelle Onyiah and Suarez that limited both players’ minutes.
Kayla Williams impressed legendary North Carolina All-American point guard Ivory Latta, who said, “she’s so poised. She really controls that offense.”
Williams killed with efficiency. She had 17 points, seven assists, and five assists. The visitors followed Williams’ lead: after squandering a pair of second quarter leads, the Bears led the entire second half, briefly by as many as 19 points.
Nya Robertson led the Mustangs with 22 points, but she needed 20 shots to get there. Chantae Embry had 12 points, and Ella Brow added 10.
The Bears (14-2, 3-1) return to Berkeley on Thursday to meet ranked opponent North Carolina State at Haas Pavilion.
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.
Raise your hand if you want a win, the Cal Bears defeated the Temple Owls at Temple University on Sun Dec 22, 2024 for Cal’s seventh straight win in a row. The Bears face the Clemson Tigers on Thu Jan 2, 2025 at Clemson. (Cal Bears photo)
On the Cal Bears podcast with Morris Phillips:
#1 Morris, the Cal Bears have moved up in the AP to number 25 and in the USA Today coaches’ poll at number 20. The way their playing it’s not too surprising?
#2 The Bears (13-1, ACC 1-0) are on a seven game winning streak. This is the best start for Cal since the 2016-17 season.
#3 Cal resumes their ACC docket when they battle the Clemson Tigers on Thu Jan 2 a 4:00pm PST. The Tigers have won three of their last five games. If Cal were to win this game it would give them their best start in school history.
#4 This will be the first time Cal and Clemson have hooked up since the 1990-91 season. Both teams have played twice previously with Cal winning both games.
#5 In Cal’s last game against the Temple Owls on Sun Dec 22 had 50 rebounds which was the most for the Golden Bears since Dec 16, 2022 against UC San Diego when they pulled down 52.
Cal Bears guard Ioanna Krimili (21) and guard Lulu Twidale (10) has been making it happen in leading Cal in score such as they did against the Temple Owls on Sun Dec 22, 2024 (Cal Bears X photo)
On the Cal Bears WBB podcast with Morris Phillips:
#1 The Cal Bears (13-1) continue to roll with a decisive 89-63 win over the Temple (6-6) Owls last Sunday at Cal Berkeley.
#2 Cal now 13-1 is steamrolling and Sunday was no exception outscoring Temple is ever quarter of the game.
#3 Cal’s top scorer’s from Sunday’s contest guard Ioanna Kimilli and guard Lulu Twidale both finishing with 20 points they’ve both been having great seasons.
#4 “Just really proud of where we are as we wrap up non conference, being 13-1,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. “This is a good spot for us to be in as we get to go home and get some rest.”
#5 Cal gets set for another contest Thursday night Jan 2 at 4:00pm PST against the Clemson Tigers (8-4). The Tigers have won two of their last three games and have a 5-2 home record and Cal has won seven straight games and are second in the ACC. How do you see this match up between the Bears and Tigers?
BERKELEY, CA–How many black women coaches do you know? How many black women coaches did you play for?
Surprisingly, black women coaches are asking themselves these questions.
Like 83 streaking meteors, black women basketball coaches at the Division I level travel a lonely path, seeking success at the highest levels of their profession while often having to forgo family, relationships and time to themselves. The payoffs for success are enormous, and the sacrifices are just as big.
And unfortunately, the second chances are few.
“A lot of Black coaches got opportunities during that time,” said Dawn Staley of a period around 2007 when Jolette Law was hired to coach Illinois. “And then probably three, four years later, 75% of them weren’t head coaches anymore, and they don’t get recycled like other coaches. So I think now Black coaches are more prepared because they have had to be prepared.”
After Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks captured the 2017 National Championship, the coach who is the absolute vanguard for the sport and her people, sent pieces of the celebratory basketball net that was cut down after the final victory over Mississippi State to all 70 black women head coaches that were then in place at the Division I level. The gesture received a great deal of attention, as did Staley’s measured words in explaining her reasoning for distributing the net.
“I pick ALL of you to receive this piece of our 2017 National Championship net in the hope that making our goal tangible will inspire you, as it did me, to keep pushing forward and us all to keep supporting each other in our journeys,” Staley wrote to each of the recipients.
The gesture was actually started by Carolyn Peck, the first black women to win a national title in basketball at Purdue in 1999. She sent a piece of her net to Staley in 2015 with the stipulation that Staley continue the gesture when she won. 70 coaches received a piece of the net in 2017. Now seven years later, there are 83 black women’s coaches as their numbers continue to grow.
Staley’s story is best known, but 82 other stories deserve to be told. Would all that have been possible without the South Carolina’s coach special touch? Maybe not.
“She’s so great and gracious,” Syracuse coach Felecia Legette-Jack said. “You call her, and you think you’re the most special person in the world. She does it with everybody.”
California’s Charmin Smith had a story to tell, and she created a platform from which to tell it. The Raising the B.A.R. Invitational is an annual tournament that features four teams coached by black women, and was started by Smith. Basketball, Activism and Representation are the words of the tournament title’s acronym, and this time, in the fourth year of the tournament, a fund-raising component has been added with each participating team raising money for a local charity.
Smith’s mission is simple, but important: be heard, say what’s important, and create change.
“In my career there have been times where I felt like they don’t want me to speak my mind,” Smith said. “They don’t want to hear what I say. But I am not one of those black women, I guess. I can’t be silent on the issues that affect me and affect my student athletes.”
Smith didn’t know if she wanted to coach. At a standstill following her WNBA career, her college coach, the legendary Tara VanDerveer suggested she try it. Smith resisted but accepted a job interview with the Boston College women’s basketball program that led to her first coaching job.
Xavier coach Billi Chambers wasn’t a transcendent player at Hofstra, but she knew she could be special as a coach. Following her college career, she jumped into the coaching profession immediately, and then into her first head coaching job at Iona, one that lasted 10 years. She wasn’t looking for a new challenge or wanting to uproot her family from Long Island New York, but she knew she wanted one when Xavier came calling after their program fell to 7-23 in the 2022-23 season.
“During the interview, I told myself, I can sell this place,” she said after walking into the Cintas Center, the Xavier on-campus arena.
Chambers decided to forgo 10 years of success for a bigger school, a bigger conference, and a bunch of uncertainty regarding a program that had fallen on rough times. Coaching against Geno Auriemma and UConn didn’t deter her either.
“Who doesn’t want to compete against the best?” she thought.
Diane Richardson knew that coaching and the coaches that mentored her changed her life from humble beginnings in Washington D.C. to a wildly successful career in the financial services field. But at the peak of her success, the coaching bug hit, and she assumed a head coaching job of an AAU program in Maryland. That led to Richardson leaving the financial field, coaching full-time, and eventually accepting an opportunity to be the head coach at Towson University.
Like Chambers, Richardson jumped when a bigger opportunity came from Temple University in Philadelphia, where their proud program had fallen on rough times, ironically after Dawn Staley departed to coach South Carolina. Having to hit the floor initially with seven players new to the Temple program, and little to hang their collective hats on other than gritty defense, didn’t slow Richardson. She simply accepted the challenge, and subsequently hit the recruiting trail to increase the talent level of her team.
Now in year two, Richardson is starting to see results. Her Owls have won 5 of their last 8, and should be a factor in the American Athletic Conference title chase.
“We are leading with our defense,” Richardson declared.
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