Category: Cal Bears

Cal Women Beating Stanford “Means A Lot” And Comes With A 20-Point Margin

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Telling the whole damn world, this is Bear Territory, isn’t easy. In fact, it’s hard work, and you better mean it when you say it.

Coach Charmin Smith said it Friday night, and it meant something.

After 12 consecutive losses to Stanford and 31 losses in the last 35 meetings spanning more than a decade, something needed to be said, and more importantly, something needed to be done. Again, Smith demanded, and her Bears delivered an 83-63 win, the first for Smith over the school she attended.

“I’d be lying if I tried to downplay it… I don’t care. I’m happy we beat Stanford, and I’m going to act like it,” Smith declared.

Smith, who has been an assistant coach and now head coach at Cal over a period spanning 18 years, hasn’t enjoyed any success competing against Stanford. She was 0-11 against legendary Tara VanDerveer with a number of those defeats by lopsided margins. Friday, coaching against former teammate Kate Paye, Smith, and her team broke through, winning by 20 for the first time since February 1982.

This time, it wasn’t close, and it wasn’t competitive after halftime.

The Bears survived a cold-shooting first half by both teams with a 33-24 lead. But they caught fire in the third, burying eight 3-pointers to expand their lead to 23. The school record for made threes came crashing down in the fourth quarter as Cal finished with 18.

Lulu Twidale and Ioanna Krimili both scored 20 points, and Marta Suarez was one better with 21. Suarez capped off the third quarter with a buzzer-beating three that extended Cal’s lead to 63-40.

“The rim got real big for them,” Paye said.

“I think they flat-out wanted it more. We were out-coached, I thought we were outplayed. You saw a Cal team that was highly motivated, and they played extremely hard. They rebounded the ball well. They were very aggressive on defense.”

Nunu Agara, Stanford’s leading scorer, missed eight of her 12 shots from the floor and finished with 13. Brooke Demetre led Stanford with 18. The Cardinal were 14 of 43 shooing through the first three quarters.

The first-ever ACC conference game for both teams portended a new reality between the two rivals, now in the absence of VanDerveer, who coached Stanford since 1986. The Bears have improved immensely while Stanford is starting over. Both teams came in just outside the national Top 25 among the highest vote getters. Now Cal, riding an impressive 10-1 start to the season, should enter the polls on Monday if they can continue winning against Austin Peay on Sunday.

Cal Bears WBB podcast with Morris Phillips: Cal hopes to continue undefeated home record against Stanford Friday

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Cal Bears forward Marta Suarez (7) drives on the Alabama Crimson Tide on Thu Dec 5, 2024 at Haas Pavilion. Suarez finished with 21 points against the Stockton Tigers on Sat Dec 7, 2024 at Alex Spanos Center in Stockton (Cal Bears X photo)

Cal Bears WBB podcast with Morris Phillips:

#1 Cal Bears (9-1) guard Ioanna Krimili and Marta Suarez led the way with 22 points and 21 points respectively as they defeated the Pacific Tigers (5-5) 74-66 last Sat Dec 7th at the Alex Spanos Center in Stockton.

#2 Cal is rolling and they pick up another road win. Cal shut down Pacific’s offense in the second quarter allowing them only seven points and coming away with a 17-7 second quarter establishing their defense to hold off the Tigers.

#3 Cal chalked up their eighth straight win with the win over the Tigers and it matches the Bears best start since the 2018-19 season when they went 9-1.

#4 The Tigers tried to keep it close edging Cal in the third quarter 19-18 and Cal won the fourth quarter 20-19 for a 74-66 win for Cal.

#5 The Cal women get after once again as they host the Stanford Cardinal at Haas Pavilion for a 7:00pm PST tip this Fri Dec 13th. The Cardinal have struggled on the road losing two road games and this will be their third road game against Cal. Cal are 5-0 at home. Morris how do you see this match up this Friday night in Berkeley?

Cal Bears podcasts with Morris Phillips can be hear Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Bears nearly come back from another large deficit, but once fall short 88-80 to Cornell in third-straight loss

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Cal Bears forward Joshua Ola Joseph takes a jump shot against the Cornell Big Red in non conference action at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley on Tue Dec 10, 2024 (@calmbball twitter photo)

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024

Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, California

Cornell Big Red 88 (7-3)

California Golden Bears 80 (6-4)

By Stephen Ruderman

The Bears came back from down 23 points to take a late lead, but the Cornell Big Red pulled off an 88-80 win in the late minutes to hand Cal their third-straight loss.

Following their 89-81 loss to Stanford in their first all-ACC game on Saturday, the Bears ventured back out of the ACC, as they welcomed the Big Red into Haas Pavilion. Cornell came on winners of two-straight, following dominant and decisive wins over Colgate and Army.

Tuesday night’s game began as a tight one, as the Bears had an 8-7 lead just under three minutes into the game. It was then 11-11 with 12:18 remaining in the first half before Cornell opened up a 47-29 lead into the half.

It was looking to be a blowout, but the Bears showed a lot of fight in them come the second half. Cornell would open their lead to 52-29 just a minute and 46 seconds into the half. Jeremiah Wilkinson then hit a pair of threes, and the Bears would slowly start clawing themselves back into the game.

The Bears went on a 21-7 run to cut Cornell’s lead to 59-50 with 12:34 to go. Cal had fallen short after turning a 20-point deficit into just a six-point deficit against Stanford on Saturday, and they wanted to more than make up for that Tuesday night.

Mady Sissoko made a layup, and Spencer Mahoney hit a three to cut it to 61-55. Cornell kept pace with a layup by Jake Fiegen and Guy Ragland Jr., but after the Bears kept coming, and closed the deficit to 65-61 with 8:57 to go.

Cooper Noard was fouled and hit two from the line, and Ak Okereke made a layup to extend Cornell’s lead back to 69-61.The Bears pulled back within four, but Okereke was fouled and hit two from the line to keep the Big Red’s lead at 71-65 with 6:57 remaining.

Sissoko slammed one down, and Wilkinson made a layup to close it to 71-69. Andrej Stojakovic then hit a three, and the Bears had come all the way back from down 23 points to take a 72-71 lead with 5:15 remaining.

Guy Ragland Jr. hit a three to put Cornell back ahead with exactly five minutes to go, and after a minute with no scoring, Joshua Ola-Joseph hit a layup to tie it at 74-74 with 3:51 left to go. Noard made a layup to put Cornell back ahead 76-74 with nearly 3:20 left, and the score would remain stagnant for nearly another two minutes.

With 1:34 left, Jake Fiegen hit a layup to extend Cornell’s lead to 78-74, but he was fouled and made his shot from the line to make it 79-74. That seemed to kill any late hopes for the Bears to pull this one off, and Cornell won by a final of 88-80.

Ola-Joseph was the leading scorer for the Bears with 21 points, as he was 7-for-11 in field goals. Stojakovic was just 4-for-11 in field goals, but he scored 13, as did Sissoko, who was a perfect 6-for-6. Wilkinson scored 12, and Jovar Blacksher Jr. scored 11.

The Bears fall to 6-4, and they will look to bounce back against the Northwestern State Demons of the little-known Southland Conference on Saturday. Just an FYI, Northwestern State is a different university then Northwestern, though the two teams shared a very-similar shade of purple. Tipoff will be at noon on Saturday.

Nine Wins, 99 Problems: Cal Women Win At Pacific 74-66, But Don’t Like How They Look

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By Morris Phillips

STOCKTON, CA–Coaches are demanding. Charmin Smith is demanding.

An 8-1 start to the season with wins over Arizona, Alabama, Auburn and Gonzaga wasn’t going to guarantee Smith’s Bears a 9-1 start and a win at Pacific Saturday.  Wanting results, she sent a group text.

“(We) messaged the whole team, ‘This Is A Really Big Game. This is a really good team. Bradley is a really good coach.’ And it took us a couple of good quarters to figure that out. But I’m glad that we were able to weather the storm and come away with the win,” Smith said.

Cal got their 9-1 start, but they didn’t play as poised as they did in the two previous wins. They couldn’t pull away as Pacific hung around by making shots when they didn’t turn it over. The host Tigers had 27 turnovers, 22 in the first three quarters.

But Cal saw some curious referee calls, and Michelle Onyiah foul out with 1:17 remaining. The free throws cut Cal’s lead to eight, and then briefly, it was cut to 70-64 with 36 seconds remaining before Cal closed.

Cal started breezy weezy with Ioanna Krimili making three 3-pointers in the first four minutes for an 11-4 lead. But their intensity waned, and Pacific led 21-19 after one quarter.

The second quarter was better for Cal by limiting the Tigers to 2 of 12 shooting. But they never gained any separation, missing 23 shots after the break. They didn’t play well without Onyiah either, who eventually fouled for the third time in four games.

The Pacific turnovers kept them from mounting a run and subdued their crowd as well. But Cal didn’t fully take advantage, scoring just 14 points off of them while flubbing a few, favorable fastbreak situations.

“I just said in the locker room to our team, we have not arrived, we have not done anything. We’ve done more than we did last year at this point. Right? By beating a Top 20 team,” Smith preached.

Krimili led Cal with 22 points, Marta Suarez had 21, and Onyiah 15 points, five rebounds in 22 minutes.

The Bears brace for Stanford’s annual appearance in Berkeley on Friday. The first-ever ACC regular season game for either team will be loud, intense, and pivotal. The two do meet a second time on January 23 at Stanford.

Cal Bears podcast with Stephen Ruderman: Cal just couldn’t surpass Stanford’s lead in 89-81 loss at UC Berkeley

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Cal Bears forward Rytis Petratis (31) drives on Stanford Cardinal guard Jaylen Blakes (21) at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley on Sat Dec 7, 2024 (Cal Bears X photo)

On the Cal Bears podcast with Stephen Ruderman:

#1 Stanford Cardinal (8-2) Maxime Raynaud converted almost 50% of his shots leading the Cardinal with 20 points he was getting the open shot quite often today against the Cal Bears (6-3).

#2 The Cardinal pretty much were having their way in the first half outscoring Cal 47-31.

#3 The Cardinal defense held the Cal Bears to single digits the Bears Andrej Stojakovic and and Javon Blacksher were the only two players to get into double figures.

#4 Talk about Stanford’s defense they were able to keep the Bears at arms length for most of the game. The closest that Cal got they tied the game but just couldn’t take the lead at any point in the contest.

#5 Cal hosts the Cornell Big Red (5-3) in their next game here at Haas Pavilion for a 7:00pm PST tip on Tuesday night. Cornell won their last game against Colgate 84-57. Cornell has won three of its last five games. How do you see this match up this Tuesday?

Stephen Ruderman is a Cal Bears beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal Bears game wrap: Stanford beats Cal 89-81 in wild and hectic first all-ACC game between two historic rivals

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Cal Bears forward Lee Dort (31) and guard Jovan Blacksher Jr (10) talk it over as they battle the Stanford Cardinal at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley Sat Dec 7, 2024 (Cal Bears X photo)

Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024

Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, California

Stanford Cardinal 89 (8-2 Overall; 1-0 ACC)

California Golden Bears 81 (6-3 Overall; 0-1 ACC)

By Stephen Ruderman

BERKELEY–The Bears fell short in a weird and wild game against their hated rivals in their first all-ACC game, as the Stanford Cardinal came to Haas Pavilion to beat Cal 89-81.

It was only fitting that the Bears’ first ACC game would be against their longtime hated rivals, and the only other team that moved over with them from the Pac-12. During his announcement that this was the first all-Atlantic Coast Conference game for the Bears, Public Address Announcer Matt Foley could have made fans aware of the view of the Pacific Ocean from the upper level of Haas Pavilion, but with the smog outside, that would have been meaningless.

Anyway, it was a matchup between two evenly-matched teams that were off to great starts. Cal came into today’s game at 6-2, following a tough 98-93 loss at Missouri on Tuesday night. Stanford is also off to a great start this season, as they came into today at 7-2. As evenly matched as this matchup was, the game would be both evenly matched and far from it.

Stanford just took it to the Bears out of the gate, and Maxime Raynaud hit a three to open the scoring. Oziyah Sellers then slammed one down after intercepting a pass from Jovan Blacksher Jr., and Raynaud hit a jumper.

Just a minute and 20 seconds in, Stanford already held a 7-0 lead. Stanford extended their lead to 14-4 three minutes and 40 seconds in, and they would remain comfortably ahead throughout most of the first half.

However, the Bears suddenly caught fire in the latter part of the first half. Andrej Stojakovic made a pair of layups, and Mady Sissoko dunked one to close the deficit to just four at 27-23.

Raynaud made a jumper to extend Stanford’s lead to 29-23, but Joshua Ola-Joseph hit a jumper and a layup, and Stojakovic made a layup. In just three minutes and 12 seconds, the Bears went on a 12-2 run to suddenly come back and tie the game.

However, in just under two minutes, Jaylen Banks hit a pair of threes, and Sellers hit a three of his own to put Stanford back ahead 38-29. It was a very interesting five-plus minutes to say the least, but Stanford was back in control of the game.

Stanford went into the half up 47-31 after closing out the first half with a remarkable 18-2 run. The Bears started the second half with an 8-2 run, and the raucous crowd at Haas Pavilion was certainly feeling it. However, Stanford remained in command throughout most of the second half.

However, to the Bears’ credit, they never gave up, and fought until the bitter end. Stanford extended their lead to 20 points at 77-57 with 5:37 to go, but Cal made one last charge in the final minutes.

A three by Rytis Petratis closed it to 81-71 with 2:47 to go. 34 seconds later, Ola-Joseph hit a three to make it 81-74. In a game of many dominant scoring drives, the Bears were on a 17-4 run, and in position to pull off a comeback for the ages.

The crowd at Haas Pavilion was on fire and ready to bring the place down. Chisom Okpara was fouled and hit two from the line, but Stojakovic hit a three to make it 83-77 with 1:21 remaining. It was certainly more than enough time for the Bears to tie the game, or even take the lead, considering the crazy drives the two teams went on throughout this game.

However, it was not meant to be. After the score stagnated for the next 29 seconds, a foul by Ola-Joseph sent Sellers to the line. Sellers made both shots, and that pretty much did it. Stanford won by a final of 89-81.

Cal has now dropped two-straight to fall to 6-3, and they are 0-1 in ACC play. However, as tough of a loss as this was for the Bears, they should hold their heads high. They never gave up, and they believed that they were going to come back and win this game until the bitter end.

Stojakovic led the scoring with 25 points for the Bears, as he was 11-for-25 in field goals, and 3-for-7 from beyond the arc. Blacksher scored 14; Sissoko scored 11; and Ola-Joseph and Petraitis both scored nine.

Raynaud and Blakes led the scoring for Stanford with 20 points each. Sellers was not too far behind with 16 points.

The Bears will have another non-conference game against the Cornell Big Red at Haas Pavilion on Tuesday night. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m.

Composed Cal Women Hold Off No. 19 Alabama 69-65, Improve to 8-1

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Doing something once could be an aberration. Doing it repeatedly, intentionally, and forcefully is difficult but draws positive attention.

That description fits the Cal women and defines their 8-1 start to the season, which now includes a groundbreaking win over No. 19 Alabama in the ACC-SEC Challenge.

The Bears–much like a cross-country flight–have arrived. After nine games, they can say they’ve developed a method to win games that works. Combine that with being nearly completely healthy and having room for more contributors and growth over the entire season makes for a bright picture.

Thursday was a great win but also an opportunity to acknowledge the faith the Bears have shown in each other just to get them to this point.

“Doing it with people you love, and people you enjoy doing it with it’s a lot of fun,” Marta Suarez said. “It’s a great feeling for sure.”

Coach Charmin Smith, who has held the whole program together for six years despite tremendous odds caused by frequent losses and rough results, lifted the moment after the final horn on the microphone to the departing crowd. 

“See you at the next one. You know who’s next,” she said, reminding everyone that Stanford visits a week from Friday.

Smith was brief, needing to say just a little, and noticeably emotional. Good stuff, and not only for people who compare coaches’ exhortations.

Suarez became effusive when asked about the team’s growing chemistry and their uncanny knack for getting the ball to the hot hand a high rate.

“We are intentional about it. We have conversations about it. We try to get to know each other better. We try to be there for each other. It’s not something that just happens,” Suarez said. “The coaches do a good job recruiting and taking care of that culture. ‘Who are we bringing in? How do they fit with the pieces we have?'”

“We’re intentional about it, and we’re proud about it.”

Thursday’s game turned immediately after halftime when the Bears got hot, hitting 10 of their 13 shots to grab a lead after trailing 34-26. Alabama briefly regained the lead to start the fourth, but Ioanna Krimili’s three on which she was fouled produced a four-point play. The Bears never trailed again over the final six minutes.

Kayla Williams led Cal with 21 points, six rebounds, and a bunch of smart decisions that kept the offense humming after halftime. Smith pointed to Michelle Onyiah’s presence after she was limited by foul trouble in the first half. With Onyiah operating around the basket, things opened things up for Suarez, who finished with 16 points, six assists.

“It was a great game for Marta on both ends of the floor. And then Kayla making plays, hitting dagger threes and responding. These guys didn’t hang their heads, and they responded. That’s the true sign of winners,” Smith said.

Zaay Green tied her season-best with 28 points to lead Alabama. Coach Kristy Curry pointed to reserve Diane Collins’ absence impacting the Tides’ rotation, which saw four starters play 38 minutes, not including starting post Essence Cody, who played 32 minutes but was under the weather.

“Cal made a few more plays,” Curry said. “They’re a really good team. They’re a veteran team. I love how they shoot the basketball. They have a great inside presence, so really balanced one through five.”

The Bears travel to Pacific on Saturday afternoon to face Pacific at 2:00p.m.

Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Michael Roberson: Cardinal tip off against Cal Saturday at noon in Berkeley

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Stanford Cardinal guard Oziyah Sellers (4) drives on Utah Valley Wolverines guard Kylin Green (3) at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto on Tue Dec 4, 2024 (Stanford Cardinal photo)

On the Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Michael Roberson:

#1 The Stanford Cardinal’s Jaylen Blakes led with 18 points and had a career high of six rebounds, four assists, and three steals and is in the top ten in the nation with with free throws.

#2 Oziyah Sellers scored 15 points while going 6-11 shooting and Maxime Raynaud scored 14 points and tied his career high in rebounds with 17.

#3 Stanford’s defense held the Utah Valley Wolverines to just 36.9 points and 29.4 from behind the three point arc.

#4 The Cardinal who were down by six points down 12-6 in the first 4:45 of the game came back 12-3 and got scoring from Blakes, Sellers, and Raynaud for the 77-63 win at Maples Pavilion.

#5 It’s the basketball version of the Big Game this Saturday at Cal for a 12pm PST tip off. The Cardinal are 7-2 and are 1-0 on the road. The Bears are 6-2 and are 5-0 at home. Michael how do you see this match up Saturday at 12 noon at UC Berkeley.

Michael Roberson is a Stanford Cardinal beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal Bears WBB podcast with Morris Phillips: Can Cal stop undefeated Alabama tonight at Haas?

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Cal Bears center Michelle Onyiah goes for the shot against the Arizona Wildcats guard Jada Williams (2) at the McHale Memorial Center in Tucson AZ on Tue Dec 3, 2024 (Cal Bears photo)

Cal Bears podcast with Morris Phillips:

#1 This Cal Bears (7-1) team is up for the challenge as take on the undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide (9-0) as they head into Haas Pavilion Thursday night for a 6:00pm PST tip. At first a lot of people didn’t like the idea of the break up of the Pac 12 but getting a chance to see the various different teams in the ACC does add an interesting aspect for Cal to play different teams for the first time?

#2 How impressive was it for Cal to be down by nine points in the first quarter against the Arizona Wildcats but came back in the second quarter and never looked back in a contest they won 74-62 at the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs Tuesday .

#3 Michelle Onyiah had a career night on Tuesday in Arizona with a team leading 25 points talk about her success in offense and how important a role she will have in tonight’s game against the Crimson Tide?

#4 Onyiah also picked up a second game in a row double double, also with 13 rebounds tops for the season so far. Morris the win also snaps Cal’s seven game losing streak against Arizona.

#5 Cal is competitor and they will take on their toughest task of the season against the Crimson Tide of Alabama. Some of the players the Bears have to look out for are Alabama leading scorers Zaay Green, Essence Cody and Sara Ashlee Barker. How do you seen Cal’s chances of handing Alabama their first loss of the season?

Morris Phillips is a Cal Bears beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

SMU Outclasses Cal, Goes 8-0 To Finish First In The ACC

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By Morris Phillips

Cal’s opportunity to end their regular season in a rarified manner fell apart before Saturday’s 12:30p.m. kickoff.

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza, Cal’s offensive catalyst, was ruled out due to an illness. Massive offensive linemen Nick Morrow, Fred Williams, and back Jaivian Thomas couldn’t go either due to injuries. Then, national-title contender SMU appeared as scheduled. And boy, were the Mustangs motivated.

“We wanted to go 8-0,” coach Rhett Lashlee said. “We wanted to win the regular season outright and not share it. And we were playing for a lot because the College Football Playoff still comes out with rankings for two more weeks. … We didn’t need to stumble. Have a setback.”

SMU glided to a 21-0 first half lead and won 38-6, the near-perfect lead-in to their ACC Championship game date with Clemson. The Bears spent more than half the game trying to score their first three points and struggled to run their offense for much of that stretch.

The Mustangs’ offensive line pushed Cal’s front around in their touchdown drives. That activity bought Kevin Jennings time to throw, or the zone blocking scheme opened lanes for Brashard Smith to run. Both had big games, and rarely did SMU run a poor play in the sequence. The home team’s failing was 17 penalties for 137 yards that limited their time of possession but didn’t negatively impact the scoreboard.

“I thought Kevin quietly played one of his better games of the year,” Lashlee said. “I think we scored on three of those first four drives. I know we didn’t score on the first one. We had 21 points pretty quick on their defense.”

Jennings was 20 of 30 for 225 yards passing, and Smith has 134 yards running and receiving. For Cal, the running game had too few explosive plays.

“Not good enough at any position to put points on the board,” coach Justin Wilcox said. “It was an offensive issue today, not just quarterback.”

Chandler Rogers completed 8 of 15 passes for 84 yards, but he left injured in the third quarter. C.J. Harris finished the game for Cal and was 6 of 8 passing. In the first half, Cal gained 45 yards in 20 rushing attempts. The closest thing to success was Derek Morris’ 38-yard field goal miss.

Cal did have its full list of pass catchers, but they weren’t sharp or productive. Nyziah Hunter led with five catches, but he had a key procedural mistake pre-snap when Cal was driving before the break. Seven others caught a pass, but the total passes caught was only 14.

After taking their 21-0 leady early in the second quarter, the Mustangs went more than half the game before scoring again in the fourth. A field goal, a second touchdown pass from Kevin Jennings, and a 40-yard touchdown pass from Preston Stone capped the scoring.

The Bears may wait 10 to 14 days to find out what their bowl destination will be as the 13th of 17 conference teams to reach bowl eligibility.