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.
BERKELEY, CA–Ioanna Krimili and Lulu Twidale combined for 12 made 3-pointers, and Cal blew past Temple 89-63 in the championship game of the Raising The B.A.R. Invitational on Sunday night.
The Bears finished non-conference play 13-1, their best showing since 2017, ahead of their first ever ACC road trip that starts at Clemson on January 2.
“I thought this Temple team was really good and shot the ball well in the first half,” coach Charmin Smith said. “We just had to keep pushing and pushing, and we were finally able to bust through. This is a good game for us being a little shorthanded and having people step up to do a really good job to get a great win.”
The Bears play without starter 6’3″ Marta Suarez for a second, consecutive game, but there was little slippage offensively or defensively, as Cal broke open a close game with a hot-shooting third quarter that ended with Cal up 69-48.
The Bears combined 16 made threes with a 50-25 advantage in rebounds that created a blowout from what was a close game at halftime. Temple of the American Athletic Conference was picked to finish eighth in the 13-team league’s preseason poll. The Owls fell to 6-5 with the loss after they beat Xavier 66-51 in Saturday’s opening round.
“Towards the second half, we just weren’t crashing the boards enough. They definitely outrebounded us. It was a big margin,” Owls coach Diane Richardson said.
Tristen Taylor led Temple with 17 points on 7 of 10 from the floor. Three other players, Jaleesa Molina, Tiarra East and Anissa Rivera, contributed eight points each.
Cal got 20 each from Krimili and Twidale. Kayla Williams added 17. The Bears also beat Fordham 69-53 on Saturday in the tournament’s opening round.
SAN JOSE, CA–Fifteen ACC basketball teams hit the hardwood on Saturday, and one–Cal–had a particularly difficult time gaining a feel for holiday hoops.
The Bears made 14 baskets in 40 minutes of play and were drubbed by No. 23 San Diego State, 71-50 at the San Jose Tip-Off in the SAP Center.
During a lengthy run by the Aztecs late in the first half, and immediately after another missed shot by Cal, coach Mark Madsen lost it for nearly 45 seconds, yelling at the officials, drawing a technical, and needing three, different staff members to provide physical restraint.
“Mad Dog at Midnight* (in the East)” probably drew big numbers for ESPN. But this game in a quiet, cavernous Shark Tank did not.
“San Diego State took us completely out of our offense,” Madsen said. “Our defense in the first half was OK. Our defense in the second half was poor.”
Only one made 3-pointer highlighted the first half, and when the Aztecs’ Nick Boyd hit two threes in the first minute of the second half, the game was essentially over with Cal trailing 31-16. The Bears slumped even further, trailing by as many as 27 before falling by 19.
“We stuck in the game with our defense,” SDSU coach Brian Dutcher said. “We started making some threes, and that opened up the game for us.”
“We couldn’t find a rhythm,” Madsen said. “They played with so much physicality, got us off our spots.”
Boyd led SDSU with 17 points, Miles Byrd and BJ Davis each scored 12.
Cal shot 25 percent for the game, and leading scorer Andrej Stojakovic missed his first nine shots from the floor, and was limited to 10 points. Jeremiah Wilkinson led Cal with 13 points.
The SAP Center provided Cal the floor earlier in the day, but that session was canceled when the rims appeared six inches too low, and the 3-point line was set at an improper distance.
The Aztecs couldn’t get to San Jose after a couple of canceled flights on Friday, and they ended up driving to Ontario to fly from there. That change completely severed the traveling party, all of whom outside the players and coaches ended up on busses that arrived less than an hour before game time.
All the upheaval was brushed off by both coaches, but Cal’s play obviously suffered. Dutcher, who has more than two decades coaching at San Diego State alone, was more effusive about what his Aztecs have accomplished despite challenging logistics.
“We had as good a non-conference we could have with the schedule we played. A loss to Gonzaga and a loss to Oregon is nothing to hang your head over. Wins obviously over Creighton, Houston and Cal, UC San Diego was 9-2. We put together a good non-conference resume,” Dutcher said.
Cal’s 50 points on Saturday were easily the fewest scored by a team on the ACC scoreboard. Stanford, with 61 points, and Georgia Tech with 65 were also challenged to score, and both lost as well. The Bears resume ACC play in Pittsburgh on New Years Day.
Oh, not to muddle Cal’s holiday cheer, but the Pitt Panthers scored 110 points on Saturday in dusting Sam Houston State to improve to 10-2.
UNLV Rebels linebacker Jackson Woodard (7) and defensive back Cameron Oliver (5) celebrate after a play in the first half against the California Golden Bears at SoFi Stadium on Wed Dec 18, 2024. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
On the Cal Bears podcast with Morris :
#1 UNLV Running Rebels quarterback Hajj Malik Williams connected with wide receiver Kylin James that helped the Rebels come up with a win over the Cal Bears in the LA Bowl 24-13 at So Fi Stadium. Williams had good protection from his line to operate the football against the Bears.
#2 Morris this was a pretty special game for UNLV winning it’s first bowl game since 2000 that wasn’t the Las Vegas Bowl.
#3 This is the first time the Rebels have won 11 games since they joined the FBS Bowl.
#4 For Cal they finish 2024 at 6-7 and haven’t had a winning season since 2019. What weakened the Bears offense was quarterback Fernando Mendoza and wide receiver Nyziah Hunter had entered the transfer portal.
#5 The wrap up the 2024 season. What are some of the things that head coach Justin Wilcox will be looking for in the 2024 season?
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