Category: NCAA

Rough And Tumble: Cal Women Survive Stanford’s Late Rally, Win 75-72

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By Morris Phillips

STANFORD, CA–For 35 minutes, the Cal women were themselves, offensive savants taking advantage of whatever the Stanford defense provided, which at times was a lot.

The other five minutes, littered with rough fouls, a technical foul out of nowhere, and a significant injury, spoke to a hard fought contest that Stanford was reluctant to relinquish. It was those five minutes that almost sent Cal home with an unlikely loss.

But Cal’s experienced leadership, principally graduates Ioanna Krimili and Kayla Williams, made the plays down the stretch in Cal’s milestone 75-72 win.

The win gave Cal a historic sweep of Stanford, 39 years after the last occurrence in 1986, the first season of Tara VanDerveer’s 38 years on the Farm in the long disposed Pac West Conference.

Smith, who went 0 for 11 against VanDerveer, her college coach, who subsequently suggested that Smith take up coaching, acknowledged the moment and its significance for Cal.

“This is special for me,” Smith said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be 18 threes like it was at Haas. But to be able to hold on and fight through a number of mistakes and adversity to get the win, I’m just really proud of this team.”

Cal made 17 of their first 20 two-point shot attempts and built a 53-37 lead and quieted Maples Pavilion without relying on 3-point shooting. But the deficit didn’t break the hosts’ resolve. Instead, Coach Kate Paye continued to change her personnel in hopes of a defensive stand. That finally happened in a stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters that saw Stanford outscore Cal 16-2 and make it a game.

“We forced some turnovers, and that really got us going,” Paye said.

Down the stretch, the play grew more physical as Michelle Onyiah, Cal’s center, and reserve Jayda Noble were thrown to the floor. Noble got tangled with Stanford’s Shay Ijiwoye and had to be helped off the court as a leg injury prevented her from walking on her own. After a video review, Ijiwoye received an intentional foul resulting in free throws for Cal and possession of the ball.

“They called an intentional foul. I watched it. I didn’t agree with the call at all. That was a game changer,” Paye said of the critical exchange with 2:40 remaining and Stanford trailing 66-64.

Krimili, shooting in place of the injured Noble, converted both free throws. Williams was fouled on the ensuing possession and made one of two free throws to put Cal up by five.

Nunu Agara, who had 19 points for the hosts, hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to get Stanford within 73-71 with 49 seconds remaining. But Cal held on as Krimili and Williams came up with a trio of baskets on drives into the paint to preserve the win.

“We knew the game was going to bring adversity. In those moments, we were telling ourselves,“‘we’re good, we’re going to get through this,'” Williams said.

Cal improved to 18-3 with the win, and that has them in a group of 6-2 teams with North Carolina and Louisville, tied for fourth in the ACC standings behind Duke and North Carolina State with one loss and 8-0 Notre Dame.

The Bears have the weekend free ahead of home games against the Tar Heels and Pittsburgh next week.

Stanford Cardinal podcast with Michael Roberson: Cardinal host Hurricanes Saturday night at Maples Pavilion

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Stanford Cardinal forward Donavon Young (2) takes a jump shot against the Miami Hurricanes at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto on Wed Jan 22, 2025 (Stanford Cardinal X photo)

On the Stanford Cardinal podcast with Michael:

#1 Stanford Cardinal didn’t give an inch defeating the Miami Hurricane 88-51 on Wednesday night to improve their record to 13-6. The Cardinal are 5-3 and Stanford has an outstanding home record at 10-1.

#2 The Cardinal are 10-1 for the first time since 2019-20. Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud has a nation leading 16th double-double for this season. Raynaud scored 28 points, went 10-17 and 4-6 from behind the three point line, with 12 rebounds.

#3 Raynaud past Hank Luisetti who played on the 1938 Cardinal and is 25th on Stanford’s all time scoring list. Raynaud also moves past Josh Huestit class of 1914 for eighth on the all time rebounds list.

#4 Raynaud’s outing marked his 12th 20-point game of the season.

#5 The Florida State Seminoles are next up for the Stanford Cardinal on Sat Jan 25 a 4:00pm PST tip. The Seminoles lost to the Cal Bears at Haas Pavilion on Wednesday night 88-51. The Seminoles 13-6 are sixth in the ACC and are 3-3 on the road.

Join Michael Roberson for the Stanford Cardinal podcast each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cardinal Stave off Hurricanes 88-51, on a Chilly Late Night on the Farm

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Stanford Cardinal forward Maxime Raynaud (42) drives the ball against the Miami Hurricanes Lynn Kidd center (1) at Haas Pavilion in Palo Alto on Wed Jan 22, 2025 (Stanford Cardinal X photo)

By Michael Roberson

STANFORD, Calif. — The Bay Area weather was calm and cool , as the Stanford Cardinal (13-6, 5-3 ACC) reduced the Miami Hurricanes (4-15, 0-8 ACC) to a Category 1,(88-51) inside the cozy confines of Maples Pavilion.

Miami actually got the party started, by scoring the first point of the conference contest. Senior forward Brandon Johnson converted one of two free throws, giving them their only lead. Stanford went on an avalanche of a run (7-0), then proceeded to double that push minutes later.

Stanford got the lead up to as high as 23 points in the initial half. However, the Hurricanes did produce some heavy winds, as they slightly cut into the large deficit, trailing by 13 late in the half. Junior guard Oziyah Sellers hit a three with less than a minute until recess.

The Cardinal held a 16-point lead at halftime, 37-21. Balanced scoring for the Cardinal, as only one player eclipsed the ten-point plateau. Sellers reached 10 points on his last basket of the half. Maxime Raynaud added nine points and snagged eight rebounds.

Senior center Lynn Kidd led the Canes with eight points and five rebounds. Miami seemed to feel they were still in the game at the midway point.

Miami opened the second half as if they were going to make a comeback. They made an immediate 5-0 run, putting themselves within 11 points of the Cardinal lead..Senior guard Matthew Cleveland made those points on a three-pointer and layup.

Raynaud decided that he was going to end the Hurricane comeback, and went on a personal run of his own. as he added 19 points to his first half tally and snatched four more rebounds to his total.

As the final half of the game progressed, Stanford ballooned the gap to a whopping 39 points with less than five minutes of regulation time on the clock.Miami did score nine more points in the the second half, than in the first, but unfortunately for them, the home team added 14 to their already 16-point advantage.

After 40 minutes of action, the Cardinal kept their perfect home conference record (3-0) intact, winning by 37 points, 88-51. Technically,they are undefeated in the entire Bay Area, as they won an ACC road game in Berkeley, at the beginning of conference play.

Stanford presented five players with at least ten points in the game. Raynaud led the way with another double-double, offering 28 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Both Jaylen Blakes and Chisom Okpara contributed 12 points and two assists each, but JB also stole the ball thrice. The aforementioned Sellers remained at ten points of production, while Ryan Agarwal scored 11 points and captured five carrums.

Miami had two players with double-digit scoring. Matthew Cleveland put up a team-leading 23 points, while Lynn Kidd chipped in ten points and seven rebounds for the South Florida visitors.

Stanford will next be in action Saturday, January 25, hosting Florida State at 4:00 PM PT, on the ACC Network. Miami heads across the Bay to Berkeley on the same date to face California at 5:30 PM PT, on ESPNU.

Golden Bears upend Seminoles 77-68 for ACC victory

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Cal Bears forward Joshua Ola-Joseph (1) looks astonished with forward Lee Dort (34) in the background as Cal defeated the Florida State Seminoles at Haas Pavilion on Wed Jan 22, 2025 (Cal Bears X photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

California used the offensive efforts of Jeremiah Wilkinson, Rytis Petraitis and Mady Sissoko to upend Florida State 77-68 in Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball Wednesday at Haas Pavilion.

Wilkinson scored 18 points for the Golden Bears (10-9 overall, 3-5 ACC) while Sissoko and Petraitis each registered a double-double. Sissoko had 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Petraitis finished with 12 points and 13 boards. Joshua Ola-Joseph scored 14 points and DJ Campbell chipped in with ten points.

Sissoko’s dunk put Cal up 69-59 with three minutes to play. Then Daquan Davis and Jamie Watkins scored inside to pull the Seminoles (13-6 overall, 4-4 ACC) to within six with 1:20 remaining. Cal maintained its lead by going 8-for-8 at the free throw line.

Earlier in the second half, Jerry Deng’s dunk gave Florida State a 51-49 lead at the 12-minute mark. But the Seminoles went cold, missing 11 consecutive shots while being held to eight points in a nine-minute stretch.

While FSU struggled, the Golden Bears scored 18 points, building a 57-55 lead with 4:30 to play.

Watkins led the Seminoles with 18 points, Malique Ewin contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Deng finished with 11 points.

While FSU visits Stanford on Saturday, Cal hosts Miami (Fla.), also on Saturday.

Cal Bears WBB podcast with Morris Phillips: Cal battles Stanford on the Hill Thursday

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Cal Bears center Michelle Onyiah (0) takes a shot over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons forward Kennedy Moore (15) at LVJM Coliseum in Winston-Salem NC on Sun Jan 19, 2025 (Cal Bears photo)

On the Cal Bears WBB podcast with Morris Phillips:

#1 Cal Bears who are Cal is 17-3, 5-2, 11 scheduled games remaining, nine against teams below them in the ACC standings and 11-0 at Haas Pavilion.  Marta Suarez led with 16 points with nine assists, Ioanna Krimili and Lulu Twidale scored four three pointers and both finished with 14 points on Sunday in Cal’s 67-55 win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (7-12) in Winston-Salem NC.

#2 Michelle Onyiah scored ten points and grabbed ten rebounds with her fifth double-double of the season.

#3 Krimili was aggressive in getting the basketball early scoring their first eight points for a 10-2 start that put Cal in front 23-19 for Cal’s first lead four minutes in the second quarter and never look back.

#4 Morris, after getting crushed by Duke 72-38 on Thursday how important was it for them to turn around on Sunday and get that win against Wake Forest to end their road trip to Tabacco Road?

#5 Cal tips off against their cross bay rival the Stanford Cardinal (10-8) Thu Jan 22 for a 7:00pm PST start. The Cardinal are 13th in the ACC. Stanford has almost been flawless at home with a 9-1 record. Do you see the Bears not being intimidated and getting business done or could it be a battle for them at Maples Pavilion?

Join Morris Thursdays for the Cal Bears podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal Women Rebound, Beat Wake Forest 67-55 To Improve To 17-3

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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.

Blakes’ Big Shot Gives Stanford 72-71 Win, Their First Ever Over North Carolina

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By Morris Phillips

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.–When you’re new in town, you need a guy that knows the lay, the ins, and outs. When that guy turns out to be the guy, you’ve got something special.

Jaylen Blakes was that guy, and Stanford, that team to successfully navigate the Dean E. Smith Center Saturday afternoon and escape with a 72-71 win that materialized with less than two seconds remaining. Blakes’ full court rush in the final seconds concluded with a pull-up, and short jumper gave Stanford their first-ever win over the Tar Heels after 13 losses.

“We took our foot off the gas a little bit. Our attention to detail wasn’t there, and that allowed Stanford to get into a rhythm and make their run,” UNC guard RJ Davis said.

“Little things lead to big things happening. And I felt like those little mistakes led to big things happening today in result of a loss,” coach Hubert Davis concluded.

For the always front running Tar Heels contingent, the loss wasn’t easy to explain. It wasn’t easy to take either. North Carolina’s six losses coming in were to contending teams. Stanford’s not that, but they could be if they compete as intently as they did against UNC.  Clearly, the Heels didn’t play poorly, but they were made to pay for their late mistakes.

For Stanford, Blakes was the main guy. A transfer from Duke, who played 83 games for the Blue Devils, but sparingly with just 60 total field goals made, has found his stride at Stanford. Against UNC, Blakes scored as many as 20 points for just the third time in his career, all three this season. The senior guard with a Duke degree led the Cardinal from the opening tip, being animated and solely responsible, the logical leadup to his game-winning shot. His celebration after the play that stunned 21,500 spectators was theatre as well.

“I was just talking to myself a little bit, but I happened to look at the crowd,” Blakes said. “I was overjoyed.”

Maxime Raynaud and three other starters were also full of belief. All five starters played at least 34 minutes and took all but one of the visitors’ shot attempts. Raynaud led all scorers with 25 points, but he was inefficient, and another missed shot–he missed 16–could have reversed the outcome.

Oziyah Sellers and Donavin Young provided high accuracy shooting and combined to get heralded UNC freshman Ian Jackson stopped. Jackson was 1 of 8 shooting for six points, after he had 18 or more in seven consecutive games.

Davis led UNC with 19 points. Ven-Allen Lubin added 13, and Elliot Cadeau had 12.

Stanford is 4-3 in the ACC and one of eight teams that have a winning conference record. The Cardinal has 12 scheduled games remaining, 10 of those against ACC teams with a losing conference record. They host Miami on Wednesday at Maples Pavilion.

Cameron Indoor Statement: No. 16 Duke Snatches Cal’s Women, 72-38

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By Morris Phillips

DURHAM, NC–Coach Charmin Smith admitted facing highly regarded Duke wasn’t a great matchup for her Bears. But it was the biggest game of the season thus far, and she rightly expected her group’s competitive juices would surface.

The Bears competed, but they did so with multiple Blue Devils clawing and scratching for every available basketball. At first, Duke was annoying. In the second quarter, annoying became acute, causing Smith to call a timeout trailing 25-11. That timeout preceded another shot miss and two turnovers in less than a minute. The rout was cemented, and Duke ran off, winning 72-38.

“We weren’t able to handle the pressure well enough today to get any type of good looks for our scorers,” Smith said. “It was a rough night.”

Cal’s turnovers were game killers. A season-high 31 included 13 from Marta Suarez and Ioanna Krimili combined alone. That had both preoccupied and caused Smith to try other options briefly. Lulu Twidale saw so many Duke defenders leaping at her in closeouts, it’s not clear that she saw the basket when she finally made one late in the third quarter. Kayla Williams may have gotten the worse just by counting each time she had to pick herself off the floor after a Blue Devil leveled her to prevent a quality shot.

I thought it was a complete defensive performance by our group,” coach Kara Lawson said.

Zahra King, Cal’s freshman point guard, entrusted to maintain control of the basketball when Cal’s primary options failed may have suffered the telling moment of the evening when Duke defensive specialist Taina Mair ripped the basketball from King with such force that she found herself falling out of bounds. But Mair simply threw the basketball off King to maintain possession, which left King both speechless and action-less.

“I thought she was maybe the most impactful player in the game for us,” Lawson said of starting guard Mair, who was scoreless. “Her intensity, her competitiveness, her edge, how she disrupted, point of attack defense, five assists, one turnover, four steals. She just demanded her space out there. I told her that after the game. There’s so many more ways to impact winning other than scoring.”

Cal managed to get up 22 shots before halftime, a number rivaled by their 17 turnovers. The second half saw the Blue Devils grab 13 offensive rebounds, which severely limited Cal’s comeback hopes. The Cameron Indoor Stadium scoreboard captured it all, which wasn’t much. The Bears scored nine points in the second quarter and seven points in the third.

“They played phenomenal defense, and we really struggled with it,” Smith said.

Toby Fournier had 23 points, 11 rebounds to pace the hosts. Ashlon Jackson added 16, and Reigan Richardson had 14. Williams led Cal with 8 points.

Cal seeks a split in North Carolina on Sunday at Wake Forest, a team that couldn’t avoid an 0-6 start in ACC play on Thursday when their late comeback against Stanford fell short. The Demon Deacons are the only ACC without a conference win.

Cal Bears podcast with Morris Phillips: Cal gets turned around in landslide loss to Duke 72-38; Bears third loss of the season

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The Cal Bears Gisella Maul (12) drives on the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham on Thu Jan 16, 2025 (Cal Women’s basketball photo)

Cal Bears podcast with Morris Phillips:

#1 Morris the Duke Blue Devils (14-4) made easy work of the Cal Bears (16-3) with a 72-38 win. The contest was not even close and the Bears didn’t get much offense was it a matter of the Bears shot was off or was it that the Blue Devils defense just was in command all night?

#2 Duke’s Toby Fournier was a scoring machine leading with 23 points and she did it all coming off the bench.

#3 Cal tried hard as they may to try and shut down Duke’s Ashlon Jackson who finished second in scoring with 16 and Reigan Richardson with third with 14.

#4 Cal’s scoring was not their previous games nobody finished in double figures. The top three scorers were Kayla Williams with eight, Ugonne Onyiah and Natalia Ackerman both with six. It just seem on one could get past that intimidating Duke defense.

#5 Cal will try it all over again against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (7-10) on Sunday with an 11:00AM PST tip. Wake Forest are coming off a tough loss to the Stanford Cardinal 74-71 tonight. Wake Forest are last in the ACC and have lost five in a row. Cal is coming in none too happy after the loss to Duke so Wake Forest will no doubt have their work cut out for them.

Cal Bears podcasts with Morris Phillips are heard Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford Cardinal podcast with Michael Roberson: Stanford loses control of game late to Wake Forest

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Stanford Cardinal forward from left to right forward Maxime Raynaud (42), guard Jaylen Blakes (21), guard Oziyah Sellers (4) are out on the floor to battle the Wake Forest Deacon Demons at the LVJM Coliseum in Winston-Salem North Carolina on Wed Jan 15, 2025 (Stanford Cardinal photo)

On the Stanford Cardinal podcast with Michael Roberson:

#1 The Stanford Cardinal opened up their second road trip in ACC competition against the Wake Forest Deacon Deamons at Lawrence Joel Veteran Memorial Coliseum with a 80-67 loss. The Cardinal now drop their record to 11-6 and are 3-3 in the ACC.

#2 Oziyah Sellers led Stanford in scoring with 16 points and Jaylen Blakes scored 15 points, seven assists. The Cardinal Maxime Raynaud and Ryan Agarwal had 14 points each. Raynaud was able to rebound 11 times and is first in the NCAA with double doubles.

#3 What a year Raynaud is having he now has 1265 in career points which moves him up on the list surpassing Don Griffin of 1969 and Anthony Goods of 2009. Raynaud tied Chris Hernandez of 2006 tying him for 29th on the all time Stanford list.

#4 The Cardinal are now 1-1 against the Deacon Demons in their second meeting in school history. The last time they met in 1997 Stanford defeated Wake Forest in their first ever meeting.

#5 Stanford now heads to UNC to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC is 12-6 and are coming off a win over the Cal Bears on Wednesday night 79-53. UNC is on a four game win streak and tip off against Stanford Sat Jan 18 at 11:15 am PST. Michael how do you see this game?

Join Michael Roberson for the Stanford Cardinal podcasts heard Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com