Cal Women’s Basketball Fades in Second-Half at NC State
The short-handed Bears again play a good team tough, and again wilt late.
photo via Calbears.com
I stared at a blank editor screen for a long time, because I couldn’t figure out a new way to describe something I’ve already written about twice previously. We now have a new addition to the list:
13:58 remaining in the game: Cal 45, NC State 45
The Bears had actually led on six different occasions up to that point, in what had been a very back-and-forth game. And yet, just 3 minutes and 17 seconds after that 45-45 tie, the score was NC State 56, Cal 45.
The Bears kept fighting, cutting the deficit down to 6 points with just a bit over three minutes left in the game, but a series of turnovers on bad passes as the Bears pressed to score quickly ended faint hopes of a comeback.
I don’t mean to imply that this game wasn’t any different to Cal’s losses to all of their other power conference opponents. In this particular game, the primary issue was turnovers. Cal actually slightly outshot NC State, and outrebounded the Wolfpack as well. Free throws were not a significant factor for either team.
No, the difference in the game was 20 turnovers for Cal, and just 6 for NC State. The Wolfpack used those 14 extra possessions to build their lead and then shut the door on any potential Cal comeback.
And I think this was where Cal really felt the loss of Puff Morris. Unlike UNC’s defense, NC State does not run a defensive system that creates many turnovers. And yet NC State racked up 12 steals in this game, in what I believe is a season high. Particularly late in the game, when Cal was pressing, the Bears made a number of bad decisions in an attempt to force the action, and NC State gladly took advantage.
Does Cal win this game with Puff Morris? That’s probably a step too far. For one thing, Puff has been turnover prone herself, albeit in a fashion that you would expect for a true freshman thrust into a primary ball handling role. Still, the players forced to step into bigger ball handling roles in this game were both looser with their passes AND recorded a lower assist rate than Cal’s season average. If Cal has Puff healthy for this game but otherwise everything else plays out similarly, it’s not hard to imagine a game that is very much in the balance in the final minute.
Sadly, that’s not the reality we live in. We live in the reality where Cal went on the road to the two toughest games on their ACC schedule and played at a competitive level that surprised me, and yet was still ultimately not good enough to give Cal a credible chance to win either game. That’s frustrating, but also a better sign for the future than if Cal just got blown out from the jump in both games, which was something I thought was possible based on the way both UNC and NC State were playing entering this weekend.
In other words, two moral victories. I don’t know how much value Charmin Smith might put into a moral victory. But speaking for myself, if the Bears build on these performances and translate them into wins when the schedule gets more manageable, they will be much easier to swallow.
On the other hand, if Cal goes into games against, say, Wake Forest or Boston College and plays competitively but still fades late, that’s going to be much less satisfying.
Game Notes
Naya Ojukwu had her best game as a Bear, going for 14 points on 8 shots as Sakima Walker dealt with foul trouble. I wasn’t sure how the undersized Ojukwu would adapt to the size ACC teams tend to have, but she has an uncanny ability to create space for her shot . . . though to be fair, NC State was without 6’6’’ center Tilda Trygger for this game.
Lulu Twidale and Taylor Barnes both played the entire 40 minutes, and Gisella Maul and Mjiracle Sheppard both played 37 and 35 minutes respectively, and I suppose it would be naive of me not to note that one possible reason that Cal has faded late in competitive games is because they don’t have much depth and their starters are running out of gas in the 2nd half.
Cal has Duke next (4-0 in the ACC and coming off a double digit win over Notre Dame), which just feels messed up. Cal happens to face three of the four best teams in the ACC (Louisville is the 4th) in their first three games. Cross your fingers and hope that Puff is back on Thursday. At least this one is back in Berkeley!