Cal WBB fades in 4th quarter in loss to UNC
Short-handed Bears hang tough for 30 minutes before the floodgates opened.
Sakima Walker’s 19 points on 14 shots led Cal vs. UNC - photo via calbears.com
Less than two weeks ago, I noted that Cal had been competitive with high end competition. Five losses vs. power conference teams, all by single digits, and all of which were very close at different points in the second half. A recap:
17:06 remaining, Cal 37, Vanderbilt 35
2:30 remaining, Auburn 51 Cal 49
0:39 remaining, Cal 67, Missouri 66
9:16 remaining, Cal 57, Stanford 52
5:58 remaining, Cal 49, USC 46
Well, here’s another:
16:11 remaining, Cal 41, UNC 36
Cal held onto that lead for another two minutes, and when the 4th quarter began UNC was only up 3 points. But once again, the Bears wilted late in the face of superior talent. The Tar Heels outscored Cal 21-8 in the 4th quarter, blowing open a game that had been very tight for basically the entire game. The game ended 71-55, which maybe didn’t represent how most of the game went but probably was a fair measure of the gap between where these two teams stand right now.
In many ways it was an admirable effort. Cal was short handed without starting point guard Puff Morris, who didn’t make the trip due to an unspecified leg injury. That’s a bad development regardless of opponent, but seemed particularly ominous before a road game against a top 25 opponent that plays lots of ball pressure and is very good at forcing opponents to turn the ball over. Cal turned to some unexpected bench options as a result. Gisella Maul stepped into the starting lineup and contributed nine points, while Grace McCallop and Anastasia Drosouni got brief minutes off the bench. Lulu Twidale ended up playing all 40 minutes, as Cal distributed the ~25 minutes Puff Morris would usually play around the lineup.
Turnovers did end up being a problem all game long - Cal coughed up possession 22 times compared to 11 for North Carolina. But the Bears stayed in it by playing good defense and holding UNC to generally bad shooting . . . or at least, they did until the wheel fell off in the 4th quarter and the Tar Heels closed the game shooting 10-17.
The other factor keeping Cal close was three point shooting. It hasn’t been a strength so far this year, but 6-9 shooting from deep in the first half was the primary driver of Cal’s early offensive success. When deep shots stopped falling in the 2nd half (1-10), Cal’s offense dried up with it.
So what exactly is plaguing the Bears when games hit crunch time? Does Cal struggle to maintain composure? Do better/more veteran teams have a gear they can access that Cal doesn’t? Is it just random chance that Cal has performed well for the first 25-30 minutes of a game and less well in the final 10-15 minutes?
These are unanswerable questions.
Ultimately, I chalk it all up to inexperience and opportunity for growth. We’re watching Taylor Barnes and (until today) Puff Morris learn how to play at this level. We’re watching Lulu Twidale and Mjracle Sheppard learn how to take on a new level of responsibility on both sides of the floor. We’re watching Gisella Maul and Lola Donez adapting to much larger rotational roles than either of their prior two seasons.
And if you’re a Cal fan, you have little choice but to hope that this team will learn by taking some lumps now for the potential future payout of wins later on.
Cal plays at NC State on Sunday, in a game that looks even tougher after the Wolfpack annihilated Stanford today, 74-46. It hasn’t been officially announced, but I feel confident in assuming that Puff Morris isn’t going to be hoping on a plane and will be unavailable again on Sunday. Frankly, I think this is a week to survive and move past, as the ACC schedule gets easier after this first brutal road trip.