Women's Basketball: Third Quarter Sinks Cal in 65-74 Loss to Vanderbilt in Paris
A spirited fight for a rebuilding Cal team
With the college basketball season tipping off, Cal Women’s Basketball got the opportunity of a lifetime to open its season at the Oui-Play event at Adidas Arena in Paris.
“Being global is something that every sport is trying to do and women’s basketball belongs on this stage,” HC Charmin Smith said postgame. “We’re grateful to be invited to this event, it was amazing for our program and the University of California.”
This years version of the Bears replaced a lot of potent scorers and leaders, resulting in a 12th place prediction from the ACC coaches poll.
In the first half against No.19 Vanderbilt, Cal was punching above its perceived weight and then some. The fearless freshmen duo of Puff Morris and Taylor Barnes were nails in building up a lead that got as large as nine points late in the first half.
Due in part to a 7-0 run to end the half by Vandy, Cal didn’t get the lead they probably should’ve had going into the locker room. The Bears were out-rebounding their SEC opponents 28-20, had a lead in the assists department 10-4 and were shooting a better percentage from the floor and from three.
Unfortunately for Cal, the aforementioned run cut the lead down to two and Vanderbilt would pounce from there out of the break.
It would become a third quarter to forget for Cal as everything seemingly came unglued through a long 19-0 run by Vandy.
Cal would commit five turnovers in the quarter, more than their four made field goals in the ten minute period. After a rock solid first half, this step back ultimately would put the Bears in a deficit that they could not recover from.
Star Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes ended with 27 points on 27 shots, but her gravity unleashed more situations than Cal could recover from. Vandy crashed the glass hard in the second half, winning the battle 28-14 over the final 20 minutes.
At the end of the day, Cal had several encouraging performances against a ranked opponent.
Barnes looked very poised in her first start at the D1 level, putting together a line of 17 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists with efficient shooting. Sakima Walker gave herself good opportunities and eventually recorded a double-double, and also has room to grow around the rim and at the free throw line. It’s not often that Cal will be in contention with Lulu Twidale going 1/11 from the three point line but they continued to claw back in a way that earns credit.
Cal Women’s Basketball is back in action this Sunday for its home opener against Sacramento State at 7 p.m. PT.