A rare daytime game this afternoon, as the College of Charleston Cougars (2-1, including a 105-44 loss to USC) paid a visit to Haas Pavilion to take on the Golden Bears. Today was Schoolhaas Rock, as local elementary schools filled the seats, providing a very loud and excitable atmosphere.
Cal raced out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back in the wire to wire win. The first quarter was all Bears, as eight different Cal players scored en route to a 25-4 lead. Charleston committed seven turnovers in the first period. The game looked like it might be a full on blowout.
The Cougars cleaned up their sloppy play in the second period (only 2 turnovers) and showed some fight. F Isla Juffermans led the charge for the Cougars, winning the interior battle over Cal’s platoon of Albina Syla and Jovana Jevtovic. Juffermans scored 12 points in the second quarter as the Charleston closed to within eight points on several occasions. Cal led 36-25 at halftime.
Charleston was able to reduce the lead to six, 40-34 midway through the third period. The combo of G Janna Vogelar (CAA Newcomer of the Week) and F Juffermans were executing the Cougar’s offense exceptionally well. Cal’s shooting went even colder than it had been, starting the period off only 2-of-11. Lulu Twidale started the game 0-for-8 on three point shots before connecting on her first one with two minutes left in the third period to push Cal’s lead back to double digits. Twidale’s basket kicked off an 11-2 Cal scoring run to end the period. The Bears led 60-43 after three.
Cal maintained at least a 12 point lead through the final period as they closed out the 78-64 win.
Shannon Dowell led Cal with 20 points on 5-of-10 shooting, and a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line. Lulu Twidale added 19 points, 15 of which came in the second half after a cold start.
Though Juffermans had a game high eight rebounds, Cal won the overall rebounding battle 42 to 31. Albina Syla and Gisella Maul led Cal with seven rebounds apiece.
My short version; Cal starts off strong, allows Charleston to hang around for the majority of the second and third periods, then Lulu starts finally hitting her shots and Cal pulls away for the 14-point win. The outcome was never really in doubt. It could have been more decisive against the overmatched opponent, but take the win and move on to the next game.
Coach Charmin Smith was more disappointed about her team’s performance. In her postgame press conference, Coach Smith was direct in her message of it being an underwhelming outcome. When asked about the lull in the second and third periods;
Coach: “I mean, after the first quarter, it was a tie ball game. I think it's unacceptable.”
BentPawn: “Can you expand on that a little bit more? What were you seeing, the execution? The shots just not going in? “
Coach: “Shot's not going in.....We've had that happen, you know, that happens. I didn't like our energy. Yeah, and I don't think I need to say any more than that. I think we could have played a lot better, and I know that we'll play better on Saturday. I love this team. I'm so grateful to be able to coach this team. And it wasn't our best day.”
Cal will take their 4-0 record on the road this weekend down the 101, facing the UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos on Saturday afternoon in the Thunderdome. The Gauchos are 3-0 on the year, and beat Stanford in an exhibition matchup in late October. Cal will need to play better in order to keep their perfect record intact.
Notes and Observations
The shooting splits across the quarters paint the picture. Cal shot 52% in the first period, 44% in the final period, and under 30% for the second and third periods. The numbers are approximately inversed for Charleston.
Charleston’s Isla Jufferman was on Louisville’s roster last year, but did not play for the Cardinals due to injury. Her 22 points today (and 7 rebounds) is a career high.
Naya Ojukwu sat out today’s game due to illness. Cal rotated Syla and Jevtovic into the post, but Jufferman won most battles. Freshman C Anna Lagonaki played 6 minutes for the Bears, a career high. Lagonaki scored 1 point and grabbed 2 rebounds
I underestimated Shannon Dowell. In my preseason roster writeup, I tabbed her as a bench sparkplug but was worried about her high turnover rate (3.5 per game) at Missouri last year. This year, her scoring has dropped from 14.9 points last year to 11.7 points per game. Other categories have improved dramatically, in less playing time.
2025 Missouri: 14.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.1 steals, 3.5 turnovers — 29.2 minutes per game
2026 Cal: 11.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, .3 steals, 1.0 turnovers —24.7 minutes per game
Dowell is perfect for the year on free throws, hitting all 19 of her attempts so far. When asked about this aspect of her game, Dowell was proud of her ability to draw fouls;
“Just going in there knowing there’s going to be contact and just absorbing. It is really like my main focus. I mean, I kind of double clutch a lot too, so it kind of it baits the defender into fouling me.”
All this to say, Dowell is becoming the second most impactful player for the Bears, a strong complement to Lulu Twidale.