I was semi-wrong - Cal kept the TOs up and allowed many more offensive rebounds..

Most of the TOs were passes to trouble and over-dribbling into traffic.

29 TOs. 68-49 in FGAs - 19 less. And you still win?

How is that possible?

A couple of factors. First, Tiger's Scott looks like she had a hand or wrist issue...and was not too effective. Really affected Auburn's offense. Second, I thought Cal out-toughed and out-scrapped the Tigers. And the Tigers are scrappy, so that's saying something.

Noble and Michelle were really factors in the 2nd half - both fought hard for rebounds and loose balls. You look at the box score and Noble is credited with 2 rebounds and zero points. First thought would be she played a bad game. No - she played a very good game, doing those little things that lead to winning. Michelle had a tough 1st half and ended up with decent numbers. But her compete factor was very high. Those two (I'll add that Donez was also part of the scrappy play) really made a difference. Grit and determination mean a lot.

The offensive foul on Lulu's floater was abysmal. Could have been a game decider - luckily the Bears fought through it.

Solid win and a character builder. Michelle's emotional outburst when the clock went to 00:00 tells the story.

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BearBint said:

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Cardiac Cal

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Charmin makes a good point: Cal was never that far behind, although they did worry their fans; the Tigers are fast and crafty. I also agree about Jayda: not a big stat line, but a fine defender.

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blungld said:

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Suarez needs to stop thinking she is a PG. Her unforced turnovers are bizarre and brutal.

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I could not believe it, while yelling from the bleachers, Stop dribbling and pass the BALL!!!
Have to say the Auburn players were very tenacious and quick. They are stronger then the Bears.
Congratulations to the CAL players for hanging tough and getting the W!!! Glad I didn't miss the game
due to the rain.

I really like Marta but it has to stop now. She needs to stop forcing herself into situations where she has to prove ball skills she does not have.

Oakbear said:

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47 total turnovers in a game, sloppy much

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The Auburn players are rough and ready, never letting down. Fortunately, in the 4th quarter, they gave Lulu some room and she nailed two three's in a row. It was a tough game and the players were so happy to win!! Love it when they get to win a very tough game. We were all cheering like crazy....Congratulations to Cal WBB!!

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This is where Leilani could've helped.

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We enjoyed five years of Leilani. Saying that she would have helped now makes no more sense then saying we sure could have used Brittney Boyd tonight. Time to move on with the players we have.

Playing Jayda Noble during crunchtime was a brilliant decision by Coach Smith. Noble came through in a big way. She delivered key plays at both ends in the final pressure minutes. I also thought the deep bench early showed up as Auburn fatigue later in the game. I am seeing a *potential* top 25 team here in Berkeley.

Suarez brings fight and is a hell of an athlete, but her decision making is not where it needs to be. She should have more rebounds, assists, and defensive stops with her strength and size. Don't get me wrong, I still love that she is a Cal Bear but IMHO she is not yet maximizing her advantages. Marta should be a particularly important difference maker with her physical advantages in tough upcoming games. I do admire the joy she plays with.

There needs to be better flow on offense, less dribble-terminate leading to turnovers or forced shots.
Too many turnovers... Williams plays with intensity, but she tends to fall into east-west rather than choosing to be a north-south.playmaker. She should be able to break down her defenders with her speed and score or dish earlier to our superior perimeter shooters or drivers. Or perfect the lob when it's there.

Rather than line-drive high passes to Michelle the Bears would likely have better luck putting a little arc on the passes so she can catch it higher and a little softer. Despite some lost opportunities on offense Michelle's 8 rebounds in 24 minutes was huge.

alexa play deja vu by olivia rodrigo https://t.co/iPMYwLOv4G pic.twitter.com/lUAwfqclc7

— Don Grizzell, Ph.D. (@golDonbear) November 23, 2024

Off-topic, but I finally noticed that none of the Cal players wear those godawful huge false eyelashes that look like tooth brushes. Is that a Southern thing? Is there a team called the Lady Lashes?

john1953 said:

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Playing Jayda Noble during crunchtime was a brilliant decision by Coach Smith. Noble came through in a big way. She delivered key plays at both ends in the final pressure minutes. I also thought the deep bench early showed up as Auburn fatigue later in the game. I am seeing a *potential* top 25 team here in Berkeley.

Suarez brings fight and is a hell of an athlete, but her decision making is not where it needs to be. She should have more rebounds, assists, and defensive stops with her strength and size. Don't get me wrong, I still love that she is a Cal Bear but IMHO she is not yet maximizing her advantages. Marta should be a particularly important difference maker with her physical advantages in tough upcoming games. I do admire the joy she plays with.

There needs to be better flow on offense, less dribble-terminate leading to turnovers or forced shots.
Too many turnovers... Williams plays with intensity, but she tends to fall into east-west rather than choosing to be a north-south.playmaker. She should be able to break down her defenders with her speed and score or dish earlier to our superior perimeter shooters or drivers. Or perfect the lob when it's there.

Rather than line-drive high passes to Michelle the Bears would likely have better luck putting a little arc on the passes so she can catch it higher and a little softer. Despite some lost opportunities on offense Michelle's 8 rebounds in 24 minutes was huge.

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I have to agree, Jayda Noble was the X factor tonight. She gave us a shot of adrenaline that was really needed.
One comment on the drop in passes that may be an oversimplifcation - the pass works best when thrown diagnolly on the court. Felt like more turmovers occurred when we tried to feed it high low from the same side of the key, those passes are often more difficult to make, and even then if it's successful the conversion to a basket isn't as easy because the defense has time to bring help from the opposite side.
It appeared that after the early shooting success of Lulu and Ioanna, Auburn extended it's defense and for much of the second half there was too much dribbling on our part to adjust to it. I think Charmin needs to work on this because we'll be seeing a lot by other teams as the season progresses.
Still, a very gritty win, let's hope the team learns from it moving forward.

john1953 said:

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Playing Jayda Noble during crunchtime was a brilliant decision by Coach Smith. Noble came through in a big way. She delivered key plays at both ends in the final pressure minutes. I also thought the deep bench early showed up as Auburn fatigue later in the game. I am seeing a *potential* top 25 team here in Berkeley.

Suarez brings fight and is a hell of an athlete, but her decision making is not where it needs to be. She should have more rebounds, assists, and defensive stops with her strength and size. Don't get me wrong, I still love that she is a Cal Bear but IMHO she is not yet maximizing her advantages. Marta should be a particularly important difference maker with her physical advantages in tough upcoming games. I do admire the joy she plays with.

There needs to be better flow on offense, less dribble-terminate leading to turnovers or forced shots.
Too many turnovers... Williams plays with intensity, but she tends to fall into east-west rather than choosing to be a north-south.playmaker. She should be able to break down her defenders with her speed and score or dish earlier to our superior perimeter shooters or drivers. Or perfect the lob when it's there.

Rather than line-drive high passes to Michelle the Bears would likely have better luck putting a little arc on the passes so she can catch it higher and a little softer. Despite some lost opportunities on offense Michelle's 8 rebounds in 24 minutes was huge.

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Not that i watched a zillion games last year, but I saw enough to know that Suarez is 10x the player she was last night. If it came out that she was playing through the flu, and/or just over some illness it wouldn't surprise me.

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Not that i watched a zillion games last year, but I saw enough to know that Suarez is 10x the player she was last night. If it came out that she was playing through the flu, and/or just over some illness it wouldn't surprise me.

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Agree. She's a helluva player BUT she needs to do much better of taking care of the ball by staying within herself. After one turnover last night Charmin really lit into her.

Last season, Marta scored 27 against Auburn and fueled the win without lo Krimili who was injured at the time. Perhaps she "thought" her heroics were needed again last night. She'll learn.

I talked to her during the open practice last Sunday. Outstanding individual and definitely a team player.

Go Bears!!

Point taken, MB. And corrected.

Thank you.