Saint Mary's (5-0)

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ncbears
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1:26p, 11/20/25
Game shows how valuable Sheppard and Ojukwu are to Bears' success.
Bears bring back the paint game - Walker 25, Langarita 8 (Langarita left, I think, in middle of third and didn't return so I wonder about her health). Twidale hitting 4 of 8 from deep although uncharacteristically misses two free throws down the stretch, is a great sign.
Morris with 11 assists! and Bears have 21 assists on 26 made shots. Only 12 turnovers is a good sign.
But, St. Mary's still shot 52% overall - so Bears do have some work to do on defense.

Still, wins are wins and good. On to Texas!
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ncbears
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In reply to Schroeder71 • 1:35p, 11/20/25
Schroeder71 said:
Jeff Cammon is trying to make the Gaels play like Arizona State used to in the Pac 12. He rotates 12 players, always keeping fresh players on the court. Their emphasis is to wear down their opponents by the fourth quarter.
The Gael's defense has held its opposition to only 45 points per game. Their offense has collectively put up 61.4 points. Nobody scores in double figures. Below is an article that explains this phenomenon better than I can:

Defense And Depth Fueling Strong Start By Unbeaten Saint Mary's - West Coast Conference

There are a couple of mitigating factors, however. Their undefeated record has been achieved against a soft schedule: @Wyoming (1-3), Chico State (1-1), San Francisco State (2-2), @ UC Riverside (0-3) & Nevada (Reno) 2-2. None of these teams possess a winning record. Two of the teams would be categorized as exhibition opponents for Cal (Chico St and SF State). Still, none of the five have scored above 50 points vs St Mary's.

2025-2026 Saint Mary's College of California Women's Basketball

The Bears crushed the Gaels in Berkeley to open last season by 38 points. Six of the current Saint Mary's crew played in that one while Cal only has two players that participated. Cammon is in his third year at the helm and former Cal star, Brittany Boyd-Jones, is an assistant coach. The strength of this team is defense which turns defense into offense keyed by an average of 12.2 steals. They force 21.4 turnovers per contest. ***This could be a problem for Cal.*** On the other hand, the constant mix of different players on the floor has slowed the progress/continuity of their offense.
2025-26 Women's Basketball Roster - SMC California Athletics

The weaknesses of the offense are turnovers (17/g), average rebounding (38.2/g) and only 4.4 three-pointers per game. The 6-4 Aussie center, Edie Clarke (#7), has been their leader early on. She typically plays 23.4 minutes and averages 9.8 points & 4.6 boards per game.

I predict that Cal will emerge victorious, 70-50! GO BEARS!

Your prediction was half right.
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ncbears
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In reply to Schroeder71 • 1:40p, 11/20/25
Schroeder71 said:
The strength of this team is defense which turns defense into offense keyed by an average of 12.2 steals. They force 21.4 turnovers per contest. ***This could be a problem for Cal.***

The weaknesses of the offense are turnovers (17/g), average rebounding (38.2/g) and only 4.4 three-pointers per game. The 6-4 Aussie center, Edie Clarke (#7), has been their leader early on. She typically plays 23.4 minutes and averages 9.8 points & 4.6 boards per game.

I predict that Cal will emerge victorious, 70-50! GO BEARS!

Gaels get only 5 steals and generate only 12 turnovers by Cal. So Cal did well to deny the Gaels defense doing what it was designed to do.
Gaels turn the ball over 17 times (right on their average), only 28 rebounds and 2-7 from three.
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smh
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1:53p, 11/20/25
thanks for comments from the game. (after some hiccups) streaming at home worked fine too.
#gobears
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MoragaBear
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1:54p, 11/20/25
Staff
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smh
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In reply to MoragaBear • 2:26p, 11/20/25
youtu.be/DhJ1GZq3NyQ?si=jpmdhJP54ECPuyDL

tnx MB
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SFCALBear72
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3:06p, 11/20/25
If you didn't attend this game, you missed a really fun one! Kids were electric!! They nailed the karaoke songs AND knew the dance moves to the macarena!!

Plus, they saw an exciting game. And Cal Win!! Go Bears!!

Marketing idea: Each kid had a general admission ticket in their possession. If I was Cal, I'd encourage the kids to come back (like Charmin did after the game) and offer them a buy one, get one free deal if they bring back that ticket.
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gljone
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3:07p, 11/20/25
Not perfect, but a nice win considering the Bears were without Mjracle. Cal wasn't really phased with the constant trapping but I wish we were a little more precise with our passes. However, cannot complain about not turning the ball over.

You take the good with the bad...the bad? Puff taking two 3s when I didn't think they were shots to take. At least one of them was a shot/TO where the Gaels scored on the other end. But...you can't give a player the red light - it takes their flow away. So...just show them film and maybe suggest there is going to be a better opportunity later in the shot clock. Especially when Cal's posts were getting anything they wanted down low.

The end of the 2Q was worrisome - and proved to be a turning point for the Gaels. However, the Bears were able to stem the momentum and take back control of the game in the second half of the 3Q.

The good? Walker played to her size and had a monster game, Lulu has found her 3. Puff played pretty well, except for those couple of shots - but that's going to happen. Barnes was solid.

I thought Langarita played 'equal' minutes. I think she allowed as much as she got. So in the end, a break even game. Which on the whole is not bad.

The goods outweighed the bad...thankfully!

Not sure why Naya didn't get more opportunities in this game. Box score only shows 2 minutes. Interesting...

4600+ at the game. A noise app I use was at a steady 83 db with a peak of 90 db. Thankful for noise canceling earphones...

Go Bears!
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BearBint
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3:15p, 11/20/25
Thank you, Cardiac Cal!
"Don't get distracted, myself. Don't get distracted." Self-talk from a young relative
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kc1121
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3:17p, 11/20/25
Auburn and Missouri coming up should be some good tests - big and athletic
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annarborbear
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4:06p, 11/20/25
I don't have any data on it, but it seems that Lulu shoots her three's best when the shot is a catch and shoot. That means that our offense needs to find her at the end of some ball movement with an extra pass. We did that today. Hope that we can keep that up.
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BearBint
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In reply to SFCALBear72 • 4:29p, 11/20/25
SFCALBear72 said:
If you didn't attend this game, you missed a really fun one! Kids were electric!! They nailed the karaoke songs AND knew the dance moves to the macarena!!

Plus, they saw an exciting game. And Cal Win!! Go Bears!!

Marketing idea: Each kid had a general admission ticket in their possession. If I was Cal, I'd encourage the kids to come back (like Charmin did after the game) and offer them a buy one, get one free deal if they bring back that ticket.

Great idea about the tickets. And, having dissed the marketing department, etc., I also thought this was a well-planned entertainment and Cal WBB showcase for our student guests. (But I still want some relative quiet during half-time!)
"Don't get distracted, myself. Don't get distracted." Self-talk from a young relative
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Woodacre
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In reply to gljone • 5:58p, 11/20/25
I think (but. don't know) that Naya did something to her back. In the 2nd half she was wearing the back belt that we are used to seeing Claudia wearing.

I think the game got troubled for Cal in the 2nd quarter when Charmin experimented with having Samika and Claudia on the court at the same time, as they were both doing well. But they couldn't get the spacing down, and Claudia looked like she was trying to figure out where she should best be if she wasn't in the inside. That coincided with the beginning of St. Mary's run.

It was wonderful to see Isis get some minutes in the first half. I always hope the freshmen get some time so that they stick around!
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gljone
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In reply to Woodacre • 6:13p, 11/20/25
Woodacre said:
I think (but. don't know) that Naya did something to her back. In the 2nd half she was wearing the back belt that we are used to seeing Claudia wearing.

I think the game got troubled for Cal in the 2nd quarter when Charmin experimented with having Samika and Claudia on the court at the same time, as they were both doing well. But they couldn't get the spacing down, and Claudia looked like she was trying to figure out where she should best be if she wasn't in the inside. That coincided with the beginning of St. Mary's run.

It was wonderful to see Isis get some minutes in the first half. I always hope the freshmen get some time so that they stick around!

Ah - didn't catch that. Not sitting in our usual seats was kind of a distraction. Hope it's not too bad. Back problems are no bueno.

I would think Claudia would be high post because she can pick and pop...but yes, there was some confusion. But it may be a lineup they need to go to in short stretches if playing against teams with multiple bigs.

Agree on Isis getting some time. She had a nice smile after she drove and scored.
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Shocky1
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6:17p, 11/20/25
https://instagr.am/p/DRTEOMnAdZM
california golden bears 70
st marys gaels 62

with the LOUDEST crowd (4624 in attendance comprised of 4500+ screaming young students on a hopefully transformative field trip to berkeley & a couple dozen sr citizens with noise cancelling earplugs) of the season at haas for either a men's or women's game, the hibernating (other than sakima walker with a career high 25 points & lulu "let it fly" twidale knocking down 4 of 8 3 pointers en route to 18 points) & poorly coached (the bears staff failed to offensively adapt when the gaels late in the 1st half started bringing an extra defender or two on post entry passes which almost cost them a victory against a significantly undersized mid major program) bears improved this season's record to 5-1!!

https://instagr.am/p/DRTLVc5D8rX
let's freaking go (watch ur mouth, there are kids in the room shanky)!!


^ attribution to hoop dreams
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glutton
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In reply to smh • 8:10p, 11/20/25
smh said:
thanks for comments from the game. (after some hiccups) streaming at home worked fine too.
#gobears

Is a subscription to a streaming service needed to watch these at home?
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kc1121
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In reply to glutton • 8:16p, 11/20/25
Think you'll either need espn+ or espn unlimited to get access to the games on espn channels or the ACC Network
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smh
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In reply to kc1121 • 8:21p, 11/20/25
kc1121 said:
Think you'll either need espn+ or espn unlimited to get access to the games on espn channels or the ACC Network

or in our case Xfinity, whichever inside the curtain authority.
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stu
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In reply to annarborbear • 9:19p, 11/20/25
annarborbear said:
Announcer said at the beginning that Sheppard is out with a hamstring strain.

Ouch! Those can linger.
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stu
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In reply to gljone • 9:29p, 11/20/25
gljone said:
4600+ at the game. A noise app I use was at a steady 83 db with a peak of 90 db. Thankful for noise canceling earphones...

Was that mostly due to the crowd or to the amplifiers? I had complained about amplified noise to Craig Peden and received a nice reply with an offer to meet at this game and discuss it. Unfortunately I had to do an airport run and couldn't make the game. Hope we can talk at the San Jose State or Idaho game.
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stu
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9:33p, 11/20/25
I couldn't make the game. What did we do (or not do) to allow St Mary's to shoot 52%? Everything else in the stats looks pretty good (except everybody not named Lulu making only 2 of 15 threes).
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RedlessWardrobe
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In reply to annarborbear • 6:48a, 11/21/25
annarborbear said:
I don't have any data on it, but it seems that Lulu shoots her three's best when the shot is a catch and shoot. That means that our offense needs to find her at the end of some ball movement with an extra pass. We did that today. Hope that we can keep that up.

You really don't need any data on this. All that's necessary to confirm this is to watch a few games. It's been that way from the first time we saw Lulu on the court.
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gljone
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In reply to stu • 12:59p, 11/21/25
stu said:
gljone said:
4600+ at the game. A noise app I use was at a steady 83 db with a peak of 90 db. Thankful for noise canceling earphones...

Was that mostly due to the crowd or to the amplifiers? I had complained about amplified noise to Craig Peden and received a nice reply with an offer to meet at this game and discuss it. Unfortunately I had to do an airport run and couldn't make the game. Hope we can talk at the San Jose State or Idaho game.

There were times when the crowd noise reached the high 80s.

When the piped-in music was thumping, it was in the steady low 80s. So in timeouts when nothing is going on, still pretty loud - it is tough to talk to neighbors without raising out voice.

Need to learn sign language...
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stu
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In reply to gljone • 1:08p, 11/21/25
gljone said:
There were times when the crowd noise reached the high 80s.

When the piped-in music was thumping, it was in the steady low 80s. So in timeouts when nothing is going on, still pretty loud - it is tough to talk to neighbors without raising out voice.

Need to learn sign language...
Thanks for the report.

These days I suppose you can always text with the person next to you.
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Woodacre
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1:44p, 11/21/25
It was a fantastic crowd, and it was great to see the place buzzing with children and their excitement.
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john1953
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8:49p, 11/21/25
As well as freshmen Puff has been playing -- I am delighted and a fan-- she still can and will improve. More transition penetration would create better flow and more offense. Drive and kick out is better than predictably terminating 35 feet from the basket, allowing the defense to set. How good can she be? Methinks the ceiling is higher than the Campanile. Great motor, too. Beating the Jeff Cammon Gaels was a hard fought win. The early challenges make the Bears stronger, as top 25 teams await.
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RedlessWardrobe
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7:57a, 11/22/25
^
Agreed. I also think that Puff's game will get better over time as she learns the difference of the things she can and cannot try to do based on the transition from the high school game to the college game.
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