The California Golden Bears remain winless in the Pac-12, falling to Colorado 62-50. The Bears fought hard and kept it close until running out of gas in the fourth.
Cal was led by Jaelyn Brown’s 12 points and 11 from Evelien Lutje Schipholt.
Emma Clarke hit three threes and scored a game-high 14 points for Colorado.
Playing again without starting center CJ West, Cal was outmatched on the glass, 47-30. Colorado had 20 offensive rebounds and scored 20 second-chance points.
“We gave ourselves some opportunities,” said Cal head coach Charmin. “We came out flat in the second half, and it’s really tough in this conference when you do that. And we weren’t able to get back in control.”
The game was tied at the half, and Cal was only down 47-43 entering the fourth, but the Bears managed only one basket the rest of the game and fell to 8-11 (0-8 Pac-12).
Colorado executed perfectly on both ends at the start of the game. On offense, the Buff set a high screen to get to the basket or to find a mismatch down low. On defense, they have clearly scouted Cal’s tendencies, getting their hands on the ball as soon as the Bears brought them down. Colorado took a quick 5-0 lead.
With her primary options stymied on offense, freshman point guard Leilani McIntosh went to the hole, scoring two baskets to jump-start Cal. Evelien Lutje Schipholt came off the bench to hit two baskets, and the game became a see-saw battle.
California’s other frosh guards then made their mark. Cailyn Crocker found Jazlen Green for a three, and Green returned the favor 90 seconds later. The consecutive threes gave Cal an 18-16 lead.
With the clock winding down on the first period, Green stole a pass and found a streaking Lutje Schipholt, whose finger-roll bounced in, and Cal was up 20-16 after the first 10 minutes of play.
Cat-quick Jaylyn Sherrod converted a turnover in a layup to open the second, and Colorado kept pace with Cal.
The Bears’ zone slowed down Colorado’s attack, but the defense also made it challenging to box out and rebound, and the Buffs’ Charlotte Whitaker knocked down consecutive second-chance baskets, the second one a three that pulled Colorado within 26-25 with 3:34 in the second.
Jaelyn Brown hit her fourth jumper of the game, but a three by Emma Clark tied the game at 28.
A jumper by Alaysia Styles, and two free throws by Colorado’s Peanut Tuitele kept the game knotted, 30 all, at halftime.
Brown and Lutje Schipholt each had eight points to lead the Bears. Tuitele had seven rebounds and Colorado owned the glass, 21-7.
McIntosh squeezed off a shot between two Buffs, and Cal took back the lead. But Colorado’s Clark quickly hit two threes and a fastbreak basket, pulling Colorado ahead 38-32.
The Bears, who had been taking care of the ball (5 turnovers in the first half), began to struggle with entry passes, committing three giveaways in the first three minutes.
Colorado calmly executed on offense, moving the ball to find open shooters. Sherrod scored five consecutive points--a three point play and a long jumper--to give the Buffs the first double-digit lead, 43-32, halfway through the third.
“We came out so kind of nonchalant,” said Smith of the start of the third. “Where’s our fight, where’s our energy?”
Cal attacked the paint for four consecutive baskets, the final one a three-point play by Sara Anastasieska, narrowing the lead to 45-41, with two minutes to go.
Mya Hollingshed tipped in a putback, and Lutje Schipholt knocked down a short jumper at the buzzer, the Cal was down 47-43 with 10 minutes to go.
With both teams amping up the physical play, offense was in short supply. Each team managed only a pair of free-throws in the first four minutes.
McIntosh threw her body everywhere, coming up with consecutive steals. From the floor, she managed to pass the ball to Crocker, who laid it in. It would be Cal’s only basket in the fourth.
But then it came down to execution. Colorado ran a quick hitter perfectly, resulting in a three-point play for Knight. On the other end, split-second indecision resulted in two turnovers for the Bears.
“That stretch right there, we didn’t execute very well,” said Smith. “We had turnvoers trying to get into our sets, trying to get people where we wanted them.”
Two free-throws by Brown kept Cal’s hopes afloat, down 56-49 with 2:24 left.
The Bears continued to play hard, forcing Colorado into turnovers, but could not convert on the other end, with their shots repeatedly coming up short.
“I don’t think it was fatigue,” said McIntosh. “I think it was just the little things on offense that we need to tweak.”
“We couldn’t hit one, even when we did execute and get the look we wanted,” said Smith.
Colorado closed out the game hitting four of six free-throws.
“We want to see effort and we want to see growth,” said Smith. “And we’re getting that every game. I think we could have easily come in here after losing to Oregon by 50 and just kind of lay down against Utah and say, ‘Well this is what it’s going to be like,” and we haven’t done that. We’re still coming in every single game with the mentality of, “We can win this one.’ If we can get everyone on the same page on the same game, playing at their highest level, I think we will get that W. We’ll be ready to go up to Washington State and Washington and get a second shot at that group. I know that we’ll give everything we have, and that there’s no let up with this team.”
NOTES:
- Cal players learned after the game about the passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. Leilani McIntosh met the NBA superstar and Gigi this summer. “I did get to talk to him about how he’s evolving and changing the game of basketball for women. It’s a lot to process right now.”
- Smith said she hopes to get CJ West back for next weekend’s trip to Washington. “She and Jaelyn are the only players on the team with experience, so it makes big difference.”
