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Cal Women's Basketball

No. 8 Cal Falls To No. 9 Mississippi State In NCAA Tournament

March 22, 2025
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LOS ANGELES (AP) Madina Okot had 14 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out late and ninth-seeded Mississippi State beat California 59-46 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

Eniya Russell added 14 points for the Bulldogs (22-11), who are back in March Madness for the first time in two years. They lost in the national title game in 2017 and 2018.

Michelle Onyiah led the eighth-seeded Golden Bears with 17 points and 15 rebounds despite four fouls. Lulu Twidale added 13 points before fouling out in the final seconds.

Cal's only lead was by one point in the first quarter, when the Bears managed just five points. They recovered to play the Bulldogs evenly in the second but trailed 26-19 at halftime.

The Bears (25-9) capped their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference by making the NCAAs for the first time since 2019, when current USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb was in charge.

The Bears got within six in the third quarter only to see the Bulldogs close on a 9-3 run to lead 41-29 going into the fourth. Four players scored in the spurt.

The Bears committed 24 turnovers and got outscored 32-18 in the paint and 15-0 in bench points.

Mississippi State will play JuJu Watkins and top-seeded USC in the second round on Monday at Galen Center. The Bulldogs last made the Sweet 16 in 2019.

No. 8 Cal Falls To No. 9 Mississippi State In NCAA Tournament

1,528 Views | 12 Replies | Last: 1 mo ago by HoopDreams
blungld
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8:40p, 3/22/25
All season, the fear was TOs would cost them in the post season. And sure enough. I don't understand how a team with that many seniors who all know this is their weakness couldn't clean it up. Especially when half of these TOs are of the "what were they thinking" variety rather than great defense or aggressive offense. Just passes to no one or poor lobs or bumbles...really tough ending to a great season.

You battle all year to 25 wins and then show up tight, tentative, and scattered. A dozen or so missed layups, 25 TOs, slow defense and help, disorganized plays, and horrible shooting from free throw, 2, and 3? Did they do anything well tonight? Just an all around bad display of coaching and mental toughness by the players. That was a very beatable team.
The Bear will not quilt, the Bear will not dye!
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HoopDreams
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8:51p, 3/22/25
They played great defense and rebounded even against a huge front line
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blungld
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In reply to HoopDreams • 4:33a, 3/23/25
HoopDreams said:
They played great defense and rebounded even against a huge front line


There's that. I hate to be so negative about a team I enjoyed, rooted for, and really liked but last night was such a disappointing performance and avoidable end to the season.
The Bear will not quilt, the Bear will not dye!
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calbear80
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In reply to blungld • 6:12a, 3/23/25
blungld said:
All season, the fear was TOs would cost them in the post season. And sure enough. I don't understand how a team with that many seniors who all know this is their weakness couldn't clean it up. Especially when half of these TOs are of the "what were they thinking" variety rather than great defense or aggressive offense. Just passes to no one or poor lobs or bumbles...really tough ending to a great season.

You battle all year to 25 wins and then show up tight, tentative, and scattered. A dozen or so missed layups, 25 TOs, slow defense and help, disorganized plays, and horrible shooting from free throw, 2, and 3? Did they do anything well tonight? Just an all around bad display of coaching and mental toughness by the players. That was a very beatable team.

+1

We lost to the 10th place team in another conference with a losing conference record. We were the better seed and we were favored to win.

It was embarrassing specially because we looked bad throughout the game. It is hard to believe a team loaded with seniors played so poorly when it mattered.

Go Bears!
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HoopDreams
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In reply to blungld • 8:33a, 3/23/25
Well you asked "did we do anything well"

We had outstanding defense and rebounding

The max effort was there against a bigger, deeper team

blungld said:
HoopDreams said:
They played great defense and rebounded even against a huge front line


There's that. I hate to be so negative about a team I enjoyed, rooted for, and really liked but last night was such a disappointing performance and avoidable end to the season.
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bearinMN
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In reply to HoopDreams • 9:54a, 3/23/25
24 turnovers
25% shooting
Man that was hard to watch
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blungld
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3:54p, 3/23/25
For all the smiles, dancing, and high fives, and support from the positive coaches, maybe some anger and kicks in the backside were more in order than the hang loose nice routine? Where was the grit and determination?
The Bear will not quilt, the Bear will not dye!
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BearBint
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In reply to blungld • 4:09p, 3/23/25
blungld said:
For all the smiles, dancing, and high fives, and support from the positive coaches, maybe some anger and kicks in the backside were more in order than the hang loose nice routine? Where was the grit and determination?
I agree about the necessity of stern discipline from time to time, but fans don't know what goes on when we aren't there. I'm sure that Eliza, for example, can be quite tough.
"Don't get distracted, myself. Don't get distracted." Self-talk from a young relative
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HoopDreams
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In reply to blungld • 4:23p, 3/23/25
The grit and determination sure showed up defensively and with rebounding

It was not about effort, and it was clear the bigger, longer, more athletic and deeper MSU team forced Cal out of offense

blungld said:
For all the smiles, dancing, and high fives, and support from the positive coaches, maybe some anger and kicks in the backside were more in order than the hang loose nice routine? Where was the grit and determination?
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wvitbear
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4:27p, 3/23/25
I think they were too fired up. Here is the key stat. 0 for 10 the first half. That was the combined field goals for Michele and Marta. We have been concentrating on getting the ball down low lately to set up our three point shooters lately. Both were getting good looks but rushing their shots.

As a college golfer, you don't get fired up too much for a match. You need to relax. Our defense was great then, but we weren't scoring. Then we started to turn the ball over and it snow balled. Charmin should have been aware that a team who hadn't been there for awhile would be fired up. But it doesn't help your shooting.
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blungld
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In reply to HoopDreams • 1:06p, 3/24/25
HoopDreams said:
The grit and determination sure showed up defensively and with rebounding

It was not about effort, and it was clear the bigger, longer, more athletic and deeper MSU team forced Cal out of offense

blungld said:
For all the smiles, dancing, and high fives, and support from the positive coaches, maybe some anger and kicks in the backside were more in order than the hang loose nice routine? Where was the grit and determination?
I appreciate your level-headed response. I am perhaps being too negative and judgmental. This team really drew me in in a way I hadn't been in several years. I liked the team not just because of the results but the personalities. I watched every game this year and that investment made this loss really disappointing personally and for the players. They deserved a better effort for themselves.
The Bear will not quilt, the Bear will not dye!
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HoopDreams
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In reply to blungld • 4:02p, 3/24/25
I get that. Absolutely. I had to check out of my hotel early. I was very disappointed and so were the players based on how they looked after the game.

We did not play our game offensively except in moments. Lulu got chased off the line, but was able to drive and score at the rim early. But in the second half MSU adjusted and shut it down. So Lulu tried to adjust by driving and lobbing a pass to Michelle. That has worked at times this season but not against a 6-6 defender. It resulted in her turning the ball over 7 times.

I hoped Marta would be a matchup problem for MSU. Against some teams she is unstoppable and against some teams she can be shutdown and turn it over. Unfortunately this matchup was the later.

Then there was Williams. When she can drive on her defender, shoot, score and pass our offense is great. Unfortunately she was really only able to drive once and was met in the paint by their 6-6 center. This really stalled our offense.

Yo missed a couple shots she usually makes, and uncharacteristically missed some FTs. She was probably rattled and was also unable to penetrate. obvious MSU's game plan was focused on her as our number 1 threat, flying out defenders at her not even caring if they crashed hard into her. They wanted to keep her uncomfortable. It worked.

After initially adjusting to play vs their 6-6 center, Michelle was our only effective offense. She has such a light touch on her hook and it was an effective shot vs their 6-6 center.

We have no scoring from the bench. Noble doesn't look for shots, Gaby was overmatched vs their center, and Lola no longer has a green light, and

MSU didn't completely shut us down like Duke, but they certainly took us out of our offense.

But defensively we had perhaps our best game, and Michelle single-handily kept us even in rebounds. Noble was fantastic defensively and our trap worked.

Our hustle and grit against a bigger, more athletic (except Michelle) and deeper team kept us in the game. With that type of defensive performance we needed only an average Cal offense to win but it failed us.

The thing that makes me the saddest is Michelle has no more eligibility. She is the player I will miss the most.

blungld said:
HoopDreams said:
The grit and determination sure showed up defensively and with rebounding

It was not about effort, and it was clear the bigger, longer, more athletic and deeper MSU team forced Cal out of offense

blungld said:
For all the smiles, dancing, and high fives, and support from the positive coaches, maybe some anger and kicks in the backside were more in order than the hang loose nice routine? Where was the grit and determination?
I appreciate your level-headed response. I am perhaps being too negative and judgmental. This team really drew me in in a way I hadn't been in several years. I liked the team not just because of the results but the personalities. I watched every game this year and that investment made this loss really disappointing personally and for the players. They deserved a better effort for themselves.
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