Cal Falls Short Against No. 19 Vanderbilt

PARIS – The California women’s basketball team played even or better in three of four quarters in its season opener, but the game came down to the third quarter that led to a 74-65 loss against No. 19 Vanderbilt at the Oui-Play event at Adidas Arena on Monday night. The Golden Bears (0-1) took a two-point lead into halftime, but the Commodores (1-0) outscored them 24-9 in the third quarter to take the lead for good.

Cal led by nine points with 2:05 remaining in the second quarter but gave up a 7-0 run to give Vanderbilt momentum heading into the break, which the Commodores built upon in the decisive third quarter.

Graduate transfer Sakima Walker posted her first career double-double in Division I play with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds and freshman forward Taylor Barnes led the Bears with 17 points while adding six rebounds and five assists. Junior Lulu Twidale and freshman Puff Morris rounded out the Bears in double-figure scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Cal jumped out to 5-0 lead early, but Vanderbilt answered with a 7-0 run before Morris hit a 3-pointer. Neither team could gain any separation as Cal’s biggest lead was five and the Commodores’ was just two in the quarter, and six different Bears got into the scoring column.

Morris had a 5-0 run of her own to put Cal up 23-18 with 7:29 to go in the second quarter and the Bears held the Commodores scoreless until 5:44 to go in the quarter. Back-to-back triples from Barnes and Lola Donez gave Cal a 33-24 lead with under two minutes to go before Vanderbilt closed the gap at the end of the half. Cal led 33-31 at the break.

Vanderbilt used a 19-0 run in the third to take a 54-37 lead with under two minutes to go before Morris hit a baseline jumper to end the run. Barnes hit her third triple of the game and the Bears went into the final frame down 55-42.

Twidale hit her first 3-pointer of the game and the Bears hit 5-of-7 from the field to get to within nine points with 2:21 to go, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way.

“It’s not the outcome we wanted and Vanderbilt is a good team,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. “We knew this was going to be a tough test to start the season, but I’m proud of how we competed. We know we have some things to work on as we move through the season. We’re grateful to be invited to this event. It was an amazing for our program and the University of California, Berkeley. It was an amazing experience.”

Vanderbilt was led by Mikayla Blakes, who had 27 points and three steals.