Bears Shake Off Slow Start to Rout Charlotte, 69-44

BERKELEY - The Bears struggled to find their rhythm early, trailing 17-11 early and finishing the first quarter with a 5-point deficit but they found their rhythm in the second half, steadily pulling away for a 25-point, 69-44 win in the opener of the Raising the BAR Classic this afternoon in Berkeley.

The Bears were led by a breakout performance from behind the arc by frosh point guard Puff Morris, going 5-for-10 and finishing with 17 points, 6 assists and 8 rebounds in the win. Guard Mjracle Sheppard continued her strong play with 16 points, going a perfect 3-for-3 behind the arc while adding an impressive 5 steals. Forward Taylor Barnes added 13 points for the Bears but also struggled with 5 turnovers in the win.

“I'm really just proud of how we keep fighting,” head coach Charmin Smith said after the win. “You know, we seem to be a resilient group. We were down again to start the game and found a way to pull ahead. I know we need to be better, and I'm trying to gain confidence in the good things that we're doing. So I loved our second half.”

The Bears went into the locker tied at just 22 points a piece while shooting just 8-for-29 from the field.

The second half was a different story, as the Bears steadily begain to pull away. A 15-6 run early in the third quarter got started with back-to-back 3’s from Morris and Sheppard gave the Bears a 37-28 lead with 6:10 left in the third quarter. The Bears ended up the quarter up 11 after a layup and three from Sheppard extended the lead to 46-35 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Bears continued to keep their foot on the pedal in the fourth quarter, outscoring Charlotte 23-9, closing out the scoring on a 12-0 run to pull away for the eventually comfortable victory.

The Bears moved to 3-1 on the season while Charlotte fell to 2-3, with their losses all coming at the hands on NCAA tourney teams from last season, including Auburn and LSU.

The Bears will be back in action tomorrow night in Haas Pavilion at 7 pm, facing the winner of the other tournament game, either Harvard or Oakland.