The California women’s basketball team kept it close for a majority of the game and had a three-point lead late in the third quarter but was unable to come away with the win and fell to No. 16 North Carolina 71-55 at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill on Thursday afternoon. The Golden Bears (9-6, 0-2 ACC) had to play the game without starting point guard Puff Morris who missed the game due to a leg injury. Cal held the Tarheels (13-3, 2-1) to just three made 3-pointers after they came into the game averaging. 9.1 per game.
Sakima Walker led all scorers with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting and just missed out on her fourth double-double with eight rebounds. Gisella Maul, who made her first career start, tied her career high with three 3-pointers, all in the first half. The Bears hit 6-of-9 from deep and shot 50.0% from the field in the first half.
North Carolina jumped out to a 9-0 lead aided by three Cal turnovers before Lulu Twidale got the Bears on the board with a layup at the 6:26 mark. Twidale followed up with a triple to get Cal to within four with just over four minutes to go in the quarter. The Bears forced three Tarheel turnovers and Taylor Barnes hit a layup to cap a 6-0 run and pull Cal within two points at the 3:05 mark. Lola Donez nailed consecutive triples to fuel a 12-2 run and Cal ended the quarter with a 17-14 lead.
Both teams struggled from the field in the second quarter, but Maul nailed her second triple of the game to keep Cal in front 22-18 at the 5:06 mark. After North Carolina tied the game at 24-24 Maul hit her third triple to give Cal the lead back. Mjracle Sheppard banked in a layup as time expired and Cal went into the break with a 34-32 lead.
Sheppard drilled a triple from the wing as the shot clock expired to give Cal its biggest lead of the game at 41-36 with 4:04 left in the third quarter. Cal went scoreless for a five-minute stretch and the Tarheels retook the lead at 45-43 at the 2:18 mark before Barnes found a cutting Walker to end the scoring drought. Cal would take a 50-47 deficit going into the fourth quarter.
North Carolina opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 58-47 lead before Barnes ended it with a driving layup along the baseline at the 6:20 mark. The Bears were unable to cut into the deficit any further for the remainder of the game.
“I thought we had moments where we defended well and then they got extremely aggressive and were able to get to the rim and finish some shots, whereas we were not finishing as well on the other end,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. “They went to a zone in the fourth, mixed things up. I thought we lost intensity. I thought we lost some energy, and their pressure rattled us at times and kept us out of sync with our offensive actions.”
North Carolina was led by Indya Nivar’s 16 points.
NEXT UP
Cal stays on the road to face NC State on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT.
