In a game that featured 13 ties and 10 lead changes and was a one-point game with under a minute remaining, the California women’s basketball team fell just short losing 78-74 to visiting Duke at Haas Pavilion on Thursday afternoon. The Golden Bears (9-8, 0-4) closed the third quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter but the Blue Devils (10-6, 5-0) opened the fourth on a 7-0 run to get back into the game. The loss marked the first at home for Cal this season and just the second since the start of the 2024-25 season.
For the first time this season, two Bears posted double-doubles. Gisella Maul got her second of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Naya Ojukwu had her first in a Cal uniform with 14 points and 10 rebounds which included a season-high 8-of-11 from the charity stripe. Sakima Walker paced the Bears with 18 points and Taylor Barnes just missed out on a double-double ending the game with nine points and eight rebounds.
After the Bears found themselves down by eight with 6:26 to go in the third quarter, Mjracle Sheppard found a cutting Lulu Twidale for a layup and a foul which sparked an 11-1 run capped by a Walker layup that put Cal on top 51-50 with 3:55 remaining. Later in the quarter, Sheppard drove the lane for a layup plus the foul for a 3-point play to start the 11-0 run that ended the quarter. On Cal’s last two possessions, Twidale nailed a triple and Barnes was fouled on a 3-point attempt and knocked down all three free throws to give the Bears the 10-point lead going into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter, after Duke opened on the 7-0 run, Cal maintained the lead before the Blue Devils’ Delaney Thomas converted a 3-point play with 3:02 left to put Duke up one. Down by three, Ojukwu hit a turnaround jump shot at the 1:15 mark and the Bears got a stop on the other end but turned it over on a bad pass with 35 seconds left. After Cal had to foul, Duke missed its second free throw but was able to come up with the offensive rebound and putback for the game-sealing bucket.
In the first half, Duke went up by as many as eight with 8:44 left in the second quarter, but Cal got back in the game behind six straight points from Walker that cut the lead to three with 4:39 remaining. The Bears continued to fight, and Barnes grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback that tied the game at 39-39 but Duke’s Ashlon Jackson hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Blue Devils the lead at the half.
“We're playing with every team in the country,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. “We're a really good team, and it's unfortunate that we haven't been able to pull out the win, but we’re right there and we have to eliminate mistakes in order to get over the hump. We make some mistakes that cost us. We were down three at halftime because we made some mistakes in shooting early and allowing them to get a last possession.”
Duke was led by Delaney Thomas and Arianna Roberson who had 20 points each.
NEXT UP
Cal stays home to face Wake Forest on Sunday at 2 p.m. PT.
