Cal Has No Answers for Stanford

No.8 California played perhaps its worst game of the season as a team in losing 56-35 to No. 4 Stanford and was left searching for answers to some tough and unwanted questions. The Bears were dominated on both sides of the court and did not look like a team ready to make noise in the NCAA Tournament.

“I’m disappointed in the outcome of the game and in how we performed,” said Cal head coach Joanne Boyle. “We just didn’t compete tonight. But full credit to Stanford. They’re just playing some great basketball right now.”

No Cal player scored more than six points as Cal tallied its lowest scoring total of the year. Stanford senior guard Candice Wiggins nearly matched the Bears’ output by herself, leading Stanford with 30 points on 12 of 23 shooting. Kayla Pedersen had 13 points and Jayne Appel grabbed 14 boards as both outplayed Cal’s All-Pac-10 First Teamers Devanei Hampton and Ashley Walker, who combined for 7 points.

Asked if her team was tired from two tough games against Oregon and Arizona State, Boyle responded, “I didn’t feel that way. I knew that we had to give people breaks, but I didn’t feel that we were winded.”

Stanford, who also does not have much depth, came out on fire on both ends of the floor. Rosalyn Gold-Onwude and Wiggins each hit a three to open the game, followed by another outside shot by Kayla Pedersen and another three by JJ Hones to stake Stanford to an 11-2 lead.

Cal, meanwhile, could not buy a bucket. Their outside shots clanged off the rim, while they seemed to rush their lay-up attempts. When Wiggins took a seat after committing an offensive foul, the Cardinal also went cold, but Cal could not take advantage, only managing a Vital free-throw and a Greif three.

“You always think the shots are going to fall,” said Boyle. “I thought we got good looks. If you hit those first few shots in the game… You’re in the championship game and maybe you just relax, here you go, but that did not happen.”

When Wiggins came back in, she was instant offense, scoring 13 consecutive points and unanswered points for Stanford. Wiggins needs but a little space to bomb from outside, and when Cal played her tight, she simply drove by her defender or cut to the basket. Jayne Appel contributed 2 lay-ups, and when Wiggins hit yet another step-back trey, the Cardinal had pounded Cal with a 20-6 run.

“I told Candice before the game that I think she is the greatest player to play in the Pac-10 and no matter what happened tonight my opinion of her was never going to change,” said Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer. “The thing about Candice is that the bigger the game, the bigger her performance. She’s donesome phenomenal things in her four years here.”

The Bears were determined to run the offense through Hampton. Hampton seemed frustrated by Stanford’s double-team and was unable to find the open teammate, as the Bears were blanketed on the perimeter. She took 12 shots but hit only one.

“We never left Devanei alone one-on-one,” said Appel. “Playing her alone is very difficult, so we always wanted to have tow people either coming to guard her or already there when she received the ball.”

The rest of the Bears struggled as well. Walker was bottled up by Pedersen and only managed 2 shots in the first half, missing both. Alexis Gray-Lawson had difficulty shaking Gold-Onwude, and the only shots she had were tough fade-away jumpers. Natasha Vital sat for much of the first half when her defensive assignment on Wiggins brought her two quick fouls. Lauren Greif was left open but was unable to hit her shots. Only Rama N’diaye had a good few minutes at the end of the half, hitting a free-throw jumper and a lay-up.

Even when Wiggins went out with her second foul, Stanford’s confidence did not flag. Kayla Pedersen picked up the slack, keeping the Bears at bay with five quick points, closing out the half for a 36-15 lead.

The Bears never made it much of a game after that. After nine minutes in the second half, Cal had scored 4 points, while Stanford had 15, despite Wiggins having picked up her third foul less than 3 minutes into the second half. When she came back, Wiggins again dominated, hitting for eight straight points, adding insult to the Bears’ injury by high-stepping after yet another high-difficulty (at least it would be for mere mortals) shot.

All that was left was to wonder what this loss would do to the Bears’ hopes for the NCAA Tournament. While Stanford definitely looked deserving of a #1 seed, will such a lopsided result drop Cal from an expected 2-seed?

“I hope we get rewarded for being in the final,” said Boyle. “I think it depends what other conferences do. There is still a lot of basketball to be played. We hope to be a [two-seed], but I think more important is to be close to home. Obviously we’d love to be here for the fan support and that’s been a struggle for the committee to get fans to the first round. Hopefully, they look at us getting to the championship game and letting us stay close to home.”

More importantly, will the Bears’ collective psyche repair itself in time for the Tournament? Cal has shown itself to be extremely resilient all season long, but this is clearly not the way the Bears wanted to enter the final stretch of the season.

“I think today was more disappointing,” said Alexis Gray-Lawson, comparing this loss to the close game at Haas. “It’s the championship game. We all sign with schools to win championships and we did not do that this year.”

“We did a good job coming off of the Washington loss,” said Boyle. “We had a good week of practice and had two really good games here. And then, kind of a debacle today. So I think we’ve got to get some rest and take some days off, because we have no idea who we’re going to play. And just to put ourselves in position in practice what we will face—the double teams and the triple teams and what do we want in those situations. We’re good when we get a chance to prep for teams.”

NOTES:

• Candice Wiggins was the obvious choice for Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament. Also named to the All-Tournament Team: Appel, Pedersen, Hampton, Arizona State’s Dymond Simon, and Oregon’s Taylor Lilley.

• The attendance for the game was 4521.

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