Bears Blast Past San Diego, 77-60

Devanei Hampton and Ashley Walker dominated inside as the #3 seeded California Golden Bears rode a strong first half to beat #14 seeded San Diego 77-60. Cal (27-6) advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, while the Toreros end their season at 19-13.

"I thought it was a hard-fought game," said California head coach Joanne Boyle. "I’m proud of the way we responded to the physical nature of the game."

"A lot of credit goes to Cal," said San Diego head coach Cindy Fisher. "Obviously, they have a very strong inside presence. We tried to do a few things against them, but they really really executed well. I thought they executed on the offensive end and took us out of what we wanted to do on the defensive end. They’re a three-seed for a reason."

Hampton scored 22 points and Walker had 21 to go with 12 rebounds and 6 assists. Natasha Vital had eight assists to go with seven points. Kelsey Adrian also had 7 points, while Alexis Gray-Lawson had a game-high four steals.

For San Diego, four players had double-figure scoring. Freshman Sam Child led the way with 14 points, followed by Morgan Henderson (13), Brianna Estelle (12), and Kiva Herman. The Bears held stars Amber Sprague and Amanda Rego to six and two points, respectively.

Cal scored on their first three possessions on drives by Walker and Hampton and a fast-break lay-up by Alexis Gray-Lawson. The quick start forced a timeout by San Diego.

"We’ve sitting around for like 10 days without playing a game," said Boyle. "So it was good to get to a fast start and relax. I think we were nervous, and it settled us down a little bit."

Kiva Herman broke the seal for the Toreros, but the Bears scored four unanswered baskets to pull out to a 14-2 lead. Cal’s zone also stifled the Toreros into turnovers.

When Gray-Lawson and Hampton sat down after the under-16 timeout, San Diego took advantage and clawed back into the game. Freshman Sam Child pulled up from 15 feet, then Amber Sprague and Brianna Estelle found the lane wide open. Child spotted up and hit a corner three, and the Toreros pulled within 18-14.

The Bears went back inside to Hampton and Walker, and the Toreros had no answer. Walker seemed to have found her hops over the last week, and she dominated the offense glass. Despite missing a few putbacks, Walker still hit for 17th point on a free-throw at the 4:47 mark in first half, extending Cal’s lead to 33-22.

"Ashley is just so quick to the ball," said Boyle. "It’s just hard to find her. She’s crafty down there. And when you play zone, it’s hard to find a player to box out."

"We were excited to be back out on the floor," said forward Ashley Walker. "We came out with a whole lot of energy and intensity. Once you make one or two baskets, then you’re good and ready to go."

"We go against guys every day," said Hampton. "We just love the contact."

"We had really hoped that we could double a lot more in the post, that we could rotate better," said Fisher. "I thought mentally we broke down a little bit. There were four or five possessions when they went on a run where we forgot to double. That was a little bit disappointing."

Hampton found herself one-on-one at the high post and drove past her defender for a lay-up. Kelsey Adrian hit consecutive jumpers, the second of which was a three after receiving a skip pass from Walker, who had received a no look pass from Gray-Lawson, to bring the Bears to their first 20-point lead at 42-22.

The Bears effective shut down Amber Sprague, USD’s leading scorer, not allowing her the space on the perimeter to get her shot off. Sprague also found herself in foul trouble going up against Cal’s big bodies.

"They went right at her," said Fisher. "We were hoping we would do the same against them, to get them in foul trouble, but it’s a different game at this level. We’re not used to some of that beating up inside."

"She’s a very good player; she’s very mobile, very athletic," said Walker of Sprague. "So we knew we had to do a really good job on the perimeter with, to try to get her on the block to get her to battle with us. Dev did a very good job, and Rama [N’diaye] did too when she was on her, of playing guard defense, essentially."

San Diego closed the half with 5 straight points under the leadership of point guard Amanda Rego, who found a cutting Child for a lay-up, then delivered the assist to Morgan Henderson, who hit three at the buzzer.

For the half, Walker collected her 14th double-double of the year with 17 points and 11 boards. Hampton had 11 of her own, and Vital and Adrian each chipped in five points. San Diego was led by Child’s 9 points and 7 from Herman. San Diego shot 43% but had 14 turnovers.

San Diego started the second half with a trapping defense, but Cal was clearly prepared. The Bears easily broke the press on the first possession as Walker found Lauren Greif for an open three-pointer. The next possession, Cal found Hampton, who hit both the bucket and the foul shot, and Cal had regained their 20-point lead 48-27.

San Diego would not go away, trading baskets with Cal for the next few minutes. The Toreros also upped their intensity and physical play, banging with the Bears. As a result, Cal found themselves in the bonus with over 12 minutes left to the game. San Diego also chose to play their two tallest players—6’5 Sprague and 6’4 freshman Erica Carlson—at the same time. Their length bothered the Bears and Cal’s offense stalled for a while.

On the other end, San Diego could get nothing going against Cal’s defense, and when stretched its lead to 61-38, Boyle began to reach deep into her bench. With 10:36 left in the game, Shantrell Sneed entered the game, and Krista Foster followed suit at the 8-minute mark. Both contributed immediately, Sneed with her rebounding and Foster with a jumper from the top of the key.

Cal kept San Diego at arm’s length the rest of the way and when the buzzer sounded, Cal had their first NCAA Tournament win in the Joanne Boyle era.

"I think this is another one of our goals," said Walker. "We really wanted to win this game. The season did not always go as we hoped, and we just wanted to show who we are and what we can do."

The Bears move on to play #6 seed George Washington on Monday.

"It’s a great match-up," said Boyle. "I think that San Diego helped to prepare us for a very physical game. The second half of that game became very physical, and what we have to do is to keep our composure in order to be successful on Monday. [GW head coach] Joe [McKeown] does a great job; I know him for the A-10. They play the Blizzard, match-up zone, and they try to pressure the guards and not let the posts touch it. I expect the same against us, although the’ve changed it up and play a little bit of man. But they ball-hawk, just all over you, so you have to control tempo and be big with the ball. If you come out with lazy passes, it’s going to be a long night."

NOTES:

• At the 9:53 mark in the second half, Rama N’diaye fell down while going for a loose ball. Replays showed her landing awkwardly on her right knee. "They’re taking her for an X-ray right now, and an MRI on Monday. We don’t know a lot right now. We’ve just got to step up. Injuries happen to teams, and we’ve been here before on a couple of different occasions. People have stepped up; we’ve rotated people into different positions. Krista Foster and Kelsey Adrian have both played inside for us, so we’ve got to find our way with that."
• Cal collected 17 steals, a school record for an NCAA Tournament game.
• The win is the second in school history for Cal. The other was in 1993.
• Cal scored 48 points in the paint, with 24 off turnovers and 20 on second-chance opportunities.
• San Diego shot 46.2% for the game, while Cal hit 48.4% of their shots.
• Cal had no blocked shots, while the Toreros swatted 7.
• The Bears had 19 assists to 14 turnovers.
• This is the first time that both Hampton and Walker scored over 20 points.
• The Bears shot 24 free-throws to USD’s 7.

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