Cal WBB loses hard fought game to San Francisco

On Thursday, Cal women’s basketball fell to San Francisco by a final score of 67-62. San Francisco redshirt freshman guard Ioanna Krimili went off for the Dons with 26 points, continuing her amazing season. Cal freshman forward Dalayah Daniels (24 points & 4 rebounds) and Cal sophomore forward Evelien Lutje Schipholt (20 points & 10 rebounds) were the top performers for the Golden Bears. San Francisco improves to 1-2 overall while Cal falls to 0-4 (0-1).

“Yeah, so we talked about in the locker room and first thing is that I was really proud of our effort,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said after the game. “We’re still making mistakes. But to even go from turning it over 13 times in the first half to five times in the second half. There’s growth there. Today was one of those character defining moments in which you can tell what we’re trying to be.

“I thought Dalayah was really strong for us. Obviously leading scorer with 24 points. I thought she was smart in how she went about trying to score. She took advantage of those post ups and did really well from the free throw line and she’s definitely a bright spot for us.”

San Francisco got out to an 8-3 lead with 6:38 to go in the 1st quarter. Amalie Langer, Lucie Hoskova, Ioanna Krimili, and Lucija Kostic were all on the board for the Dons. Dalayah Daniels had 3 points for the Bears. San Francisco would continue to lead 20-13 at the end of the 1st quarter. The Dons were shooting 10-19 (52.6%) from the field and had an 11-6 edge on the boards. Cal was shooting 5-12 (42.7%) from the field. It was a solid start for Evelien Lutje Schipholt, who had 7 points for the Bears.

One thing that hurt Cal early on was the absence of sophomore starting guard Leilani McIntosh, who was out due to concussion protocol. With her not available, Cal’s already depleted backcourt was even more hampered.

With 4:08 to go in the half, San Francisco led 33-20. Marta Galic was up to 7 points for the Dons while Krimili had just 4 points. With the Dons’ top scorer being held down, one would think Cal would have been in a better position.

To Cal’s credit, they found a way to close the gap, trailing 37-28 at halftime. In addition to Galic, Abby Rathbun also had 7 points for the Dons. As for the Bears, Lutje Schipholt (12 points) and Daniels (10 points) were keeping their team alive. All things considered; it could have been worse for the Bears.

Cal got off to a 4-0 run to start the 3rd quarter after a steal and layup in transition from Daniels. San Francisco called for time up 37-32 with 8:28 to go in the quarter, knowing they now had a game on their hands.

With 4:47 to go in the quarter, San Francisco led 38-34. To the Bears’ credit, they continued to battle. Lutje Schipholt (14 points) and Daniels (12 points) led the charge. Krimili still had just 4 points for the Dons. With her not playing up to her usual level, the Dons were quite vulnerable.

“I would say our aggressiveness, definitely different from other games we played,” Lute Schipholt said. “We really looked like we wanted to ball, and we wanted to win. That’s what made the difference today.”

San Francisco would lead 45-40 with 1:42 to go in the quarter. Cal was narrowly outrebounding San Francisco 30-28 while San Francisco had a 32-28 edge in points in the paint. Cal had to do a better job inside.

Cal finished the quarter on a 5-0 run to trail 48-47: A bucket inside from Lutje Schipholt, a block by Fatou Samb, a rebound by Schipholt, and a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer from Archer Olson. It was Olson’s lone field goal of the night and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The one bright spot for the Dons was the fact that Krimili was up to 11 points, having scored 7 points in the 3rd quarter. If the Dons were going to have any chance at winning, they were going to need her to go off.

With 9:10 to go, a 3-point play inside from Daniels tied the game up for Cal 50-50. With 6:18 to go, San Francisco would lead 54-52, calling for time. Daniels (19 points) and Lutje Schipholt (18 points) were balling out for the Bears.

The game continued to remain close and very much a back and forth affair over the next few minutes. With a 17.7 to go, San Francisco led 65-62. Cal had a pulse after a huge 3-point play from Daniels. However, Cal wouldn’t score another point as Krimili would ice the game away at the foul line to give her team a 67-62 victory. Krimili scored 15 of her 26 points in the 4th quarter, taking over in crunch time. Containing her was the number one key to the game and for three quarters, Cal was able to do that. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to do it in the final quarter.

Considering the adversity that Cal has gone through with all the injuries, including the most recent injury to McIntosh, the Bears should overall feel good about tonight’s game. They battled hard, competed, and gave themselves a chance to win. Had McIntosh been a go, one has to think they win this game.

“Our aggressiveness and our will,” Daniels said about what was different tonight. “We took pride in this game and though it wasn’t the outcome we wanted; we feel a lot better about this loss than the others because we showed that we wanted it.”

Up next for Cal will be a home game against #1 Stanford in the Battle of the Bay on Sunday at 7:00 PM PST. That game will air on Pac-12 Networks. Cal head coach Charmin Smith had some words after tonight’s game about the upcoming matchup against her alma mater:

“So I talked to the team about this character that’s surfacing and that we’re building this, and our next game is against the #1 team in the country and more importantly it’s against our rival. It’s always special. We know we have a ways to go to get to where they are, but it’s our job to shoot our shots and show them what character we’re made of and we’re excited for that opportunity.

“Coaching against Tara, for me, she’s the best to ever to it...Yes it’s special. That’s my family. Home is always home, but I’m coaching this team to be the best version of we and compete against that team on the other side of the bay.”

Note: Charmin Smith also addressed the status of Leilani McIntosh:

“She is in concussion protocol. That happened in our last game and so she was unavailable today…I’m not certain [if she’ll play on Sunday].”