On Friday, Cal women’s basketball lost to #8 Oregon State by a final score of 81-44. Redshirt junior guard Destiny Slocum led the way for the Beavers with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 11 assists while senior forward Jaelyn Brown was the top performer for the Golden Bears with 23 points. Oregon State improves to 16-1 overall and 4-1 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 8-8 overall and 0-5 in the Pac-12.

Early on, this game was tight as Oregon State led 11-8 with 3:40 to go in the 1st quarter. The Beavers were on a 6-0 run over the last 1:47 after Cal was initially up 8-5. Oregon State was shooting 2-9 from the field, but was doing a good job at getting to the foul line where they were shooting 6-7. As for Cal, they were hanging tough, but in need of getting a bucket to stop the bleeding.

Cal would respond strong as they would get the game tied up 17-17 at the end of the 1st quarter. Cal was playing really good as Brown was up to 7 points on 2-3 shooting from beyond the arc. Cal also had an 11-10 edge on the glass, holding their own inside. The only concern for Cal was senior forward CJ West going down with a head injury at the very end of the quarter. She headed to the locker room, got a bandage above her eye, but did not return to the game after that due to concussion-like symptoms.

West’s absence was felt as soon as the 2nd quarter started. It was a very physical game with lots of players bumping into each other and falling down. Fouls were called as well, most notably on Brown, who picked up her 3rd foul. As a result, Oregon State would lead 26-20 with 5:20 to go in the half as Taylor Jones was up to 8 points for the Beavers.

The absence of West and foul trouble of Brown continued to hurt Cal as Oregon State closed the half on an 18-3 run. Up 37-22 at halftime, all was going Oregon State’s way after a tight 1st quarter. Mikalya Pivec and Destiny Slocum each had 7 points for the Beavers while Brown had 7 points for the Golden Bears.

With 4:47 to go in the 3rd quarter, Oregon State’s lead slowly increased to 18 points as they would lead 48-30. Pivec was up to 10 points for the Beavers while Brown was up to 13 points for the Golden Bears. Cal needed others to get rolling. Rather than getting back in the game, Cal struggled to close the gap as Oregon State would take a 60-37 lead into the 4th quarter. Slocum (11 points), Pivec (10 points), Jones (10 points), and Morris (10 points) were all in double figures for Oregon State while Brown (16 points) was the only player scoring in double figures for Cal. The absence of West was really apparent now as Cal was getting beaten badly inside. It was at this point that we received confirmation that West would indeed be done for the day.

The one bright spot for Cal in the 4th quarter was Brown, who was up to 23 points with 4:39 to go. Oregon State was up 72-44, but not to the fault of Brown. Losing West proved to be fatal for Cal as they really missed her presence inside. Oregon State’s depth proved to be too much.

In the end, Oregon State would close out the game on a 19-2 run, winning 81-44. It was one-way traffic for the Beavers, who dominated the Golden Bears. Especially on the glass with a 51-25 advantage. The Beavers also did a really nice job moving the ball, finishing with 24 assists. The Beavers showed why they are a top ten team. They rebound, defend, move the ball, and have a lot of different players who can score the ball. Kat Tudor’s 4-point play early on in the 1st quarter was a prime example of that.

Up next for Cal is a road game at #6 Oregon, so things are definitely not getting any easier. That game will tipoff on Sunday at 2:00 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks.