On Sunday, Cal women’s basketball cruised past Grand Canyon 72-53 to close out their non-conference portion of the season. Junior forward Alaysia Styles (18 points & 7 rebounds) and senior forward Jaelyn Brown (16 points & 6 rebounds) led the way for the Golden Bears while senior forward Da’jah Daniel (14 points & 13 rebounds) was the top performer for the Antelopes. Cal improves to 8-3 on the season while Grand Canyon falls to 5-6.
“Yeah, this is a good way to close out a decade,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said after the game. “We talked about trying to get some momentum heading into the new year, heading into Pac-12 play, and I think we did that. I think the players are really listening and trying to the best of their ability to do what we’re asking them to do and to be 8-3 at the end of non-conference play, I don’t know that it’s something that a lot of people would have expected, but those of us in the locker room we feel really good about it and looking forward to moving on to the toughest conference play in the country.”
This game got off to an interesting start as Cal led 2-0 before the jump ball thanks to a clerical/administrative error by Grand Canyon. Their failure to get the starting lineup to the desk in time resulted in two technical foul shots for Jaelyn Brown, who knocked down both.
“It was a little weird shooting free throws at the beginning of the game,” Brown said. “Charmin told me that I was going to be shooting free throws because of the tech, so I had to make sure I got some in before the game started.”
“It was my worst nightmare as an assistant that I would forget to put the names in,” Smith said. “And I don’t know what happened with their staff, but I know the past twelve years that’s been my responsibility and it’s just like my worst nightmare as an assistant coach. But I’ve never seen it in a game.”
Once the game was actually underway, Cal would go up 7-2 with 7:51 to go in the 1st quarter behind four points from Brown and three points from Styles. Grand Canyon would come right back to trail 9-8 with 5:53 to go in the 1st quarter thanks to four quick points from Daniel. Cal would proceed to go on an 8-0 run to go up 17-8 with 2:41 to go sparked by a layup inside from CJ West. Cal’s lead would shrink again as Grand Canyon would go on a mini 5-0 run before Cal closed out the quarter with a pair of free throws from Cailyn Crocker to lead 19-13.
With 4:54 to go in the half, Cal would lead 27-19 as Brown was up to 10 points while Styles had 9 points. As for Grand Canyon, freshman guard Jada Holland from Bishop O’Dowd was up to 8 points, doing her part to keep the Antelopes in the game. At the half, Cal would lead 36-24, doing exactly what a Pac-12 team should be doing in their last non-conference game at home. Styles (11 points) and Brown (10 points) were in double figures while others were doing their part to chip in.
“I think we locked in defensively and got some stops,” Smith said. “Got our hands on some balls and got out and I think we had thirteen points off of their turnovers in the first half and got some early fastbreak points and when we get out in transition it gives us more confidence. We get those easy buckets, then we start moving a lot better.”
With 6:56 to go in the 3rd quarter, Cal would lead 40-31 as Grand Canyon was slightly chipping away at their lead. Styles was up to 13 points and 4 rebounds, continuing her strong performance. Still, more work needed to be done if Cal was going to close out the win.
Rather than letting Grand Canyon have some life, Cal stomped on their throats in the next couple of minutes, going on an 8-2 run to go up 48-33 with 4:06 to go in the 3rd. Styles (15 points), Brown (14 points), and West (11 points) were all in double figures as Cal had 11 assists and just 5 turnovers.
“At halftime, I think we had a twelve point lead and my message was not to give them any hope,” Smith said. “Not to give them any momentum. To put the hammer down so to speak and really punish them. And we didn’t start the second half well against Kentucky, we came out and turned it over the first three possessions. So, I wanted to improve from the previous game and really show that we’re making steps to get better and coming out against any team and building a lead, it’s hard to beat teams by twenty. It is.
“Everyone practices. Everyone works extremely hard and for us to be able to get that lead and maintain, I think that shows our growth and I was really proud of how we were able to kinda go to that next level and not let them hang around or gain any confidence.”
Cal would close out the quarter on a 10-5 run, making it an 18-7 run in full to lead 58-38. Cal shot 9-14 (64.3%) from the field in the quarter while Grand Canyon shot 5-12 (41.7%). Cal was up to 12 assists and 7 turnovers, continuing their solid ball movement.
With 6:04 to go, Cal led 61-42 as all things continued to go their way. Styles (15 points), Brown (14 points), West (12 points), and Jazlen Green (11 points) were all in double figures. The Golden Bears were cruising to a comfortable win as they should. Taking care of business.
In the end, Cal walked out with a 72-53 win, doing exactly what they set out to do. After having such a strong non-conference season coming into this game, they wanted to make sure they ended 2019 on a high note. Having Cal alum Asha Thomas in the building may have been a bit of a good luck charm. Especially since she was working with the team earlier in the week.
“She actually was in practice the other day helping us out,” Brown said. “So, we got a few good defensive plays from her.”
Unlike their men’s basketball counterparts, who could learn a lot from them after getting waxed by a hobbled Harvard team, this Cal team did a great job of moving without the ball all night long, running sound pick and rolls, and making plays happen in transition. Having watched both games back-to-back, the difference was night and day.
A lot of that is a credit to the stellar job Charmin Smith and her coaching staff have done this season. They’ve done a great job of getting their players ready to compete while also creating an atmosphere that encourages everyone to learn and grow from each other. Everyone is buying into what Smith is saying and is pretty relaxed. They’re enjoying the process of coming together as a team.
Looking ahead to Pac-12 play, Cal is excited to have that challenge in front of them. They know they’ll have to raise their game and judging by how they’ve been playing, they seem up to the task. Even though Smith feels there’s a lot that her team needs to work on.
“I want us to shoot the ball a little better,” Smith said. “We’ve struggled from three the last couple games. I know that’s something we can do really well. We started off shooting the ball really well. So, pretty excited that we’re saving them for Pac-12 play right now (laughing). So, I think that’ll be good. I think our on ball defense is gonna have to step up to another level. I thought we gave these guards some looks that I’m just thinking in my head like Melgoza and Molina, like there’s some guards coming that we’re going to have to be able to get in a stance and really contain. So, those are the things that we’re going to have to pick up for that first weekend in Pac-12 play for sure.”
Up next for Cal is a home game against Washington to open up Pac-12 play. That game will tipoff on Friday at 7:00 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks.
