On Friday, Cal women’s basketball lost to #3 Oregon by a final score of 93-61. Oregon junior forward Erin Boley was the top scorer for the Ducks with 24 points while senior guard Sabrina Ionescu finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, posting a triple-double. Cal senior forward Jaelyn Brown joined the 1,000 point club and was the top scorer of the game with 26 points while freshman guard Cailyn Crocker chipped in 15 points. Oregon improves to 25-2 overall and 14-1 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 10-16 overall and 2-13 in the Pac-12.
“First, I want to congratulate Jaelyn on 1,000 points,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said after the game. “It’s a really cool accomplishment and to score 26 against a top team in the country was really impressive. Oregon, they’re a beast and I was proud of how we fought. I’m proud of the growth that we’ve shown since playing them in Eugene. We’re going to keep fighting and keep getting better every day.”
Oregon got off to a strong 15-2 start with 6:11 to go in the 1st quarter, setting the tone early on 6-8 shooting from the field. Erin Boley was up to 6 points on 2-2 shooting from beyond the arc, getting into a good flow. Cal junior Alaysia Styles was the lone Bear on the board.
Rather than cave, Cal battled back to trail 23-19 at the end of the 1st quarter. Brown scored 12 points in the quarter to get Cal back in the game while Crocker had a 3-pointer of her own. Boley still had 6 points for Oregon as the Ducks went a bit quiet. Early on, it was shaping up to be a different game than it was in Eugene.
“I’m really just excited to be on the team,” Crocker said of the growth she’s shown. “To be able to come more into myself and have an opportunity to provide for the team as well. I think Jaelyn hitting 1,000 points, she’s a great mentor for me. Just seeing her on an everyday basis. How she works every single day in practice. When her body hurts, people don’t understand. There’s more than just the games of which you see of us. There’s a lot of extra stuff that goes into it. So just seeing how she does on an everyday basis and trying to apply that to my life as well has helped me amongst the other seniors and the other upperclassmen as well. Just trying to make it through and push through.”
“If I can just elaborate a little bit more on that in regards to Jaelyn,” Smith chimed in. “How many times do I say Jaelyn’s name in film, and I am on her more than anyone else and as a senior who is our leading scorer, who’s going to take the most shots and such. The way that she’s allowed me to be on her and coach her and be hard on her has really told these freshmen that’s what it’s going to be like. And if she were pouty and mopey and talked back to me, then that would be sending a different message to them. I think Jaelyn’s done a tremendous job of being a leader and showing the young ones what it’s like to have all the weight on your shoulders and you have to take it. I’m really proud of you and I’m glad that you’ve reached this milestone and I think we still have some more special moments ahead.”
In the 2nd quarter, Oregon turned on the jets, going on an 18-0 run to lead 41-39 with 4:22 to go until halftime. Boley was up to 18 points on the night, absolutely shredding Cal. After looking like it might be a contest, Oregon sent Cal a jarring message. Cal would finally get on the board thanks to a tricky pull up 3-pointer from Crocker, but Cal found themselves down 47-28 at halftime.
“Yeah, I thought we kind of focused in a little bit better defensively and didn’t have the stretches where Boley was knocking down some threes and we were making shots in that stretch in the first quarter where we got to catch up,” Smith said. “And then I think we shot 12 percent in the second quarter and you just can’t do that against this offensive powerhouse, right? They’re gonna stretch and extend the lead and so we gave them an opportunity because we couldn’t knock down some shots that were makeable shots.”
“Well it was two players mainly that kept them in that game in the first, Crocker and Brown,” Oregon head coach Kelly Graves added. “They just made baskets. I thought we defended ok, I thought maybe we lost a little bit of focus. I think sometimes offensively we make it look so easy and we’re really pretty good and efficient that sometimes we fail to keep that same intensity at the defensive end. Now that’s been one of our plusses over the last month and a half. I think our team defense has been really good. Our efficiency is top ten in the country right now defensively, so we’re doing some good things. It comes and goes, and it left us a little bit in that first quarter. But, they were challenged, and we came out and put our foot down.”
In the 3rd quarter, it was more of what we saw in the 2nd quarter as Oregon led 57-33 with 7:32 to go. Boley was up to 24 points on 8-9 shooting from the field, all of which were 3-point shots. Her shooting was phenomenal.
“I think our guards did a really great job at the beginning of the game,” Boley said of what allowed her to catch fire. “Penetrating and finding the open shooter. They were helping in whenever we would drive into the lane and that left people open on the perimeter. We also did a great job running the floor in transition and then we left a couple open threes in transition as well in the first half.”
At the end of the 3rd quarter, Oregon led 78-42. Ionescu had her triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists while Brown was up to 21 points, having just joined the 1,000 point club.
“It’s still unreal to me at this point,” Brown said of her new milestone. “It hasn’t even hit me yet, but it’s just amazing to do it with my teammates. It’s honestly the greatest experience I’ve ever had.”
The 4th quarter was basically garbage time as Oregon would lead 87-53 with 4:33 to go. Erin Boley (24 points) and Ruthy Hebard (20 points) were both at 20+ points for the Ducks while Brown was the top scorer of the game with 26 points. None of those players would score again as the benches would clear, allowing the reserves a chance to play.
In the end, Oregon won 93-61. It was a dominant win for the Ducks as expected. As for Cal, while this game didn’t go the way they wanted, they fought hard and gave it their all. As an added bonus, Jaelyn Brown joined the 1,000 point club, giving Cal fans a chance to witness history, even if it was in defeat.
Another cool part of the game was the presence of Golden State Warriors icons Stephen Curry, Jim Barnett, and Chris Mullin. Even though this game didn’t go the way they wanted, Cal still had fun playing in front of them.
“It’s really great,” Brown said. “It’s just an amazing opportunity just to show and perform in front of them and bring awareness to women’s basketball and just show that we’re here competing.”
After the game, Oregon head coach Kelly Graves made it known that he is impressed with the overall trajectory of this Cal program under Charmin Smith. He acknowledged that it’s really tough to climb up in the Pac-12 given how deep it is, but he has full confidence that Cal under the guidance of Smith has the potential to make noise in the future.
“I think Charmin’s doing a great job,” Graves said. “They play really hard; they play to the end. They’re so young and I know she’s got a great recruiting class coming in. So, if she can just keep them together and keep getting better each day, I think she’s going to be able to build a good program. I think she’s the right person for the job. I really like her. I think she does an awesome job. I see all their games. I watch every game that they’ve played. And so, you can see a well-coached basketball team.
“But it is hard right now to make a move in this conference. I mean, just think about it. What we did was spectacular. What Adia Barnes has done at Arizona just to get from where they were into that upper half and now to get to the very top is even harder as she’ll find out. For a young coach to try and make a move from the bottom to the top in this conference, man. It takes some perseverance and some good luck. Sabrina helped in that second part for us.”
Up next for Cal is their final home game on Sunday against #15 Oregon State. That game will tipoff at 2:00 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks. Cal freshman Cailyn Crocker made it known that they would like to pick up a home win in Pac-12 play:
“That would be great! We’re going to give it all we have. We’re going to play hard and I think we’re peaking at the right time as well. We’re happy and we’re going to lock in and do what we have to do on Sunday.”
