On Friday, Cal women’s basketball fell to Utah by a final score of 71-62. Utah freshman guard Brynna Maxwell led the way for the Utes with 26 points and 6 rebounds while Cal redshirt senior guard Sara Anastasieska was the top performer for the Golden Bears with 22 points. Utah improves to 10-8 overall and 3-4 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 8-10 overall and 0-7 in the Pac-12.
“Yeah, that was a tough one,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said after the game. “Momentum swings were happening back and forth, and we just got caught on the wrong side of the last one and it’s tough. We’re fighting hard, we want to get a win in conference play, and it wasn’t meant to be today. But we’ll get ready to go after it again on Sunday.”
Cal got off to an 8-2 lead with 6:04 to go in the 1st quarter as Alaysia Styles was on the board with 5 points. Cal would continue to extend their lead, going up 12-5 with 4:41 to go in the quarter. Cal senior Jaelyn Brown got on the board with a pair of free throws to give Cal their 11th and 12th points. Despite shooting 3-13 from the field, Cal was off to a strong start overall. They were 2-2 from 3-point range and 4-4 at the foul line.
Utah would bounce back to take a 17-14 lead at the end of the 1st quarter as Maxwell was up to 6 points. Styles in turn had 7 points. After looking like Cal might run away with the game early, Utah found a way to get themselves right back in the game.
With 4:47 to go in the 2nd quarter, the game was tied 24-24 as Cal was shooting 7-23 (30.4%) from the field while Utah was shooting 9-22 (40.9%). Both teams were trading baskets and battling hard, unable to gain separation from the other team. At the half, Cal would lead 29-28, breaking the tie. Anastasieska really came alive for Cal as she was up to 12 points on 5-7 shooting from the field and 2-4 shooting from 3-point range. Maxwell led Utah with 9 points on 3-3 shooting from the field, doing her part to keep Utah in the game.
Cal got off to a strong start in the 2nd half, leading 42-39 with 4:27 to go in the 3rd quarter. Brown was up to 9 points for Cal while Styles had 11. Maxwell continued to do her thing for Utah as she was up to 14 points on 5-5 shooting from the field and 2-2 shooting from the foul line. She was yet to miss a shot.
Rather than extending their lead, Cal allowed Utah to take a 48-46 lead at the end of the 3rd quarter. Utah redshirt sophomore forward Maurane Corbin got a nice put back inside for Utah to give them that two point edge. Maxwell had finally come back to earth a bit by missing a couple of shots, but she was still in a good flow with 19 points. Styles (11 points) and Anastasieska (12 points) were pacing Cal, needing others to get going.
“I think I got some really good passes from my teammates,” Anastasieska said. “I think everyone did a great job of moving the ball. It was nice to see the ball go in the basket, but at the same time all we want is a win and we didn’t get one. But, it’s a quick turnaround for Sunday and I think we’re going to work as hard as we can to get our first Pac-12 win.”
With 8:08 to go in the game, Utah was up 54-51. It was evident that Cal missed the presence of senior center CJ West (concussion protocol) as Utah probably wouldn’t have the 30-29 edge on the boards that they were having had she been available.
“I thought Chen [10 rebounds] did a really good job on the boards, particularly in the first half,” Smith said. “Jaelyn was aggressive, so I thought we were doing a good job of attacking. I think some of the foul trouble got us a little bit less aggressive there. I mean, obviously we’re missing someone that’s played significant minutes for us at the 5 spot and it’s unfortunate, but we’re all just trying to step up and do what we can to fill that void until CJ is back.”
With 4:50 to go, it was still a tight game as Utah was up 60-59. Anastasieska got a couple of threes to drop and was up to 20 points, doing a fantastic job of keeping Cal alive. As for Maxwell, she too was playing excellent as she was up to 25 points.
“I think she’s a really good shot maker,” Smith said of Maxwell. “I think she made some really tough shots. For a shooter, once the bucket gets pretty big it’s tough. We tried different people on her, we trapped her, got the ball out of her hands. It’s hard when we’ve got one big and they got someone else that’s Chen’s size. If Chen’s out trapping, then who’s guarding Chen’s player? So, we had some difficulties with the rotations when we did get it out of her hands.”
Over the next few minutes, Utah would slowly build out their lead thanks to some missed shots and turnovers from Cal. With 1:37 to go, Utah was up 66-59. Thanks to a clutch layup from Anastasieska and some missed Utah free throws, Cal had a little life as they had the ball down 69-62 with 35.4 to go. Unfortunately for Cal, they were unable to score on that possession, erasing all hope of a victory.
In the end, Utah walked out with a 71-62 victory. It was a solid win for the Utes behind a fantastic performance from Brynna Maxwell. As for Cal, it was a disappointing loss as they were hoping to finally win their first game of Pac-12 play. As I said earlier, the absence of West was noticeable as both Cal and Utah finished with 39 rebounds each. Had West played, Cal probably wins the rebounding battle, which may have made the difference.
Up next for Cal is a home game on Sunday against Colorado. That game tips off at noon. That will be the first of two games at Haas Pavilion as Cal men’s basketball will welcome Stanford to Haas at 3:00 PM.
Note: Cal head coach Charmin Smith addressed the addition of Najé Murray, who formally joined the team earlier this week. Below is what she said:
“Yeah, she’s been practicing with the team. It’s just great to have another body out there. She’s really active on both ends of the floor. And I heard her energy and her talk today on the bench and I know that she’s a great kid in the locker room for the team and they enjoy having her here. So, I’m excited that we finally got it all taken care of and she’s here with us.”
