On Friday, Cal women’s basketball fell to #24 Arizona State by a final score of 77-54. Senior forward Jamie Ruden led the way for the Sun Devils with 18 points on 7-11 shooting from the field and 4-5 shooting from beyond the arc while freshman guard Cailyn Crocker was the top performer for the Golden Bears with 11 points. Arizona State improves to 20-9 overall and 10-7 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 10-18 overall and 2-15 in the Pac-12. Arizona State has clinched the 5th seed in the Pac-12 Tournament while Cal is locked into the 12th seed. This means that they are scheduled to face each other next week in Las Vegas.
Arizona State got off to an early 9-4 lead with 4:28 to go in the 1st quarter. The Sun Devils were shooting 4-6 from the field while the Golden Bears were shooting 2-7. Cal already had 4 turnovers, needing to take better care of the ball. With 2:46 to go in the 1st quarter, Arizona State led 10-8 as Cal got themselves back in the game. CJ West, Jazlen Green, Jaelyn Brown, and Alaysia Styles all had 2 points for Cal.
At the end of the 1st quarter, the game remained tight as Arizona State led 14-12. Arizona State senior forward Ja’Tavia Tapley had 5 points while West and Green each had 4 points for Cal. So far, things looked good for Cal.
Over the next few minutes, Arizona State would extend their lead to go up 23-16 with 4:47 to go in the half. The Sun Devils were on a 7-0 run over the last 2:59. The Golden Bears had 5 turnovers over the last 5:00. It was nice symmetry, but not in a good way for Cal.
A 3-pointer from Cal freshman Jazlen Green would cut the Sun Devils’ lead to 2 points (23-21) before Arizona State sophomore guard Taya Hanson responded with a 3-pointer plus a free throw. With 2:23 to go in the half, Arizona State was up 27-21.
Arizona State finished the half on a strong 12-2 run to lead 35-23. Jamie Ruden was up to 9 points for the Sun Devils after hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer. After battling tough for most of the half, Cal found themselves in a hole at halftime.
Arizona State would open things up more to lead 43-29 with 5:37 to go in the 3rd quarter. The Sun Devils were holding the Golden Bears to 12-33 (36.4%) shooting from the field and 1-7 shooting from deep. In contrast, the Sun Devils were shooting 16-37 (43.2%) from the field and 5-8 from deep. With 3:36 to go in the 3rd, Arizona State led 47-31. Hanson and Ruden each had 9 points for the Sun Devils while no one outside of Green (7 points) was sniffing double figures for the Golden Bears. It was a rough night offensively for Cal.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, Arizona State was in firm control up 58-38. Ruden was on fire with 15 points on 6-9 shooting from the field and 3-3 shooting from beyond the arc. At this point, the only question was whether or not Cal would get totally blown out or end up making it respectable in some fashion.
With 8:02 to go, Arizona State led 65-41 as Ruden was up to 18 points. As for Cal, Brown was nearing double figures with 9 points, but it was too little too late. With 2:40 to go, Arizona State led 73-52 with the game all in the bag. In the end, Arizona State won 77-54. Ruden’s 18 points got it done for the Sun Devils while Crocker’s 11 points did enough to keep Cal from getting totally blown out.
For Cal, this loss went about as expected. Arizona State is a tough team and they showed it on both ends of the floor. They defended well and played pretty sound on offense. They looked like a ranked team. To Cal’s credit, they battled all the way until the end and didn’t give up. That’s the message head coach Charmin Smith has been preaching and her team responded in that sense.
Up next for Cal is a road game in Tucson at Arizona. That game will tipoff on Sunday at 11:00 AM PST on Pac-12 Networks. It will be their final game before the Pac-12 Tournament.
