Recap: Cal falls to Oregon amid record setting night for Kristine Anigwe
On Friday, Cal women’s basketball fell to #3 Oregon by a final score of 105-82. Sophomore forward Satou Sabally (31 points & 9 rebounds) and junior guard Sabrina Ionescu (27 points & 5 rebounds) led the way for Oregon while Kristine Anigwe (23 points & 18 rebounds) and Receé Caldwell (22 points & 7 assists) led the way for Cal. Anigwe broke Cal’s all-time scoring record for both men’s and women’s basketball, which was previously held by Colleen Galloway. Anigwe now sits at 2,343 career points. With the win, Oregon improves to 22-1 overall and 11-0 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 14-8 overall and 5-6 in the Pac-12.
“I don’t think that one’s getting sent to the Naismith Hall of Fame for defensive records set or anything,” Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said after the game. “But we had a terrific team come in here who’s a legit national title contender and I thought that save for the first three or four minutes, or whatever it was where we took a few punches, I thought we competed. We competed from there.
“They show you how good offense looks even when you do it right, so you certainly can’t have possessions where you’re not doing things at a hundred percent or right and I think we’ll learn from that. I do like, like I said how we competed from there and scored the basketball well tonight and what I love about this group is I have no doubt it will make us better for Sunday and beyond. I also thought it was terrific; there was such a great crowd and such wonderful support for Kristine at home to break a record that has stood for 38 years. I think we’re watching something pretty incredible unfold and it’s neat that she’s most concerned about this team and what we’re trying to accomplish.
“But, I think it’s pretty special and I was really happy that Colleen Galloway was here. She’s the only jersey retired in the rafters and she’s been incredibly supportive, so that’s a neat moment within a game that didn’t go our way. But, kudos to Oregon for being terrific. It was on display and I think this conference makes you ready for anything and so we want to compete with teams that are going to be number one seeds. We want to win games against the ultra-elite and I thought we showed signs of that tonight, but obviously we could be better.”
At the time that Anigwe broke the scoring record, Cal trailed 14-1 midway through the 1st quarter, so Anigwe wasn’t exactly in a celebratory mood. That said, she did acknowledge after the game how much the record meant to her and how much the support of her family, teammates, and coaches has meant to her over the years.
“I was kinda upset just because we were down, I think we had scored one point at that time,” Anigwe said of her emotions after breaking the record. “But, I guess as the game kept going, we kept getting better and learning and I haven’t really sat and really thought about breaking the school record, but I’m really grateful for my family, my teammates, and my coaches. Because I wouldn’t be in this position without them.”
Despite their slow start, Cal would get themselves back in the game, trailing 26-17 at the end of the 1st quarter. Anigwe had 7 points and 8 rebounds at the end of the quarter, doing a good job of leading her team. The issue for Cal, as we would see all night, was their defense. Ionescu gave Cal problems from the opening tip, making her first five shots for 13 points.
During the 2nd quarter, Cal played their best basketball of the night, outscoring Oregon 19-18. On top of outscoring Oregon for the quarter, Cal actually took the lead 32-30 after a 3-pointer from Kianna Smith, who would finish the game with 20 points. After scoring 6 points in the 1st quarter, Caldwell scored another 6 points in the 2nd quarter, giving Cal some consistency on offense. Unfortunately for Cal, their lead would be short lived as Oregon would close out the quarter on a 14-4 run, going up 44-36 at halftime.
“I think we played with really good pace,” Caldwell said. “Especially in transition. Our spacing was really nice. When you have, like my teammates, they can shoot the ball, so you can’t really help off, so it’s always like single coverage. You saw whenever they doubled KA, she passed the ball so well tonight, Kianna hit five threes, so I think whenever your teammates are getting going and everyone sets good screens and your teammates find you, your percentages go up. You just have a better chance to have a good night.”
“I thought we built a lead and the end of the second quarter hurt us with momentum, I thought we outplayed them in the second quarter more than by one point,” Gottlieb added. “A couple of calls didn’t go our way at the end of the second quarter and lost a little momentum, so that was tough, but I really thought from that point when we were down 14-2, we beat them for a long stretch of time, we just couldn’t sustain that.”
During the 3rd quarter, Oregon really started to gain some separation, going on an 8-0 run to go up 63-49 with 3:45 to go. Ionescu had 19 points for Oregon on 7-12 shooting from the field while Caldwell and Anigwe each had 16 points for Cal. Cal wasn’t out of the game, but they were in a situation where they needed to change the narrative of the game really quick. Rather than shaving things down to single digits, Cal allowed Oregon to expand their lead even further. After a 3-pointer from Ionescu at the buzzer to close the quarter, Oregon had a 71-54 lead, shooting 52.1% from the field and 12-13 from the foul line.
“I mean, penetration,” Ionescu said of how her team creates so many open looks. “Us guards have to continue to keep our dribble alive and really force their post players to guard us in that pick and roll and once they do, it’s pick a shot. It’s whether Satou hits a shot, Maite hits a shot, Erin hits a shot, or we just drive and get the layup, but we just have to continue to stay composed and really wait for that ball screen and use it well and I think we did that really well tonight.”
“They average 44 percent from three and they made 61 percent, so no matter how good they are, it was an incredible display from them,” Gottlieb said of Oregon’s potent 3-point shooting.
“A couple were in transition, a couple I tried to shift to zone a little bit in the second half when I thought they were hurting us on the ball screen actions. We didn’t get out to shooters quickly enough. Others they just make you pay when you’re slightly late. Like we were there, but late and not tight enough. Certainly, our game plan was not to force rotations because we know how good they are from three. But they kinda get to their spots, anyway, so it’s really tough.”
During the 4th quarter, Cal and Oregon went through a stretch where they were essentially trading baskets. Caldwell and others continued to hit threes, but their inability to get stops prevented Cal from capitalizing on their shooting performance. In the end, Oregon walked out with a 105-82 victory, putting up an NBA type of scoring outing.
For Oregon, this was just another day at the office. They remain perfect in Pac-12 play and remain on track to get a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. In the midst of an historic season, they remain grounded and focused, doing a good job of not looking too far ahead.
“I don’t think there’s any pressure on us as a team,” Ionescu said. “I mean, a lot of us are veterans and have been in that position that we were last year, but I just think the mentality is completely different to this team this year than it was last year. We’re hungry, we want to keep getting better every game, and we’re not really settling for anything less than being the best that we can and if we continue to do that, stay composed and focus on ourselves, I think the sky’s the limit for us.”
While this game didn’t go the way Cal wanted, they have to now shift their attention to Oregon State, who is playing good basketball in their own right. After falling to Stanford earlier tonight, Oregon State will be eager to get a bounce back win, so Cal better be ready. That game tips off on Sunday at 1:00 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks.