On Saturday, Cal women’s basketball fell to #8 Stanford by a final score of 75-50. DiJonai Carrington (19 points & 5 rebounds) and Kiana Williams (19 points & 5 rebounds) led the way for Stanford while Kristine Anigwe (20 points & 20 rebounds) was the top performer for Cal, tying the program scoring record (Colleen Galloway-2,320). Stanford improves to 18-3 overall and 8-2 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 14-7 overall and 5-5 in the Pac-12.

“We beat a top whatever they are, they should be top five, six, seven, whatever they are team in the nation on Thursday in a great game and we got that same top five, six, seven team playing like that today off of a loss,” Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said after the game. “And we’re going to get the best of them and we got the best of them and I don’t think we responded well enough to be competitive in the game. Started off with some missed shots, then I think we got out of ourselves a little bit, but that first quarter really hurt us.

“I will say, I really like how our players stayed together and fought and competed later. I could not be more proud of Kristine, who’s got an entire game plan around her. I think just did an incredible job handling it for two straight games. I don’t if anyone’s ever had 20 & 20 against Stanford in back-to-back games, we would have rather had the win, but I could not be more proud of how she handled herself in these two games and I think our team will be better for having seen how hard Stanford played today. The good adjustments that they made, they’re so well coached, they have really good players, and it will make us better for the second half of conference and the next eight games that we have.”

For Stanford, this was a much needed win. After losing to Utah on Sunday and Cal on Thursday, they knew this was a game that they had to get. If they didn’t win this game, they would have been beyond upset.

“I like this game a lot more than the other one,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said of her team’s bounce back win. “I thought our team really needed. We played much better defensively. I thought we worked harder to rebound. Cal has a very talented team and we had to play very well to win. I thought we took better shots. Everything that we talked about, we kinda learned from Thursday night, our team and our team leaders, Kianna, DiJonai, Alanna, Shannon, really talked to the team and I thought we saw results.

“It’s a new month, we’re heading into tournament in February and March and we wanna keep improving. It’s great to have Maya back. I love that. We’re excited about what we can do, and we just need to keep working to get better.”

This game was pretty much over from the jump. Stanford raced out to a 10-0 lead early in the 1st quarter and extended their lead 14-2 with 5:03 to go in the 1st quarter, shooting 6-10 from the field. Stanford would finish the quarter strong, leading 22-5 on 10-19 shooting from the field with DiJonai Carrington pacing them with 7 points. Cal was giving up a ton of easy baskets inside while also failing to get into any sort of offensive rhythm, shooting 2-18 from the field.

“I thought we missed a couple shots early that we could have made, maybe shots that went down the other night,” Lindsay Gottlieb said of the 1st quarter. “And that might have had us feeling a little bit more rhythmic, but they got us on some cuts early, they played well, they were ready, and we just didn’t respond quickly enough. It’s a seven point game other than first quarter. Kudos to them and it will make us better for next week and thereafter.”

In the 2nd quarter, Cal started to wake up a bit, outscoring Stanford 5-3 in the first five minutes. The problem was they had dug themselves into a really deep hole. Down 25-10 with 5:09 to go in the half, Kristine Anigwe had 6 of her team’s 10 points, once again having to shoulder the load.

Despite their sluggish start to the 2nd quarter, Stanford would wake up thanks to 10 points from Kiana Williams, who would go into halftime with 14 points. Even though they did not have as dominant of a quarter, Stanford still extended their lead to 20 points, leading 37-17 at halftime. Kristine Anigwe already had a double-double at halftime with 12 points and 11 rebounds. The problem for Cal was no one else was showing up as Kianna Smith was the second highest scorer with 3 points.

The 3rd quarter was very similar to the 2nd quarter as Stanford would outscore Cal 19-14. Alanna Smith had her best quarter of the game for Stanford, scoring 8 of her 16 points on 3-6 shooting from the field and 2-2 shooting from the foul line. Kristine Anigwe continued to do her thing as she was up to 15 points and 19 rebounds. The issue was there was literally no one else that could get into any sort of groove. With Stanford up 56-31 at the end of the 3rd quarter, it was clear that no comeback was going to happen for the Golden Bears.

The only good thing to say about the 4th quarter for Cal was they tied Stanford 19-19. Actually, if you look at the other three quarters, Cal played Stanford decently close (within 8 points). The problem was they had such an abysmal 1st quarter. When you go down 22-5 to a top 10 team on the road, you’re not going to win. No matter how hard you battle afterwards.

For Cal, this loss hurts given the high they were coming off after Thursday’s win. At the same time, nobody expected them to win on Thursday, so they definitely shouldn’t feel bad about how this weekend went as a whole.

“Definitely,” Kristine Anigwe said if they can still carry momentum from Thursday’s win. “I feel like we again learned a lot from Stanford playing in this game and again you asked about mental fatigue, I just want to address that and say I don’t think you get mentally fatigued after competing at such a high level. I think that prepares you for the next game. I think right now it’s almost like Stanford put four people on me and I have to make a read. We just have to adjust. They’re a top five team for a reason. We played them back-to-back. I think credit to us for staying in the game and for competing still. Mentally fatigued would have been giving up. I don’t think we gave up. We stayed together, and I credit Stanford for doing what they had to do.”

“So, number one, it’s a huge win for us the other night,” Lindsay Gottlieb added. “The chance to get a win over the RPI number five team, a top team is great for us resume wise and I think this weekend is good for our team. I’ve never been a huge fan of this two in one week, but it is kind of how it is, and you respond to it and I actually think it coming right at the half-point of conference will make us better for next weekend and better for the ensuing weekends.

“It’s disappointing today because we had a chance to sweep them and we lost today, and they were terrific. But if you had told me before that we had split with them, I would have said ok, that’s a big win and let’s move forward.”

Even though her team had a dominating win, Tara VanDerveer had really good things to say about Cal. She was quick to say that while her team has a great chance to get a couple of wins over the Oregon schools, Cal has that same chance as well.

“I think Cal can beat them, too,” VanDerveer said. “I think Cal can win both games, too. They’re a really good team. They’re really athletic. You’re not going inside to anybody better than Anigwe. If she plays that way, I think they’re tough to beat.”

Up next for Cal is a home game against #4 Oregon on Friday at 8:00 PM PST. That game will air on Pac-12 Networks.

Note: For a perspective from the Stanford side, check out Jacob Rayburn’s recap of the game on CardinalSportsReport.com