Cal Women Take the Fight to No. 2 Stanford, Fall Just Short in 60-56 Loss

The Golden Bears led by 3 points with 4 minutes left but did not score again.

The Cal women had every opportunity to pull off a huge upset of No. 2 Stanford on Sunday in front of 3,442 fans at Haas Pavilion but could not complete the assignment.

The Bears, seeking their first win over the Cardinal in four seasons, led 56-53 after a layup by Peanut Tuitele with 4:08 to play.

But they didn’t score again and the Cardinal escaped with a 60-56 victory.

The Bears (10-5, 1-3 Pac-12) lost despite holding Stanford nearly 25 points below its season scoring average and limiting the Cardinal to 32-percent from the field, 4-for-20 on 3-point attempts.

“This was us imposing our will and we just came up a little short,” Cal coach Charmin Smith says in the video at the top of this story. “It was an effort to be proud of.”

Stanford (16-1, 4-0 Pac-12) won its 11th straight game, its 38th in a row against conference competition and its 51st straight vs. unranked opponents.

Tara VanDerveer, Stanford's legendary coach, said winning this one was tough. "It's really a game that could be really good for our team in the long run," she said. "It felt like a root canal in the short run."

Leilani McIntosh scored 19 points for Cal in the 99th all-time meeting between the Bay Area rivals. Stanford now leads the series 78-21.

After Tuitele’s basket gave the Bears a 3-point lead, Stanford All-American forward Cameron Brink converted a putback and free throw to tie the score with 3:07 left.

Evelien Lutje Schipholt was fouled with 2:35 left but missed both free throws. Kemery Martin turned the ball over on Cal’s next possession.

Haley Jones scored on a tough baseline drive to put Stanford up 58-56 with 1:23 left before McIntosh missed on a drive to the hoop with just under a minute left.

Brink, who had 25 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots, misfired on Stanford’s next possession and Cal got one more chance to tie the score.

Smith describes in the video below what the Bears tried to do on the play.

Claudia Langarita, taking the pass from McIntosh, had a good look from the elbow about 15 feet from the basket, but her shot missed and Stanford secured the rebound.

"It was a good look, she's capable of knocking that down," Smith said. 

Stanford was not in the bonus so Cal actually had to foul three times before sending sophomore Brooke Demetre to the free throw line, where she converted both attempts for the 60-56 lead with 5.4 seconds left.

The key to keeping this one closer than Stanford’s 90-69 win at Maples Pavilion on Dec. 23 was defense.

Smith said an emphasis was eliminating the Cardinal’s fast break opportunities, and the Bears held them to four points in those situations.

Mostly, it was a matter of playing tough, hard-nosed defense, as McIntosh explains in the video below.

Stanford entered the game ranked eighth in the nation in field-goal percentage at 49 percent, and nothing came easily in this one. The Cardinal made just 4 of 15 shots in the first quarter but still led 13-12 because Cal couldn’t get its offense going, either.

The game was tied at 26-all at halftime and Stanford took a 47-43 edge into the final 10 minutes. But Cal went up 50-49 on a 3-pointer by McIntosh with 7 minutes left and no more than three points separated the teams the rest of the way until the final 5 seconds.

Among those in the crowd at Haas was Warriors star Stephen Curry, who grew up friends with the family of Stanford’s Brink, but also spoke to the Bears in the locker room after the game.

Sophomore Jayda Curry — his Cal namesake although no relation — explains in the video below that hearing the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player share his thoughts helped the Bears confirm they are doing things the right away.

Curry scored nine points for the Bears while Martin and Lute Schipholt each had eight.

Smith, who spent her playing career at Stanford, was disappointed by the outcome but sees continued progress from her squad, as she explains in the video below.

"We talk a lot about being the best version of ourselves, and when we are that for 40 minutes we feel like we can compete with anyone," she said. "There are times you can be locked in against Stanford and still not have a chance. That's not us anymore."

Cover photo of Leilani McIntosh driving on the Stanford defense by Kelley L. Cox, KLC fotos

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo