Cal Women's Basketball: Big Crowd at Haas Sees Bears Lose to No. 5 Stanford Again

Largest home crowd this season -- men or women -- watch Cal perform better than it did Friday

Cal lost to fifth-ranked Stanford for the second time in three days, but the Bears made a game of it for a half this time.

After beating the Bears by 33 points on Friday, the Cardinal recorded a 79-65 victory over Cal on Sunday at Haas Pavilion. 

But the big news was not on the court, but around the court. A crowd of 6,724 witnessed the game at Haas, and that is easily the biggest home crowd for a Cal game this season, men or women. The previous high for home attendance this season was 5,734, which witnessed the Cal men lose to Saint Mary's on Dec. 14.

Cal coach Charmin Smith addressed the attendance issue in the video below:

Stanford improved to 15-1 overall and 4-0 in the Pac-12, while the Bears slipped to 8-7 and 0-4.

Cal was beated by the Cardinal 73-40 on Friday at Stanford, a game in which the Cardinal led 20-5 after one quarter, 39-15 at halftime and 58-18 entering the fourth quarter. Cal shot 27.3 percent from the field in that game.

The Bears remained competitive in the first half Sunday. They were within three points with 2:37 left in the second quarter, and trailed 36-29 at halftime. In the second half, Stanford methodically imposed its will to break away.

"We wanted to come out and show we're a better team than we were on Friday," said Smith, who lost her first two games against her alma mater since becoming Cal's head coach. "I think this was a good showing for us."

"I think they felt us," said Cal's Sara Anastasieska, who finished with 13 points.

The Bears shot 37.5 percent from the field, but they allowed the Cardinal to shoot 53.1 percent.

Freshman Haley Jones and Kiana Williams scored 21 points apiece for Stanford, and Jaelyn Brown was Cal's top scorer with 14 points.

And things only get tougher for the Bears this week.

The Bears go on the road to play No. 3 Oregon State on Friday, then face No. 2 Oregon next Sunday in Eugene, Oregon, although both Oregon schools may be ranked a bit lower by the time Cal plays them. Most of the attention will be on Stanford, which also plays the two Oregon schools in top-10 matchups this coming week.

Cal needed to get a good start Sunday, but the Bears missed their first eight field-goal attempts and were just 1-for-11 from the field in the first quarter.

The Cardinal surged to an early 14-5 lead and held a 18-9 advantage entering the second quarter.

Cal cut the deficit to 20-16 early in the second quarter, but the Cardinal scored seven straight points to end the Bears' rally. Cal rallied again and a three-point play by Anastasieska reduced the Stanford lead to 31-28 with 2:37 left in the firt half.

"They were extremely, extremely aggressive," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said of Cal. "They were more aggressive than us, especially in the first half."

Cal freshman Jazlen Green had to leave the game in the second quarter after colliding with Stanford's Lacie Hull. Green was holding her head when she went to the locker room and was evaluated for a concussion. There was no prognosis immediately following the game.

Stanford took command in the third quarter, pushing the lead to 17 points with three minutes left, but the Bears were still within striking distance entering the fourth quarter, trailing 62-48.

Stanford made it a blowout early in the fourth quarter, pushing the lead to 24 points at one point.