Cal Women's Basketball: Bears Hang Tough in Loss to No. 5 UConn

Cal falls to 0-2 but is competitive on Huskies' home court

Coaches typically scoff at the suggestion of moral victories when their teams lose, but first-year Cal women’s coach Charmin Smith may have something to build on despite losing to fifth-ranked Connecticut 72-61 on Sunday afternoon in Storrs, Conn.

The Huskies (1-0) virtually never lose at home, and captured their 95th straight home victory against the Bears (0-2), leaving UConn just four shy of tying the women’s Division I record for consecutive home wins.

But the Bears made UConn work for it.

Cal trailed by just seven at halftime, and were within eight points with 4:05 left in the third quarter. The Huskies were in control the rest of the way, but the Bears stayed within striking distance for three quarter.

"When we play hard and we play together, we can play with anyone," said Smith, according to the Cal website. "I think this is just a building block and I thought we played extremely hard for 40 minutes. We weren't perfect, but the energy and effort were there.

“This is a standard that we as coaches now get to hold them to for the rest of the season, because we've seen what we can do against a really good team that's number five in the country. We stuck together through adversity on this trip and we're going home with our heads held high, knowing that we can be better and willing commit to the work that it's going to take to be better."

If Cal had performed at the same level on Friday, it might have beaten Harvard.

Cal redshirt senior Sara Anastasieska, who missed last season with a back injury, led all scorers with 25 points and made 5-of-10 three-point attempts.

"Sara was phenomenal," Smith said. "We know what she's capable of and we've seen her in practice every day. But, I'm just really excited for her that she had a chance to play at her best against UConn."

Bears junior forward Alaysia Styles finished with a career-high 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Perhaps the lone disappointment was the production of the two Cal freshmen who receive significant playing time.

Freshman point guard Leiliani McIntosh was 0-for-5 from the floor and did not score while recording three assists and three turnovers, and freshman forward Evelien Lutje Schipholt was limited to seven minutes of court time because of foul trouble and went 0-for-2 from the field and did not score.