Clemson Tigers Women’s Basketball Claims Victory Over Ranked ACC Rivals

The Clemson Tigers women's basketball team had an impressive conference win over the California Golden Bears on Thursday night.

Clemson Coach Shawn Poppie with the team playing Jackson State University during the fourth quarter at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C. Monday, Nov 4, 2024. / Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers women’s basketball team is back in the positive for their conference schedule after a 69-58 victory over the California Golden Bears on Thursday night. at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C.

The Tigers (9-5, 2-1 in ACC) claimed a victory over a Top 25 team for the first time this season and for the first time under coach Shawn Poppie, who took over the program this season. Clemson had previously lost three games to ranked teams.

The No. 20 Golden Bears (13-2, 1-1) suffered their first ACC loss in their first season in the conference. Cal's only other loss this season was to Michigan State.

The backcourt has powered the Tigers through the early part of the season and Thursday was no different.

Senior guard Loyal McQueen had an impressive offensive night, leading the team with 18 points. She also picked up three rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Junior guard Mia Moore also had a nice night with 14 points and five rebounds.

Tessa Miller also had an efficient night with 11 points on just 4-of-7 from the field and five rebounds.

It was the Clemson defense that really stood out, however. The Tigers withstood a near six-minute field goal drought down the stretch, thanks to the lead they built and their defensive continuing to shut down the Golden Bears' offense.

Clemson scored 23 of its 69 points off of turnovers. Taking advantage of that was one of the main reasons the Tigers came away with the impressive win.

California shot just 4-of-20 from behind the arc, which was the other noticeable gap between the two teams.

The two squads led for about the same amount of time and there were 15 different lead changes. But it was the Tigers who got on the last run and it won them the game.

A victory over a ranked team is an encouraging one for the Tigers, who have a tough stretch upcoming with five more currently ranked opponents on the schedule. A win like should give them momentum for its next ranked showdown.

Clemson currently sits as one of the first teams out in ESPN’s Bracketology. So a ranked win could vault them into the bracket and serve as a good confidence builder heading into the heart of their schedule that continues against Stanford this weekend.