Bears Fall to No. 4 Cardinal

STANFORD, Calif. – After roaring back to within six points heading into halftime, California women's basketball was unable to catch No. 4 Stanford, falling to the Cardinal 72-33 in its regular-season finale.
 
The Bears trailed by as much as 16 points in the second quarter, but came alive late, finishing the half on a 13-3 run which included eight unanswered points. Freshman forward Dalayah Daniels scored six points during the run. The Bears ultimately outscored the Cardinal 18-17 in the period and held Stanford to just one field goal over the final 2:07. In the first half, Cal outshot the Cardinal 44 percent to 39 percent, outrebounded them 18-15 and won the battle in the paint 14-12.
 
However, Stanford (22-2, 19-2) opened up the second half on a 9-0 run and did not look back, ultimately winning 72-33 for its 11th-straight victory.
 
Daniels closed out the regular season with her ninth double-digit scoring performance. Her 11 points led the Bears and she contributed seven rebounds as well. Sophomore guard Leilani McIntosh collected nine points and led the Bears with two steals and a block. Meanwhile, freshman forward Ugonne (Michelle) Onyiah had eight points and eight rebounds. Cal committed just five personal fouls (tied for its fewest this season) in the contest and the game saw just eight combined free throws.

"We had a great first half," head coach Charmin Smith said. "We were able to execute a pick and roll action with Leilani and Michelle and did a solid job defensively containing some of their actions…We've got a lot of growth on this team and we're going to keep fighting."
 
California (1-15, 1-12) will now head to Las Vegas for the 2021 Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament beginning Wednesday, March 3. The Bears are awaiting the conclusion of the Oregon vs Oregon State contest this afternoon which will determine the five seed and Cal's first opponent in the tournament. Should Oregon State win, the Bears will face the Beavers, but should they lose, Cal will take on Colorado whose game at Utah was postponed on Sunday.
 
For more information and updates throughout the year, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalWBBall), Instagram (@CalWBBall) and Facebook (Facebook.com/CalWBBall).