Cal Women's Basketball: Bears Fall to Mississippi for First Loss
Cal's women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Saturday afternoon, losing to Mississippi 64-45 in the championship game of the Raising the B.A.R. Invitational at Haas Pavilion.
The Bears (5-1) shot just 23.2 percent from the field and made just 2 of 18 three-point attempts in their first game this season against a team from a Power 5 conference. Cal also committed 21 turnovers, while Ole Miss shot 34.3 percent and committed 13 turnovers.
"I think we played horribly," Smith said. "We wanted Ole Miss in the tournament for a reason. We wanted to play against a Power Five school. I'm proud of our team for making it to the championship. I'm disappointed that we didn't win it. I thought we could have played a lot better."
Mississippi (6-1) was picked to finish sixth in the 14-team Southeastern Conference in the preseason coaches poll, and the Rebels controlled the game against Cal.
Freshman Jayda Curry led the Bears in scoring with 12 points but she was just 4-for-18 from the field, including 1-for-10 from long range. Curry was named to the all-tournament team after scoring 38 points in the two games.
Cailyn Crocker was other Cal player, scoring 10 points on 1-for-10 shooting.
Mississippi held a 12-point at halftime, and was ahead by 14 points at the end of three quarters. At that point Cal was shooting 19 percent from the field, including.1-for-13 on three-pointers.
Charmin Smith said in the video below that Cal got open looks in the beginning of the game, and if they had made them it could have changed the dynamic of the contest.
Of note: the head coaches of all four teams in this tournament were Black females.
Cal had advanced to the championship game with an 82-73 victory over Furman in its opening-round game on Friday.
Curry led the Bears with 26 points against Furman. Twenty of her points came in the second half and five of them came he final 2:05 as Cal repelled Furman’s comeback. The Paladins rallied from a 25-point deficit to get as close as four points before the Bears secured the win.
Cailyn Crocker contributed 17 points and six assists and Evelien Lutje Schipholt had 18 points and 14 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season, her third in a row.
Cover photo of Jayda Curry by Chris Leung
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
