Cal Rally Falls Short in Women's ACC Tournament Loss

Despite a strong second-half rally, Cal was eliminated from the women’s ACC tournament as a result of a 70-59 loss to seventh-seeded Syracuse in a second-round game on Thursday in Duluth, Georgia.

A poor first half doomed Cal, which rallied from a 21-point third-quarter deficit to get within four points with four minutes left in the game. But the margin was too much to overcome for Cal (19-14).

“Obviously we’re disappointed that we don’t get to continue here in Atlanta,” Cal coach Charmin Smith said. “We just had a really awful start against a really good Syracuse team. I’m proud of how we fought in the second half to cut it to five [actually four] to have a chance. But ultimately we just dug ourselves too deep of a hole that we couldn’t get out of.”

Syracuse (23-7) will face second-seeded and 12th-ranked Louisville (25-6) on Friday in the quarterfinals.

The season is probably not over for Cal. Although the Bears are unlikely to get a berth in the NCAA tournament, they probably will be invited to the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) or the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). The WBIT is the more prestigious of the two.

Smith said Cal would accept an invitation to the WBIT if it came.

“Yes, we want to play,” Smith said. “I think we’re capable of more. I think the WBIT is a phenomenal experience for student-athletes.”

Sakima Walker led Cal with 19 points on Thursday, and Lulu Twidale had 14, all in the second half. But Twidale was just 4-for-15 from the field, including 1-for-9 on three-pointers.

Syracuse was led by Uche Izoje, who had 23 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, and she provided the offense for Syracuse when Cal got close in the fourth quarter.

The Bears needed to win the ACC tournament to get into the NCAA tournament, and that hope seemed to disappear when Cal scored just 16 first-half points.

The Bears trailed by 21 points less than a minute into the third quarter, but they slowly worked their way back into the game.

When Twidale made her only three-pointer of the game with 4:05 left in the fourth quarter the deficit was down to four points, at 56-52.

But Izoje converted a three-point play 15 seconds later to push the lead back to seven, and after Cal’s Gisella Maul made one of two free throws, Izoje scored again to push the Syracuse lead to eight points with 3:11 to play.

That bucket was the last of 10 straight Syracuse points scored by Izoje, and Cal never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

Smith explained why Cal played much better in the second half than it had in the first half.

“I don’t know that it was anything [Syracuse] did. I think we were really bad in the first half. We couldn’t make a shot. We weren’t defending very well,” Smith said. “They’re too good to play the way we did to start the game.”

Each team committed 21 turnovers, with 14 of Syracuse turnovers coming in the second half when Cal made its run.

This game was similar to the one the teams played during the regular season, on January 15 in Syracuse. Cal rallied from a 20-point deficit in that game to force overtime, but eventually lost 90-87 in triple overtime.

Cal gave itself a chance on Thursday by making 54.5 percent of its shots in the second half. But the Bears shot just 38 percent for the game because of its poor first half. The Bears wound up 3-for-19 on three-pointers.

The first quarter was a disaster for Cal, and the second quarter was no better as the Bears were held to a season-low 16 first-half points.

Cal did little right in the first half, which ended with Syracuse holding a 37-16 lead.

The Bears shot 25 percent in the first half and was just 1-for-11 on three pointers. Throw in 10 Cal turnovers and it spelled problems.

Meanwhile, Syracuse made 53.3 percent of its first-half shots and was 3-for-5 from long range.

Izoche had 12 points for the Orange in the first half, and Laila Phelia added 11.

Cal’s top scorer Twidale, a second-team all-ACC selection, went scoreless in the first half, when she missed all five of her shots.

Syracuse took control from the outset.

In the first quarter, the Bears were 3-for-12 from the field and committed eight turnovers while scoring just seven points, a season low for a first quarter.

That quarter ended with Syracuse holding a 23-7 lead, and it could have been worse as Cal scored three points in the final 40 seconds of the quarter. With 59 seconds remaining in the quarter, the Orange had a 17-point lead at 21-4.