Cal Women Breeze Past Wake, Set Up Rematch with Syracuse

The 10th-seeded Cal women overcame a sluggish start and breezed past No. 15 seed Wake Forest 75-52 in their first-round game of the ACC tournament at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia on Wednesday.

Senior center Sakima Walker dominated the Demon Deacons inside, posting 17 points and 10 rebounds and the Bears (19-13) advanced to the second round.

Cal's Sakima Walker drives to the basket | Photo courtesy of the ACC

“It felt really good,” Walker said of the Bears’ first-round triumph. “We’re excited to be here.”

Cal will face No. 7 seed Syracuse (22-7) on Thursday at 2 p.m. PT, hoping to avenge a 90-87 triple-overtime loss to the Orange back on Jan. 15.

The Bears, who entered the ACC tournament with a No. 53 NET ranking, will need a deep run in this event to land an NCAA tournament bid for the second year in a row.

“All we want to do is just try to stay in Atlanta as long as possible,” coach Charmin Smith said. “It's a good day for the Bears.”

The Bears led just 11-10 after the first quarter and trailed 17-15 midway through the second period. But they cranked up their efficiency and outscored Wake 46-16 over the next 16 minutes to take a commanding 61-33 lead into the final quarter.

Lulu Twidale, the Bears’ second-team All-ACC junior guard, added 11 points and seven rebounds, and Gisella Maul scored 10 points.

Smith said the Bears’ brought momentum to the tournament after crushing SMU 78-34 in their regular-season finale. Their balance between scoring on the perimeter and in the paint was more than Wake could handle.

It's hard to play against us when G and Lu and our shooters are making shots; and then you add on Sakima inside with a double-double,” Smith said. “That inside-out presence is something that we really want to have, and I thought it helped us today for sure.”

Puff Morris scored 10 points and fellow freshman Taylor Barnes returned to action after missing nine games with an ankle injury and contributed four points in 12 minutes.

The Bears shot 55.9 percent (19 for 34) in the second and third quarters to take charge, outrebounded Wake 41-28 for the game and shot 12 for 12 from the free throw line.

Wake (14-17) was led by Mary Carter with 13 points.

The Bears will be excited to get a rematch vs. Syracuse, which outlasted them two months ago, winning on a 3-point shot by Dominique Darius with 3 seconds left in the third OT.

Cal rallied from a 20-point deficit in the second half to force extra play, outscoring the Orange 25-9 in the fourth quarter. Twidale played 53 minutes and had 16 points and 12 assists for the Bears and reserve forward Naya Okukwu scored 25 points.

The Bears’ big lead after three quarters Wednesday allowed Smith to rest her players, keeping everyone fresh for Thursday.

“Our goal, we tell ourselves as a starting five, like let's get everybody on the floor today. Let's push the lead,” Walker said. “We did that today.”

Walker scored nine points in the second quarter to spark a 21-11 surge by the Bears that gave them a 32-21 halftime lead. Scoreless in the first quarter, Walker also had six rebounds by halftime.

“When she was dominant in the second quarter, it really changed the whole feel of the game,” Smith said of Walker.

Both teams struggled shooting the ball in the first quarter, with the Bears starting 2 for 14 from the field and the Demon Deacons making just one if their first nine attempts.

Cal led 11-10 after the first 10 minutes and Wake was up 17-15 after a 3-pointer by Mary Carter with 6:49 left in the second period.

Cal answered with a 10-0 run for a 25-17 lead with 3:40 to play, with Walker scoring five points and Twidale contributing a 3-pointer. Walker’s layup with 58 seconds in the half gave the Bears their biggest lead of the half at 32-21.

The Bears found their shooting eye in the second period, converting 9 of 16. But Wake continued to misfire, finishing the first half at 29.6 percent.

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