Cal Women Lose, Hurting Their NCAA Tournament Chances

Cal’s women’s basketball team lost a game they needed to win to improve their hopes of getting an NCAA tournament berth.

The Golden Bears shot poorly and trailed for nearly the entire game in a 69-60 loss to Miami on Sunday in the Bears final road game of the regular season.

Cal (17-12, 8-8 ACC) entered the game with a 7-2 record in their previous nine games, but the Hurricanes’ halted the Bears’ recent momentum.

Cal’s NET ranking was 51 as of Sunday morning, and Friday’s ESPN Bracketology listed Cal as one of the Next Four Out, putting the Bears on the bubble, but barely.

However, the loss to Mami (15-12, 7-9 ACC) will push the Bears backward as they pursue a berth to March Madness for the second straight season. Miami has an NET ranking of 52, and had just an 8-6 record at home before Sunday's contest.

Cal has two regular-season games left, against Clemson and SMU, both at home, before it competes in the ACC tournament. Cal might need to win both games next week, do some damage in the ACC tournament and get favorable results in games involving bubble teams across the country to make it to the NCAA tournament.

On Sunday, Cal was ruined by poor shooting, especially from long range. The Bears shot just 33.3 percent from field, and half of their 66 field-goal attempts were three-pointers. The Bears were just 8-for-33 from distance (24.2 percent), and they were not much better from the foul line, making just 8-of-18 free throws.

Miami was even worse from the foul line, going 5-for-16 from the stripe, but the Hurricanes made 50 percent of their shots from the floor, and they were 7-for-10 on three-point shots.

Lulu Twidale led the Bears with 18 points, but she was just 7-for-21 from the field, including 4-for-16 from long range.

The fact that she attempted 16 three-point shots reflects the fact that Cal played from behind most of the game.

The Hurricanes took a 16-15 lead 10 seconds into the second quarter, and never relinquished the lead after that.

Miami held an 11-point advantage early in the fourth quarter, and the Bears got the deficit down to five points on a Twidale three-point shot with 3:49 to play.

But Miami’s Gal Raviv hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions to extend the lead to 11 points, ending Cal’s threat.

Cal had trouble defending Miami strong, 6-foot-6 Ra Shaya Kyle, who muscled her way inside for 16 points and 14 rebounds.

Cal’s top two post players, Sakima Walker and Naya Ojukwu, picked up four fouls apiece trying to guard Kyle.

Cal attempted 10 more field goals than Miami, thanks in part to Miami’s 18 turnovers and Cal’s 13 offensive rebounds, but the Bears did not make enough of those field goals.

Mjracle Sheppard added 10 points for Cal, and Gisella Maul had nine points but was just 3-for-15 from the floor.

Cal trailed by as many as 11 points late in the second quarter, but a three-pointer by Puff Morris closed the deficit to 35-27 at halftime.

Miami shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half, while Cal made just 33.3 percent of their shots.

Both teams had ballhandling issues. Miami committed nine turnovers in the first half and Cal had eight.

No player on either team reached double figures in scoring by halftime.

NOTES

Cal freshman forward Taylore Barnes missed her seventh straight game with an ankle injury, and it’s unclear when she will return.