Cal Women's Basketball: Bears Lose to Bakersfield, Fall to 0-2

Bears coach Charmin Smith notes team needs to a better job of getting into its offense

Cal’s young women’s basketball team is off to a disappointing start to its 2020-21 season as the Bears fell to 0-2 after losing to Cal State Bakersfield 60-52 Sunday afternoon at Haas Pavilion.

The Bears got freshman guard Alma Elsnitz back after she missed the opener with an injury, but Cal was still without two potential starters in sophomore guards Jazlen Green and Cailyn Crocker, who continue to be sidelined by injuries.

But Cal expected to do better against the Roadrunners, who were playing their first game of the season and were picked to finish eighth in the 11-team Big West Conference.

“We definitely have a lot of work to do,” said Cal point guard Leilani McIntosh, who had 12 points, “but I know our potential, and I’ve seen it in practice, and some spots in the game. We just have to put it all together and I feel that we will.”

Cal started three freshmen and two sophomores on Sunday, and Elsnitz had a team-high 14 points in her college debut.

The other two freshman starters were not as successful. Dalayah Daniels scored nine points, but was 2-for-10 from the field, while guard Ornela Muca scored two points and went 0-for-9 from the floor.

The one freshman who showed some promise was 6-foot-8 Sela Heide, who scored seven points on 2-for-3 shooting and also had six rebounds and one blocked shot in 18 minutes of court time.

Bakersfield surged to an 18-point lead late in the third quarter, and Cal reduced the margin to six points with six minutes left in the game. But that was as close as Cal could get.

Bakersfield led 36-29 at halftime and shot 53.3 percent from the field over the first two quarters.

Charmin Smith discusses the absence of Green and Crocker:

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