Cal Women's Basketball: Bears Fall to SMU

Cal fails to make the plays down the stretch in its second loss of the season

Cal was very much in its game against SMU in the fourth quarter, but the Berars faded down the stretch in a 70-56 loss to the Mustangs in the Raising the B.A.R. Invitational on Sunday afternoon in Berkeley.

Cal (6-2) trailed by just four points with 8:44 left in the fourth quarter, but SMU (7-2) outscored the Bears 13-2 over the next five minutes to erase Cal's chances.

"Felt a little bit like the wheels fell off in the fourth," Cal head coach Charmin Smith said.

Jayda Curry led Cal in scoring with 16 points, but she and Smith both noted that the turning point came during a one-minute stretch in the third quarter.

The Bears held a five-point lead at 42-37 midway through the third quarter, but SMU scored eight straight points in a span of 1:04 to take a three-point lead. Cal never had the lead after that.

"Disappointed in how we played today," Smith said. "Thought we could have done a lot better. We had moments, but just not consistent. SMU is a good team and they made us pay. We're a work in progress."

SMU shot 52.9% from the field for the game, while Cal made just 35.4% of their shots from the floor. The Bears did a pretty good job on the boards, collecting 14 offensive rebounds to just three for the Mustangs. That helped the Bears get 14 more field-goal attempts than SMU, but the Mustangs made their shoits count.

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