Cal Women's Basketball: Bears Improve to 3-1 With Road Win over Saint Mary's
The Cal women’s basketball team improved to 3-1 with a 69-66 win at Saint Mary’s College in a game coach Charmin Smith isn’t sure the Bears would have won in recent seasons.
Leilani McIntosh scored 18 points and Peanut Tuitele converted the go-ahead layup with 1:32 left and the Bears won despite trailing for more than 28 minutes.
“This is a game where we fold in previous years and aren’t able to get it done,” Smith said. “We stayed locked in. I believed all along we were going to win the game. I didn’t know how but we made the plays that we needed to make down the stretch.”
The Bears also got a break when Ali Bamberger, one of the Gaels’ top players, missed two late free throws that could have flipped the outcome.
Each team missed a shot after Tuitele’s go-ahead basket and Saint Mary’s (2-2) called timeout with 24 seconds left. The Gaels got the ball to Bamberger, who had 24 points in the game and made all five of her free throws to that point.
Tuitele fouled Bamberger with 4 seconds left, sending her to the line for two shots. She missed both and Tuiltele, a graduate transfer from Colorado, grabbed the rebound.
“In the huddle we said, `Let it go. Just got to keep playing,’ “ Smith said. “Peanut’s been huge for us. We were able to grind it out.”
Smith said games like this one can have long-term benefits.
“It helps with our toughness and resilience,” Smith said. “This will helps when we have some of those more competitive games. This gives us confidence. Sometimes you just have to survive.”
McIntosh was the only Cal player to score in double figures, with Jayda Curry adding nine points and Tuitele eight. A total of 10 Cal players contributed at least three points.
Smith is encouraged by the team’s developing offensive balance, although she wants Curry — the reigning Pac-12 scoring leader — to continue doing her thing.
“We want Jayda playing well every game. I don’t mind when she has 20, 25 points. Our goal is to get her help,” Smith said.
Curry, who averaged 18.6 points a year ago, is at 12.0 through four games, shooting just 32 percent from the field.
“I’m not worried about out Jayda,” Smith said. “She’s going to knock down shots when we need it. She had a big 3 today when we needed it desperately.”
That came with 4:13 left and tied the score at 60-all.
Cal’s defense forced 20 turnovers and limited the Gaels’ perimeter shooting game. The Bears entered the game allowing opponents to make nearly 43 percent from beyond the 3-point arc — 340th out of 349 teams in Division I — and while the Gaels converted 60 percent, they only managed 10 attempts.
Taycee Wedin, who has made more than 300 career 3-pointers, scored 17 points, including 3-for-4 from deep.
“We’re working on our defense overall,” Smith said. “That’s the place we need to get a lot better. It was definitely a point of emphasis not to give them the open looks and to know where Wedin was at all times.”
Cover photo of Leilani McIntosh by Karen De Loy, Cal Athletics
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
