No. 21 Cal Women Dismantled by Explosive No. 3 Notre Dame

The Irish pull away by outscoring the visiting Bears 50-20 in the secnd and third quarters

Cal's Marta Suarez brings the ball up the floor trailed by teammate Ioanna Krimili / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

The 21st-ranked Cal women ran into the offensive juggernaut that is No. 3 Notre Dame on Sunday and could not keep up.

The Fighting Irish outscored the Bears 50-20 in the second and third quarters on the way to a 91-52 victory at South Bend, Ind., handing Cal (19-5, 7-5 ACC) its third defeat in its past four games.

The Bears fell to 2-3 this season against AP Top-25 opponents but they have lost 23 consecutive games top Top-5 squads, without a win in those circumstances since a 67-55 verdict over No. 5 Stanford on Jan. 13, 2013.

Cal has now lost 38 straight, dating back to 2008, against teams ranked No. 3 or higher.

Still regarded as a legitimate contender for a spot in the NCAA tournament field, the Bears are likely to drop out of the AP Top-25 this week.

Unbeaten and alone in first place in the ACC, Notre Dame (21-2, 12-0) rolled to its 16th consecutive victory.

This was going to be a tall task for the Bears at their best against an Irish squad that earlier this week handed Stanford its worst defeat ever. Notre Dame is the nation’s fifth-highest scoring at 87.5 points and boasts the No. 2 individual scorer in sophomore Hannah Hidalgo, averaging 26.0 points.

The Irish have advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament the past three seasons and seem poised to improve on that next month.

“This was an amazing experience for our team," Cal coach Charmin Smith said. "We talked about it before, during and after. This is what every division one athlete wants is to play against top-5 teams in the country. And to find out where you stand. I thought the crowd was great."

The Bears hung around in the first quarter, trailing 10-9 after 5 minutes then 22-15 at the end of the period. But the Irish unleashed an 11-0 run, fueled by a 3-pointer from Hidalgo and back-to-back jumpers by Maddy Westbeld, to open a 44-21 lead entering the final minute of the half.

Cal shot just 27 percent (4 for 15) with six turnovers in the second quarter while the Irish converted 59 percent (10 for 17) with five giveaways.

The Irish outscored Cal 15-0 on second-chance points in the half, despite the modest total of seven offensive rebounds.

Up 44-23 at the break, Notre Dame grew its lead to 69-33 after an 15-0 run late in the third quarter.

The second and third quarters were disasters for the Bears, outscored by a combined 50-20. Notre Dame shot nearly 65 percent over that span while the Bears converted just 28 percent. 

“I think Notre Dame is a really good team, and we had moments in which we were able to play at that level and to contain them and keep them off the boards and do a better job of taking care of the ball," Smith said. "And then it wasn't something that we could sustain for 40 minutes. So that's our process, working on being at an elite level for 40 minutes.

"Obviously you've got household names and first-round WNBA draft picks on that team, and I'm proud of how we stayed with it, and we were still fighting in the fourth quarter. It's time for us to go home and regroup and lock in on the remaining games in in the ACC play.”

Hidalgo had 24 points, five assists and three steals for the Irish, Olivia Miles added 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Citron contributed 16 points, five assists and four steals. 

Sophomore Lulu Twidale scored 14 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead the Bears, who shot just 36 percent for the afternoon. Marta Suarez had a rough afternoon, scoring 10 points on 4-for-15 shooting with eight rebounds but nine of the Bears' 21 turnovers. 

The Irish dominated in every aspect, outscoring Cal 21-4 on second-chance points, 25-12 in points off turnovers and 18-5 in bench points.

The Bears are back home on Thursday to face Boston College at 7 p.m.