On Sunday, #2 Stanford women’s basketball narrowly defeated rival Cal in Berkeley by a final score of 60-56. Stanford junior forward Cameron Brink led the way for the Cardinal with 25 points, 17 rebounds, and 3 blocks while senior guard/forward Haley Jones had 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists. Cal senior guard Leilani McIntosh was the top performer for the Golden Bears with 19 points and 3 assists. Stanford improves to 16-1 overall and 4-0 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 10-5 overall and 1-3 in the Pac-12.
“I think it’s really a game that can be really good for our team in the long run,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game. “It felt like a root canal in the short run, but first of all, I give a lot of credit to Cal, I think they were really well prepared and really kinda took us out of our comfort zone a little bit. But, Cam especially. We went inside to her, 25 points; we did a good job from the free throw line, we did a good job on the glass, we rebounded really well, I think our defense was pretty good.
“We took care of the ball in the second half, and this is kinda what the Pac-12 is gonna be like. It’s not gonna be a cakewalk and especially playing a team a second time and you can’t come in and just expect to not do the right things and I thought Brooke really helped us a lot. She had three assists, no turnovers, got the ball inside really well, and then just overall it was a tough game and our team found a way to win.”
“I think you know, obviously we played a lot better than we did the first time,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said after the game. “I think this was us imposing our will and we just came up a little short. I think it was an effort to be proud of.”
The game got off to a slow start offensively after Stanford freshman point guard Talana Lepolo made a quick 3-pointer within the first minute of the game to give the Cardinal a 3-0 lead. The next score in the game would be a 3-pointer by Leilani McIntosh to tie it up 3-3 with 4:44 to go in the 1st quarter.
After McIntosh got her bucket, both teams finally started to get going offensively a bit as Stanford led 13-12 at the end of the 1st quarter. Haley Jones was leading the Cardinal with her 4 points and 3 rebounds as she was starting to find a rhythm. As for Cal, Leilani McIntosh and Claudia Langarita each had 5 points, doing their part to keep the Bears in the game.
Midway through the 2nd quarter, it was still a tight game as Stanford led 20-19. Jones (6 points & 6 rebounds) was already halfway to a double-double for the Cardinal while McIntosh was up to 7 points for the Bears. Stanford would then extend their lead to go up 26-19 with 2:19 to go, forcing Cal to call for time. Jones (8 points) was continuing to do her thing for the Cardinal while Cameron Brink was up to 7 points and 8 rebounds.
To Cal’s credit, they found a way to close the half on a 7-0 run to make it a tie game (26-26) at halftime. Rather than caving to the pressure of playing the number two team in the nation, Cal rose to the occasion and responded emphatically.
With 4:36 to go in the 3rd quarter, Stanford led 35-32. Brink and Jones each had 10 points for the Cardinal while McIntosh was up to 8 points for the Bears. Stanford was staying in front, but Cal was not going anywhere.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, Stanford led 47-43. Brink was really starting to get going with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Hannah Jump (7 points) was having a quieter night for the Cardinal, but she made a huge 3-pointer to give her team a four-point cushion going into the final quarter. This game was living up to its Battle of the Bay nickname.
“Well, everybody knows Hannah’s a great shooter,” VanDerveer said of Jump. “And they basically were all over her and which is what is expected. She did hit a nice shot on an o-board, she had three great assists, no turnovers; she was scrappy in there and was rebounding. And I think she needs help. I think other people have to step up for her and be able to spread the floor so they can’t just focus on her. So we have to find people that can help her, but also play defense and knock down shots. So, playing it both ends of the court.”
“Yeah, I think it was just a level of focus,” Smith said of how they defended Jump. “I think the last game we just were just kinda out of sorts and not really dialed in on the game plan. And I know you could see Jayda chasing her all around and it was one of those types of things where the TV shows are like I wanna know what flavor of bubble gum she’s chewing. You know? Like that’s how locked in you have to be on Hannah Jump to make sure that she doesn’t get off easy shots and Jayda did a great job of that.”
Cal would then lead 52-51 with 4:46 to go. McIntosh was up to 17 points, doing all she could to keep the Bears in front. As for Stanford, Brink was the one carrying the load with her 20 points and 14 rebounds. She just kept finding ways to get buckets inside, responding to every bucket the Bears were getting. All while being in the presence of long-time family friend Stephen Curry.
“Yeah, it’s always fun to play in front of family, so it was nice to have familiar faces on the baseline,” Brink said. “Because my parents usually sit on the baseline, so it’s nice to have people there. And you know I don’t know; I think my teammates had a lot of confidence in me and I have a lot of confidence in them. So, we just made it happen and I knew I needed to take some shots. So, I usually don’t take twenty shots a game. But, I feel like tonight I had to.”
The game continued to be a back and forth contest as Stanford led 58-56 with 37.9 to go while also having possession. Jones and Brink continued to get clutch buckets inside for the Cardinal. As for the Bears, while they were still in it, senior forward Evelien Lutje Schipholt missed two free throws that she really wishes she could have back. Had she made those shots, this would have been a tie game.
“I don’t know if the mindset was one more stop,” Jones said. “I think it was you need every stop. So, I think Cal played great and like you said, Leilani played a great night tonight. I think we did a great job eliminating Curry. So, credit to everybody that was on her with Agnes and Talana. But I think every stop mattered and every basket mattered. So I think we were taking good shots down the stretch. Credit to Cam, she was hitting everything, she was getting in the work, Brooke hit those two great free throws at the end, lots of great o-boards and things like that. But I think just every stop mattered. Every possession mattered.”
Brink would then miss a jumper after which Jump got a rebound only to be stripped by Jayda Curry, who came up with the ball and got the credit for the rebound. It looked like Jump got fouled, but no call. With 25.3 to go, Cal had the ball and a chance to tie it up.
On the next Cal possession, Langarita got a good look at the basket but wasn’t able to make the jumper. Brink came up with the rebound and was fouled by McIntosh. Cal had fouls to give and so after a Peanut Tuitele foul, Karisma Ortiz fouled Brooke Demetre, sending her to the foul line with five seconds to go and a chance to ice the game away at the foul line. Demetre would make both of her foul shots, making it a 60-56 lead for the Cardinal. Curry would attempt a last second 3-pointer for Cal, but with it being a four point game, it didn’t matter if she made it or not. Curry’s shot would not fall, making it a 60-56 victory for the Cardinal.
For Cal, this is a disappointing loss in that they came so close to knocking off the number two team in the nation on their home court. They had a good crowd to cheer them on and had they won, it would have been a real boost for their program. Charmin Smith had a great game plan and her players executed it really well. They just didn’t finish the job.
“We felt like we could be better defensively,” Smith said. “We’ve been giving people some things and one of our victory conditions is nothing easy. And this game I think we did that. I think they had to work for what they got for the most part. So, it’s just unfortunate that you don’t get to jump around and celebrate. When you work so hard, you want it to happen. We’re right there, we just gotta stay with it. Stay with it.”
Ultimately, Stanford was just too good in winning time. The Cardinal closed the game out on a 7-0 run after Cal took a 56-53 lead with 4:08 to go. Brink got a hoop plus the harm, making it a 56-56 game after she converted the three-point play. With 1:17 to go, Jones got a huge layup inside to make it 58-56 before Demetre’s foul shots iced the game.
“We knew they were going to come and jump on us,” Jones said. “It’s the Battle of the Bay, it’s a huge rivalry, it’s one of the greatest rivalries in the Pac-12, it’s been going on for so long, so we knew that they were going to come out with aggression. I haven’t lost to Cal. So I knew for that senior class, we won every time.
“So, they’re going to come out with some energy. We don’t know if we’re gonna see them down the road again, so it might be our last time facing Cal in this Battle of the Bay. So, we knew it was going to be a lot of energy. I think that we kinda let them jump on us, so being in this environment, having it be so close I think it’s a testament to the core of the team and that leadership that we have. I think it was really good down the stretch and I think everybody did a great job being level-headed.
“And even at halftime, in the locker room before the coaches got in, I think it was a great environment, it was a tie game. If you hadn’t played, people were talking, if you were on the court, having open dialogue about what we saw out there, I think it was a testament to our team chemistry, how much we all respect each other in showing that we can pull out a tough gritty road dub like this.”
That all said, Cal should still be proud of how they competed. This is a game that they can definitely build on and use to propel their program to future success. They just need to make sure the sting of this loss doesn’t last too long.
If there’s two plays Cal wishes they could have back, it would be Lutje Schipholt’s foul shots and then the missed jumper by Langarita. Lutje Schipholt has to make at least one of those shots and then with under 20 seconds to go and a chance to tie the game or take the lead, a player averaging 4.8 points per game can’t be the player taking that shot. That’s a shot that either McIntosh or Curry should be taking. When the game is on the line, the ball needs to be in the hands of your best players. Period.
Switching gears to Stanford, this was a really impressive win. Cal came out fired up, gave them their best shot, and the crowd was loud and into the game. Despite all that, Stanford still found a way to pull it out and get the job done. That's what elite teams do.
“These young players have not played in this kind of atmosphere before,” VanDerveer said. “And I think they responded really well. Taking care of the basketball in the second half, rebounding, being gritty, and Cal’s improved a lot. They have a lot of transfer but experienced players. Peanut’s a fifth year, Martin, McIntosh is a senior. So, they have a lot of experience and they’re playing here and we got their A-game. And our team, I think we kinda came out of it with maybe a bloody nose, but we won the fight.”
“I think it’s really good for young players,” Brink added about the atmosphere. “I remember beginning of last year we were playing Tennessee and South Carolina and those were not really comparable to that [this] game. Like those games were crazy loud, but this was still really loud and the band and we really needed to communicate more and be on the same page. So I think it was really good for young players and even us. I think we’ve kinda gotten comfortable playing at home a lot. So, it’s a good change of pace for sure.”
Cameron Brink in particular was sensational. Cal was very physical with her inside, really beating her up inside and not making anything easy. There were a few times where I thought she was fouled inside and the refs swallowed their whistles. Rather than letting that rattle her, Brink fought through the adversity and came up big. This was one of the best individual performances of her Stanford career.
“Just realizing that I was gonna get beat up a bit,” Brink said of the key to her success. “It was totally a fist fight down there. So, just playing through the contact and holding my seal and my teammates did a really good job of finding me. So, I think just accepting physicality.”
Up next for Stanford is a road game at #8 UCLA on Friday. That will tipoff at 8:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and Varsity Network radio.
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