Happy returns to familiar ground
Cal: Late-season push earns Bears 6th berth in past 7 years
Probably because of the way they closed the regular season, the Cal women received a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Monday afternoon — a spot or two higher than most projections suggested.
The Bears (21-10) will play Virginia (18-13) in the first round at 2 p.m. Friday in Columbia, S.C. If they advance, the Bears are likely to meet defending champion South Carolina (26-6) on its court Sunday.
“I think it’s a reflection of how the committee works to actually watch games and how well we played over the last month of the season,” head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said of the surprising seeding. “We’re thrilled. It’s great to be in, and it’s great to get the respect of a little higher seed than maybe people thought.”
In the first week of February, Cal lost games at then-No. 6 Oregon and then-No. 16 Oregon State by a combined 57 points. The Bears responded to the season’s low point by winning six of the
next seven games, including beating then-No. 14 Stanford. The victory over the Cardinal snapped a 14-game losing streak against Top 25 teams, spanning the 2016-17 and 201718 seasons.
“We had a rough trip to Oregon, and we had decisions to make coming back,” Gottlieb said. “I think this team decided to get better and decided to dig in. That progress has shown. …
“I think we played in such a way that, if you were really watching, you were saying: ‘OK, this team can elevate. This team can make some noise.’ ”
Cal, which is in the tournament for the sixth time in seven seasons, will have to make some serious noise to get out of the Albany Regional. The top seed in the region is Connecticut (32-0), the overwhelming favorite to win a 12th national title.
The visiting Bears lost to the Huskies 82-47 in mid-November, then reeled off nine wins in 10 games. Much of this Cal roster was also on the team that won at perennial contender Louisville in 2015.
“You can’t overstate it,” Gottlieb said about the importance of scheduling tough nonconference games on the road. “… This is not a team that is afraid to go against any team on their home court.”
The Bears, who have their best seed since 2015 when they earned a No. 4 seed and lost to Texas in the second round, are led by junior center Kristine Anigwe (16.7 points, 8.8 rebounds per game).
The three-time All-Pac-12 post player made a concerted effort this season to involve her teammates more. Junior guard Asha Thomas is averaging 12.7 points on 34.7 three-point shooting, and senior wing Mikayla Cowling averages 9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals.
Virginia is led by head coach Joanne Boyle, who guided Cal to a 137-64 record (.682) from 2005 to 2011. The Cavaliers have four players who average at least nine points per game, including guards Dominique Toussaint (11.3) and Aliyah Huland El (10.1), and a 6-foot-9 center, Felicia Aiyeotan, who averages 7.0 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game.
“This seed speaks volumes about how we’re playing and the adversity we overcame throughout the year,” Thomas said. “We have another day to play, and we’re going to do the best we can. …
“I think we knew we could compete with top-25, top-15, top-10 teams. I think we just needed to prove it for a complete 40 minutes. We did that against Stanford, and that was a testament to the way we can play for the rest of the season.”