Tenth-ranked Stanford women edge Cal, 72-66.
Smith of Melbourne leads No. 10 Stanford with game-high 27
BERKELEY — Cal made a gracious gesture Thursday night before the Pac-12 rivalry game when honoring Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer with a framed photo of the Bay Bridge for getting her 1,000 career victory.
“I knew they weren’t going to give us a gift in a game,” VanDerveer said after the No. 10 Cardinal barely held on for a 72-66 victory in front of 4,965 fans at Haas Pavilion.
Cal (17-10, 5-10, Pac-12) fought to the end in dropping its fourth consecutive game to its Bay Area rival.
Sophomore Alana Smith of Melbourne, Australia proved too much for the Bears with 27 and eight rebounds in 18 minutes as the Cardinal (23-4, 13-2) took over sole possession of first place in the Pac-12. Stanford is a half-game ahead of No. 9 Washington and No. 11 Oregon State, who both play on the road Friday night.
“It’s a mindset of being aggressive,” Smith said of her improved play this season. “When you have that mindset it really helps.”
Cal defenders gave Smith too much leeway while focusing on Stanford’s big three scorers — Erica McCall, Karlie Samuelson and Brittany McPhee. But Smith scored from inside and out to shoot 50 percent from the field and made 3 of 5 from beyond the arc before fouling out.
“They didn’t have an answer for her,” VanDerveer said.
Samuelson added 17 points and McPhee had 11 after shots. missingThe 6-foot-3her first McCallnine struggled for her fourth consecutive game but still added 11 points and 14 rebounds and made a pivotal play in the final 13 seconds to seal the victory.
Mikayla Cowling led five Cal players in double figures with 14 points. Penina Davidson of New Zealand had 13 points and eight rebounds.
Cal was looking for a signature victory to impress the NCAA selection committee for a potential bid in the tournament next month. While the Golden Bears again played well, it wasn’t enough in the eyes of coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
“We’ve got to get one,” she said of the final three games in the regular season. “There is no question.”
Gottlieb said the Bears are one of country’s the best 64 teams. But “I don’t think they give a lot of style points. I think everybody knows were capable. I have confidence that we will.”
Stanford didn’t take control until McCall got a jump ball call after a McPhee miss with 13.6 second left. McPhee then gave Stanford a four-point lead by scoring with 12 seconds to go.
The Bears fell to eighth place, one-half game be- hind Washington State as Kristine Anigwe had 10 points and five rebounds — a subpar performance for one of the country’s best forwards.
Neither side could pull away by more than six points. The Cardinal looked like it was about to break out in the second quarter on Samuelson’s second 3-pointer with 5:11 left in the half. But the Bears answered with an 8-0 run over the next 3 minutes 19 seconds to tie the score 2929.
Then it was Cal’s turn. Cowling made a 3-pointer for a 57-52 lead with 6:54 left to play. But Stanford roared back to tie it on McCall’s three-point play.
“Our team showed grit, resilience and heart, whatever you want to call it,” VanDerveer said.