BearTalk

The Cal women’s basketball team received a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament and will play Fresno State in the first round on Saturday at Lubbock, Texas.

The No. 2 seed is the highest in program history. The Golden Bears’ previous high seed was third in 2008. They were a No. 8 seed in the tournament last year.

Cal (28-3) will face No. 15 Fresno State at 1:20 p.m.

Stanford (31-2), which earned a No. 1 seed for the fourth straight year, opens the tournament Sunday at 2:20 p.m. against 16th-seeded Tulsa (17-16) in the first round at Maples Pavilion. Michigan and Villanova, both 21-10, will meet in the other first-round game at Stanford. The winners will play Tuesday for a berth in the Sweet 16 in Spokane.

Barring any upsets Stanford and Cal are on a collision course for their third meeting of the season. The schools split their Pac-12 Conference games this season. The local rivals could meet April 1 in Spokane for a shot at a Final Four bid.

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Click here for staff writer Elliott Almond’s story on how Cal & Stanford are on a collision course for the Spokane regional final.

The fifth-ranked Cal women fell behind early, never recovered and lost 70-58 to UCLA in their Pac-12 tournament semifinal in Seattle.

The Bears trailed 33-11 late in the first half and had a season-low 14 points at intermission. The
Bruins held Cal scoreless for a span of exactly 7 minutes in the first half.

Cal shot a season-low 29.5 percent, including 5 for 24 from 3-point range. One of the nation’s elite rebounding teams, the Bears (28-3) were beaten 41-36 on the boards.

Star senior G Layshia Clarendon shot 2 for 11 and scored 14 points. Sophomore Brittany Boyd led the Bears with 18 points.

The loss snapped a school-record 16-game win streak. Cal is 0-4 all-time vs. UCLA in conference tournament play.

Cal now awaits seeding into the NCAA tournament.

Here’s a video of coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s post-game talk with her team: http://video.pac-12.com/cal-locker-room-celebration

Gennifer Brandon had 17 points and 16 rebounds and Brittany Boyd contributed 15 points and nine rebounds, leading the 5th-ranked Cal women to a 78-59 win over USC in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament at Seattle.

The second-seeded Bears (28-2) set a school record with their 28th victory and another with a 16th consecutive win. Cal scored the game’s first 11 points and dominated the boards, 53-34.

Afure Jemerigbe scored 15 points for Cal, which plays in Saturday’s semifinal against UCLA, which beat Utah 54-43. This marks the seventh straight season the Bears have advanced to the tournament semifinals.

Teresa Gould, the deputy director of athletics/senior woman administrator at Cal, is the recipient of the 2013 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Administrator of the Year Award.

The WBCA Administrator of the Year Award is presented annually to an administrator, athletic director or assistant athletic director, or senior woman administrator who has exceled at encouring the growth and quality of the women’s basketball program. The candidate must also have served as a professional role model for student-athletes.

“Congratulations to Teresa,” said WBCA CEO Beth Bass.  ”I believe it is extra special to have people within the institution, in addition to the coaches and players, who are passionate about the game.  Having strong relationships on campus with important people such as Teresa is crucial for any coach trying to run a successful program. Teresa couldn’t be a better role model for other administrators.”

In her eighth year at Cal, Gould oversees budgetary and operational needs of various intercollegiate sports, including women’s basketball.

Media covering Pac-12 women’s basketball honored Cal’s Lindsay Gottlieb this week as the league’s coach of the year, but the coaches themselves gave the award to Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer.

For the 13th time.

Cal and Stanford shared the Pac-12 regular-season title, each at 17-1. It was the first-ever conference crown for the Bears, a distinction the media decided gave an edge to second-year coach Gottlieb.

The coaches, who vote for the traditional all-conference team, gave the John R. Wooden Coach of the Year award to VanDerveer for the third straight season.

Stanford (28-2) earned the No. 1 into the Pac-12 tournament by virtue of its better overall record than Cal (27-2). 

Brittany Boyd, Gennifer Brandon and Layshia Clarenden of Cal were picked to the all-conference first team, as they were in the media vote. Eliza Pierre and Clarendon also were named to the all-defensive team.

On the heels of an historic season, Cal women’s basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year and three Bears players were selected to the all-conference first team.

Brittany Boyd, Gennifer Brandon and Layshia Clarendon all were named to the all-Pac-12 squad while Boyd and Eliza Pierre were voted onto the All-Defensive Team.

Cal’s women earned a share of their first-ever conference title this season, posting a 17-1 league record. The Bears are 27-2 overall headed into the Pac-12 tournament. Both win totals are records in the 39-year history of the sport at Cal.

Brandon and Clarendon were repeat all-conference selections.

Boyd, a sophomore, averaged 12.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.8 steals per game.

Brandon, a Wade Watch Trophy and Ann Meyers Drysdale Award candidate, averages 12.4 points and 11.0 rebounds.

Clarendon, a Wade Watch Trophy candidate, Naismith Award candidate and a Senior CLASS Award finalist, leads California with 15.9 points per game – a mark she has increased to 17.6 in conference play. 

Stanford junior Chiney Ogwumike was named Pac-12 Player of the Week and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week.

The Pac-12 women’s awards are chosen by the media.

Talia Caldwell scored 22 points on 10-for-11 shooting and the No. 6 Cal women earned a first-ever share of the Pac-12 Conference title with a 78-50 win at Washington.

The Bears (27-2, 17-1) won their 15th straight game to capture a piece of the title with Stanford. Cal will receive the No. 2 seed into the Pac-12 tournament because Stanford has one more victory overall.

“I’m just so happy for this team and this program and the Cal administration who backed this sport when Cal was last years ago and said we’re going to make it a priority,” second-year Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “You don’t ever expect a moment like this but it was everything you would expect it to be.”

Among the congratulatory messages Gottlieb received after the game was one from Stanford coach Tara Van Derveer.

Gennifer Brandon had 12 points and 15 rebounds for Cal, Reshanda Gray scored 13 and Layshia Clarendon added 10.

The Bears tied a school record for overall victories in a season and finished the conference schedule 9-0 on the road.

This marks the first time since the 2003-04 season that Stanford has not won the regular season conference title outright. The Cardinal shared the title with Arizona in 2004.

The Cal women’s basketball team followed up its win over Stanford on Sunday with a 71-63 overtime victory vs. USC at Haas Pavilion on Thursday night.

The No. 7 Bears improve to 14-2 overall, 4-1 in the Pac-12. USC lost for the first time in five conference games and is now 7-9 overall.

Layshia Clarendon had 27 points for Cal and Gennifer Brandon had 23 points and 26 rebounds, including 15 offensive boards. Brandon tied Cal women’s single-game mark — one shy of record by any Cal player. Bob Presley had 27 vs. Saint Mary’s in 1967.

Cal won desipte shooting 31 percent, including 4 for 17 from the 3-point line against a USC defense that tried to clog the paint. The Bears also missed 12 free throws.

The Cal women’s basketball team posted a decisive 67-55 win over Stanford at Maples Pavilion on Sunday afternoon, snapping the Cardinal’s 81-game win streak in Pac-12 games.

Here’s the story.

Notes courtesy of Cal athletics:

The 8th-ranked Cal women’s basketball team improved to 8-1 with a 71-65 win at Northwestern on Monday morning. The Bears were led by sophomore guard Brittany Boyd, who had 18 points, four rebounds, five assists and five steals.

Cal returns to action Friday night at Haas Pavilion against No. 19 Kansas (9-1). Tipoff is 7 p.m.