California WBB destroys BYU, heading to Illinois for NIT Semis

by oskisunbear on Mar 27, 2010 11:22 PM PDT

California Dominates BYU, 76-50, to Advance to WNIT Semifinals

BERKELEY - The California Golden Bears advanced to the semifinals of the 2010 Postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) with a decisive 76-50 victory over the BYU Cougars. Freshman DeNesha Stallworth scored 26 points to lead the Bears. Senior Alexis Gray-Lawson scored 19 points with three assists and five rebounds.

The Bears got out to a solid start, taking an early 10-point lead on the sluggish-looking BYU Cougars. Cal held a 12-2 lead with 15:47 left in the first half. The Cougars found their long range shot, hitting five threes, to come back to tie the game 28-28 with 1:12 left in the first half. The Bears used a long range shot of their own, one coming from senior guard Natasha Vital, to retake the lead, 31-28. Senior guard Alexis Gray-Lawson drove the lane, laying the ball in with nine seconds left in the first half to send Cal to the locker room with a 33-28 advantage. Gray-Lawson and Stallworth combined for 20 of Cal's first 26 points. Stallworth finished the first half with 12. Gray Lawson scored 10.

The Cougars used the long ball to stay in the game early in the second half. After Cal led by as many as eight, BYU hit a three pointer with just under 15 minutes left to play to make it a three-point game, 38-35. It was as close as they would get. Senior guard Natasha Vital answered with a trey. Jumpers by Stallworth and Gray-Lawson put Cal up double digits, 47-37, two and a half minutes later. The Bears defense began dominating the road-weary Cougars as Cal outscored BYU 29-13 in the final 12 minutes to earn the trip to the semifinals.

Go Women's Basketball, jump on the train boys!

The opinions expressed in a FanPost are, in every way, reflective of the opinions of every California Golden Blogs Marshawnthusiast. Moreover, they are reflective of every employee of SBNation, including Tyler "Blez" Bleszinski.

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Just got home from the game. We had great seats in the second row, thanks to norcalnick getting there really early and saving them for us. The Cal freshmen have really started coming together in this WNIT tournament. It’s pretty grueling, with three games in the last five days, including traveling to Oregon and back. (It was worse for BYU, they played Tuesday at ASU, Thursday at Wyoming, and Saturday at Cal. At least Cal was home for two of its games.) The Bears looked super-sharp as they pulled away in the second half. In my opinion, the WNIT has been a great thing for our freshman, giving them experience that could make a huge difference next year. Go Bears!

Exit, Pursued By A Bear

by CalBear81 on Mar 27, 2010 11:49 PM PDT reply actions

I wish I could have been there. Had to have dinner with the family. I’m very excited for this team!

My heart skips a beat every time I hear the band strike up 'Our Sturdy Golden Bear'.

by oskisunbear on Mar 28, 2010 12:14 AM PDT up reply actions

aha! So that was you sitting by norcalnick! Calnet and I were wondering if it was you…

CGB: Wasting Your Potential, Your Time, & Your Life Since 2006.

by BearStage on Mar 28, 2010 12:37 AM PDT up reply actions

Go Bears!

I was at the game as well with my family and some friends and have to say that the Bears were more athletic and sharper than BYU. They got into passing lanes and disrupted BYU’s offense every step of the way. Lexi likes that jump shot from the left wing as she sunk maybe 3 or 4 shots from there. And what can I say about DeNesha Stallworth? She was totally awesome! It was also nice to see Lexi and Natasha in their last game at Haas Pavilion — we’ll miss you!

The team really turned up the defensive intensity on the Cougs. BYU couldn’t get anything going in their half-court offense except the four treys from #33 (Hall) and a few nice buckets inside by #10 (Kaufusi). BYU turned the ball over 18 times and it killed me a couple times in the second half when we got turn-overs and then couldn’t convert on the offensive side. But hey, who’s complaining? Since they did throttle the Cougs by 26.

Go Lady Bears! Win the whole WNIT! You can do it! So proud of the entire team.

by daveman on Mar 28, 2010 12:39 AM PDT reply actions

I also forgot to mention

We killed them on the glass (45-23) with 22 offensive rebounds. We had 1 fewer offensive rebounds than they had total rebounds in the whole game!

by daveman on Mar 28, 2010 12:42 AM PDT up reply actions

Some perspective

On the men’s side, I’m hopeful for next year (Crabbe, Kamp, et al.), but have low expectations given the loss of much of our experience and the youth of our team. But on the women’s side where we’ll likely be starting at least 4 sophmores next year, I am nothing but excited for what they will be able to do in 2010-11, let alone a couple years down the road. Maybe it’s this one year of experience playing together but I think there’s little this team can’t do together. If we can bulk Rama up a bit, maybe compete with the likes of the Furd’s bigs.

I don’t mean to look ahead to next year while we’re still playing, of course. Go Bears ! Get to the WNIT finals !!!!!!

I'd like to smell the Roses before I die.

by BTown85 on Mar 28, 2010 9:47 AM PDT reply actions

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Golden Bears Football Schedule

Fresno St.	Sat 09/03	W 36 - 21
@ Colorado The Ralphie Report	Sat 09/10	W 36 - 33
Presbyterian	Sat 09/17	W 63 - 12
@ Washington UW Dawg Pound	Sat 09/24	L 23 - 31
@ Oregon Addicted To Quack	Thu 10/06	L 15 - 43
USC Conquest Chronicles	Thu 10/13	L 9 - 30
Utah Block U	Sat 10/22	W 34 - 10
@ UCLA Bruins Nation	Sat 10/29	L 14 - 31
Washington St. CougCenter	Sat 11/05	W 30 - 7
Oregon St. Building The Dam	Sat 11/12	W 23 - 6
@ Stanford Rule Of Tree	Sat 11/19	L 28 - 31
@ Arizona St. House Of Sparky	Fri 11/25	W 47 - 38
@ Texas Burnt Orange Nation	Wed 12/28	L 10 - 21