After upset loss to Harvard, Cal women eager for Pac-12 season to begin

Cal women’s basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb is generally a sound sleeper.

But there was she at 2 a.m. Monday, sitting in her kitchen and scribbling her thoughts about the Bears’ 85-79 loss to Harvard on Sunday.

“I don’t like ending nonconference with a loss, but as I told the players: ‘We should be the hungriest team heading into our conference opener,’” Gottlieb said. “There is merit and value in being the hunter and not the hunted.”

No. 18 Cal opens conference play Friday, trying to hunt lofty goals against a loaded Pac-12. The conference has two of the top six teams, five of the top 22 and two more that are receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25.