Cal falls to Mississippi State in NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament opener

LOS ANGELES – A memorable season for Cal ended Saturday in a hail of missed shots and turnovers at Galen Center.

Participating in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament for the first time since 2019, the eighth-seeded Bears are one and done after losing 59-46 to No. 9 Mississippi State.

Cal ends its season at 25-9, with Mississippi State improving to 22-11 and earning the right to play host USC Monday for a chance to reach the Sweet 16. Making the tournament was big for a Cal program that was 1-16 in coach Charmin Smith’s first year six years ago during the COVID-impacted season.

“What I told the team was I was really proud of what they did this year,” Smith said. “We’re obviously disappointed, but I think what our seven graduates will think down the road is how we got Cal basketball to a really special place.”

In the first game, the host and top-seeded Trojans (29-3) moved into the second round with a 71-25 win over UNC Greensboro (25-7).

After living by the 3-point shot all season, Cal was 3-for-22 against Mississippi State due to a stifling extended defense as well as an inability to make shots when open. The Bears turned the ball over 24 times and shot 25 percent (13-for-52) from the field overall.

Forward Michelle Onyiah had 17 points and 15 rebounds for Cal, with Lulu Twidale scoring 13. Ioanne Krimili, Cal’s leading scorer and one of its 3-point “Splash Sisters” along with Twidale, was 2-for-10 on 3-pointers, 2-for-14 overall and finished with nine points.

Madina Okot, a 6-foot-6 post, had 14 points (and 13 rebounds) for the Bulldogs with Eniya Russell adding 14 and Jerkalia Jordan 10.

Cal could never find its groove on offense after getting off to a rough start — missing six layups by Smith’s count in the first quarter alone.

“We’re used to coming out fast, but I think this was more an “us” thing than them,” Twidale said. “I’m proud that we kept fighting to the end.”

Mississippi State coach Sam Purcell said his staff scouted the Bears heavily since learning of their first-round draw, and paid special attention to a 72-38 Bears’ loss to Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“I think what everyone witnessed was our best defensive game of the year,” Purcell said. “We probably went through 15 of their games. I think the only thing we were missing was their social security number.”

The Bears, though, didn’t make things easy for Mississippi State’s offense, which shot 34.5 percent (19-for-55) from the floor and just 2-for-11 on 3-point attempts.

Cal had a penchant for turnovers all season, but was often able to shoot its way out of difficulties with 3-pointers — something that never happened Saturday.

“At times we force the issue and try to do too much,” Smith said. “It’s something we have to fix (next season).”

Forward Marta Suarez had eight turnovers for Cal and Twidale had seven.

Mississippi State had its first double-digit lead early in the third quarter and entered the final quarter leading 41-29.

“Their pressure and athleticism forced us out of our comfort zone,” Smith said. “Usually 8 vs. 9 is a coin toss and they got the better of us today.”

At that point, Cal was 2-for-14 from 3-point land and 10-for-37 overall in addition to 18 turnovers.

Cal trailed 26-19 at halftime, which wasn’t bad considering the Bears were 6-for-26 (23.1 percent) from the floor and 2-for-10 on 3-point attempts.

Twidale kept Cal afloat with 11 points, going 4-for-6 from the floor with one 3-pointer, Krimili, Cal’s leading 3-point shooter, didn’t convert from long distance until 1:08 remained in the first half.

It wasn’t like the Bulldogs were lighting it up against the Cal defense, going 9-for-35 (25.7 percent) from the field. The teams were even in rebounding (23 each) in the opening half, but the Bears turned it over 12 times to seven for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs generated 10 points off Cal turnovers. Russell led Mississippi State with seven points in the half.

Onyiah paced Cal with 10 first-half rebounds.

At the first time out, Cal trailed 9-1 with 4:17 left in the first quarter, turning the ball over three times and going 0-for-7 from the field. When the quarter was over, Cal trailed 12-5 and at one point had six turnovers in a four-minute span.

The only two Cal field goals in the first quarter were on drives by Twidale, with the Bears missing all four of their 3-point attempts with the Bulldogs going 2-for-5.

The Bears have ridden their five starters throughout the season — four of which are departing as graduate students. It wasn’t much different against Mississippi State, as the Bulldogs bench outscored Cal 15-0.

In USC’s win, JuJu Watkins scored 22 points and Stanford transfer Kiki Iriafen added 12 as the Trojans started slowly (leading 12-8 after the first quarter) before pulling away against overmatched UNC Greensboro.

UNC Greensboro hit just 13 percent (7-for-54) of its shots and had no player with more than six points. The Spartans were 4-for-18 on 3-point attempts and 3-for-36 on shots inside the arc.