BERKELEY — Stephen Curry wasn’t in the building on Friday night in Berkeley. But he might as well have been.
On a night where Cal rained a program-record 18 3-pointers, the Bears beat Stanford 83-63 for the first time in five years of Big Game play. It was the largest margin of victory for Cal in the series since 1982.
So is there a changing of the guard underway in this storied rivalry? At least for one night, it was more like a hostile takeover.
“Stanford was the favorite in the spread,” said Cal coach Charmin Smith. “People don’t know. I’m not worried about it, because we’re going to keep showing them and get what we deserve.”
Playing their first-ever game in Atlantic Coast Conference competition, the Bears (10-1, 1-0 ACC) looked every bit the part of a contender in their new conference against a familiar opponent. They spread the floor with diverse threats from 3-point range – four players splashed at least three 3-pointers.
And Stanford, which loves to utilize the long ball as well, only got off 17 total, making nine. The Cardinal (7-3, 0-1 ACC), who set their own program record with 18 made 3s in a season-opening win over Le Moyne, looked discombobulated by Cal’s constant ball pressure.
“They played a great game,” said Stanford coach Kate Paye. “They shot the ball extremely well. More than that, I think they flat-out wanted it more. We were out-coached, I thought we were outplayed. You saw a Cal team that was highly motivated, and they played extremely hard. They rebounded the ball well. They were very aggressive on defense. They took us out of a lot of stuff, and the basket obviously got really big for them. Credit to them.”
Despite several turnovers by Stanford in the early going, the Cardinal managed to remain within a few points until midway through the second quarter. But eventually, Cal’s excellence took its toll.
A trio of 3-pointers by Lulu Twidale, Kayla Williams and Ioanna Krimili quickly extended the Bears’ 19-16 lead to 28-16. That set the tone for the remainder of the game, which was played on Cal’s terms.
“We know who we are,” said Twidale, who finished with 20 points and six made 3s. “We know what we can do. We don’t care what any outside noise says we can’t. We show up and we do what we do.”
What the Bears are is a team that can score from anywhere on the floor. Forward Marta Suarez led Cal with 21 points and went 4-6 from deep. Krimili added 20 with four made 3s, and Williams dropped in 13 with three 3-pointers.
The game was still within reach for Stanford at halftime, when the Cardinal trailed 33-24.
But the Bears hit the gas in the third quarter. They led 52-30 by the media timeout with 4:30 to go, setting the stage for the moment of the game.
With the clock running out in the third, Suarez, at 6-foot-3, advanced the ball past the timeline, dribbled behind her back, fired up a Curry-esque 30-foot prayer and cashed it, delivering a devastating blow to Stanford and giving Cal a 63-40 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“We were having fun the entire game,” Suarez said. “We were just smiling and looking at each other and celebrating. The time was low, and I was like, ‘Eh, might as well.’ During the game, things were flowing. So I was like, ‘If there’s a game for me to get that, it might be today.’
“They hit me hard, though, when they celebrated. I got a couple bruises here.”
Smith was determined to ensure that Cal didn’t waste this program-defining moment. Smith, who was teammates with Paye at Stanford during their playing careers, has steadily built the Bears’ program up to this moment since taking over for Lindsay Gottlieb in 2019.
After the game, she sensed that the vibe in Haas Pavilion didn’t match the magnitude of her team’s historic win. So she took the microphone and led the crowd in a rousing rendition of Cal’s “Bear Territory” chant.
Just as her team had, the Bears fans in attendance rose to the occasion and matched her energy.
“I didn’t quite understand,” Smith said. “I felt like we were quiet. The crowd was quiet. At football games when you’re beating Stanford, you say that chant. It’s what you’re supposed to do as a Cal fan. They weren’t doing it.
“I was like, ‘No, we’re going to do this. We beat Stanford. I’m not wasting this moment.’ So you know it. You tell the story. You tell the whole damn world this is Bear Territory. I’m not wasting the moment. Tomorrow’s not promised. When you beat Stanford, you’re supposed to do that cheer.”
If Cal keeps playing like this, Bears fans will be cheering all the way into March.
