Cal storms into Pac-12 Tournament, stuns No. 2 Stanford in first half

The California Golden Bears have had a fairly mediocre season. Going 18-13 overall and scheduled to play the Stanford Cardinal first thing in the Pac-12 tournament, things weren’t looking great for Cal.

However, head coach Charmin Smith and her squad silenced the doubters in just one half of action.

Despite Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer being the winningest coach of all time and her team sitting atop the conference, the Cardinal struggled to keep up with Cal’s shooting in the first half.

At the end of the first 20 minutes, Cal held a healthy eight-point lead over Stanford.

The usual Cardinal stars Cameron Brink, Elena Bosgana, and Telana Lepolo were all head under ten points. The only Stanford player with double digits at the buzzer was forward Kiki Iriafen with exactly 10 points.

Meanwhile, Cal’s bench had combined for 13 points to add to the starting five’s 23 points.

With one half remaining, VanDerveer and the Cardinal will have to overcome an eight-point deficit to keep their dream season on the straight and narrow.

Halfway through the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal game, the Golden Bears had a 36-28 lead over Stanford.

In the two teams’ previous matchups, Stanford had demolished Cal. At the end of December, Stanford walked away with a 78-51 victory and in the middle of February, the Cardinal won 84-49.