Feb. 18, 2000
BERKELEY - California held visiting Stanford to an eight point lead at halftime before dropping an 81-56 decision to the Cardinal Friday night at Haas Pavilion. Sophomore center Shavaki Jackson led the Bears with 19 points and nine rebounds. Senior forward Paige Bowie added 11.
"I thought Shavaki Jackson stepped up and really displayed her promise as a go-to player in the post for us. I thought she put forth a very good effort," said California head coach Marianne Stanley. "Paige Bowie has been asked to do double-duty and play virtually every position for us. She's putting in a lot of minutes and distributing the ball, and to have no turnovers over 31 minutes when that's not your natural position (point guard) is outstanding."
Poor shooting in the second half sealed the Bears fate, knocking down just 26% of its looks in the final 20 minutes on 7-for-27 shooting as compared to Stanford's 45% on 14-of-31 from the floor. For the game, California (7-15 overall, 2-10 in the Pac-10) shot just 32% while the Cardinal posted a 46% average.
Stanford (16-6 overall, 9-3 in the Pac-10) had four players in double-figures, led by senior guard Milena Flores with 15 points and freshman guard Jamie Carey with 14. Junior center Carolyn Moos finished with 11 points while junior forward Sarah Dimson rounded out the leaders with 10.
For California, the signal light turned red early in the second half, triggered by a 12-0 Cardinal run just 2:04 into the stanza. Carey hit from behind the arc twice in a row, followed by a Flores three-pointer and an ensuing lay-up and three-point play. Before the Bears knew it, Stanford had claimed a 20 point, 56-36, lead with 13:58 remaining in the game.
"They put that little run together and I think that's been typical of some other games where we've played well for a good portion of the game and then we just have some mental lapses," said Stanley.
Late in the first half, California recovered from a 14 point deficit with 11:10 to play before the break, sparked by freshman forward Amber White's inside jumper to cut Stanford's lead to 22-10. The Bears would pull the score down to within two with just 4:25 in the half on a Jackson jump shot, narrowing the score to 28-26. A couple of three-pointers by Carey and sophomore forward Lauren St. Clair pulled the Cardinal's lead back up to eight by recess.
Junior guard Courtney Johnson returned to the floor for the Bears after a week off due to recurring symptoms from a concussion she sustained Dec. 2nd at Santa Clara. Johnson finished with eight points and three steals over 17 minutes of play.
California returns to action at home on Thursday, Feb. 24th against Washington at 7:30 p.m. inside Haas Pavilion. The Bears will then face Washington State Saturday, Feb. 26th, at 5:00 p.m in a Fox Sports Net televised contest.
