College basketball: Cal, Stanford tune up for ACC women's tournament with lopsided victories

Lulu Twidale hit seven of her team's season-high 15 3-pointers en route to 25 points and Cal limited SMU to 10 points or fewer in all four quarters Sunday as the Bears closed their regular season with a 78-34 win over the Mustangs at Haas Pavilion.

Cal (18-13, 9-9), seeking a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, held a 12-point lead after the first quarter. The Bears then built their advantage to 40-20 at halftime, extended it to 60-27 after three quarters and continued their domination to the final buzzer.

"I'm happy to get a win on Senior Day, to finish strong in Haas with a win and get some momentum heading into Atlanta," Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. "I think that when they pour into each other, it's a confidence, it's a vibe, it's a feel that we know, hey, this is how we play. And it doesn't always mean that we're making shots or that things are going our way, but there's some intentionality about who we are and how we show up that has to be consistent when you're thinking about Cal basketball, and that's what I saw a lot today, and that's what I want to see moving forward."

The victory sends Cal to the ACC tournament on a high note. The Bears, the No. 10 seed, will play 15th-seeded Wake Forest - which Cal defeated in January - in the first round Wednesday in Duluth, Ga. A win would send the Bears to a Thursday matchup with seventh-seeded Syracuse, which defeated Cal in three overtimes in January. 

Sunday, Gisella Maul had 17 points and eight rebounds and Puff Morris added 11 points for the Bears. But the Cal defense also stood out.

The Bears established season bests in defensive field-goal percentage - SMU shot 20% (12-for-60) - and points allowed. Cal's previous bests were 29% opponent shooting and 42 points, set in a 92-42 win over San Jose State in December.

Miriam Ibezim scored 11 points to lead the Mustangs (9-21, 2-16).

Stanford 85, Clemson 50: Nunu Agara had 24 points and 10 rebounds and the Cardinal (19-12, 8-10) shot 56% as they beat the Tigers (20-10, 11-7) at Maples Pavilion for their third win in a row.

Hailee Swain added 20 points, Courtney Ogden 15 and Lara Samfai 11 for Stanford. The Cardinal also won the rebound battle 44-32 and had 46 points in the paint compared to 20 for Clemson.

"We talked a lot about if our team got healthy and started firing on all cylinders, watch out," Stanford coach Kate Paye said. "And I think you saw that today."

 "We're on a roll," Agara said in a postgame TV interview. "It's a game of runs and stretches of a season and there's no better time to play well than March."

Stanford, the No. 13 seed in the ACC tourney, will face 12th-seeded Miami in the first round Wednesday. Miami beat visiting Stanford 66-51 last month. Should the Cardinal win the rematch, they would meet fifth-seeded Notre Dame on Thursday.

"Our team has talked about it," Paye said. "We know that you want to be playing your best basketball in March. And it's March 1 and we're going to build on this."

"I think we have a lot of momentum," Swain said, "so we're really excited to be going to Atlanta."

This article originally published at College basketball: Cal, Stanford tune up for ACC women's tournament with lopsided victories.