BERKELEY, Calif. – Brooke Demetre scored 18 points and Stanford shot better than 50 percent from deep, but the Cardinal never led in an 83-63 loss at rival California on Friday night.
Cal (10-1, 1-0) hit a school-record 18 3-pointers of their own, the most Stanford (7-3, 0-1) has surrendered in a game in readily available records dating back to 2002-03. Just the Cardinal’s 22nd loss in 103 all-time meetings with Cal, it was Stanford’s largest margin of defeat since a 96-65 loss in Berkeley on Feb. 9, 1982.
Demetre hit four 3-pointers as part of her 18-point outing and was joined in double figures by Nunu Agara (13) and Chloe Clardy (10). As a team, Stanford was 9-of-17 from beyond the arc (.529).
Stanford was down nine at half, 33-24, and put into an even bigger hole when Cal opened up the third on a 17-4 run. The Bears started the period making six of their first eight shots, including five 3-pointers, to take a 50-28 lead. Marta Suarez ended the quarter with a 30-foot heave to push the Golden Bear edge to 23, 63-40.
Stanford shot 42.9 percent in the third quarter (6-of-14) and made both of its 3-pointers, but Cal was 11-of-20 (.550), including 8-of-14 (.571) from deep.
The Cardinal got it to within 17 midway through the fourth quarter on a turnaround jumper from Demetre, but no closer.
Stanford returns to action on Monday when it hosts UTSA at noon on ACCNX.