BERKELEY, Calif. – Lara Somfai made a 3-pointer to force overtime, but Stanford was unable to complete the comeback and lost at Cal on Sunday evening 78-71.
Somfai scored 16 points to go with nine rebounds. Fellow freshman Alexandra Eschmeyer had a career-high 16 points of her own, seven rebounds and four blocks.
Stanford (15-6, 4-4 ACC) led by 10 after one and was tied with the Golden Bears at halftime. Cal grew a lead as large as eight midway through the third and was up 59-52 when Taylor Barnes made a 3-pointer with 6:25 left in regulation before the Cardinal made its charge.
Stanford would go on an 8-0 run over the next three and a half minutes and when Eschmeyer grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back off glass to make it 60-59, the Cardinal had its first lead of the second half.
Eschmeyer scored with 34 seconds on the clock to make it 62-61 Stanford, Cal called timeout to advance, and Lulu Twidale made a 3-pointer to put the Golden Bears up a pair. Twidale would split a pair at the line with 13 seconds left, setting up Somfai’s shot with 7.5 to go.
Out of timeouts and unable to advance following Twidale’s free throw make, Somfai inbounded to Chloe Clardy, who pushed the ball up the floor to the top of the arc, turned her back to the basket to seal her defender and dropped it back to the trailing Somfai who confidently let it fly.
While Cal missed four straight field goals in the fourth to key the Cardinal run, Stanford went similarly cold in the extra period, missing six in a row at one point and going 3-of-12 in the extra five minutes. Of Cal’s four baskets in overtime, two were 3-pointers from Twidale.
Somfai and Eschmeyer did most of their damage in the second half and overtime. Somfai, who was in foul trouble much of the first half and didn’t play at all in the second quarter, scored 14 of her 16 in the final 25 minutes. Eschmeyer had 13 points and all four of her blocks in the second half and overtime. The two combined for 15 of Stanford’s 17 points in the fourth quarter.
With Talana Lepolo unavailable, Chloe Clardy made her first start of the season and played all 45 minutes, scoring 15. Hailee Swain had 10.
Eschmeyer became the first Cardinal freshman with 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in a game since Cameron Brink against Oregon State on March 5, 2021 (24p, 11r, 4b) and just the fourth since 2002-03, joining Brink, Kayla Pedersen and Jayne Appel.
Stanford is back at home on Thursday night when it hosts No. 8 Louisville at 5 p.m. on ESPN.