utah women's basketball

No. 8 Utah exhibited its nationally ranked prowess, handling the Bears forcefully from the get-go to the tune of a 101-76 thumping. Saturday afternoon in Boulder, the blue and gold capped off their regular season with a sour taste, falling 69-95 against the Buffs.

The conclusion of conference play will send the Bears on the road to the high-powered talents of Utah and Colorado — Cal’s final two stabs at disrupting a top-25 team.

The Bears now sit at 10-9 after a 9-2 start to the season. Cal now has at least 11 games left, including the first round of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas, to recover what seemed to be such a promising year for fourth-year head coach Charmin Smith.

This Friday, No. 24 Colorado will come to Berkeley for Smith’s 50th. Then, on Sunday, the Bears will welcome the No. 8 Utes to Haas Pavilion to cap off a daunting weekend home stretch.

After the loss, Smith praised Curry for handling the pressure of being Cal’s best player all season, especially given the fact that she’s just a freshman.

In the first quarter against Utah, Charmin Smith’s Cal women's basketball team looked like an entirely different basketball squad.

Utah represents a completely different and perhaps tougher challenge given how well the Utes have played as of late, especially on the offensive side of the floor.

The Bears will be hoping to play the Utes at some point this season, as Utah would have been one of the more beatable opponents that Cal has faced.