Loss to USC frustrating for Boyle's Bears

March 15, 1:15 PMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

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California's Ashley Walker embraces Southern
California's Camille LeNoir (1) after USC won 69-67 an
NCAA college semifinal basketball game in the Pac-10
women's tournament in Los Angeles Saturday,
March 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Sitting at the podium, Alexis Gray-Lawson was visibly upset.  Her eyes, full of tears, stared away from the group of reporters who had gathered to get Cal's side of the story on their upset loss to USC 69-67.

Gray-Lawson's teammate, Ashley Walker, and her head coach, Joanne Boyle, both appeared as saddened as the 5'8" junior guard.

For the third straight time, the Bears played USC to a resulting two-point difference, but this was the first time they were on the losing end.  The loss will prevent Cal from winning the Pac-10 Tournament and receiving the automatic bid, but it won't have much of an affect on their projected #4-seed in the NCAA Tourney.

One could argue that the game had very little meaning on the Bears' season.

It would probably be better not to try and argue that point with anyone on the Cal team.  To them, this game mattered as much as any game this season - maybe more.  Winners hate to lose, but they hate to lose in front of a national audience even more.

It was just a really hard fought game and it's just sad that we came up on the short end.
- Boyle on the loss

Most of Cal's disappointment, or frustration, comes from how they lost at the end of the game.  It was clear that they felt that the officiating played a part in their ouster from the Pac-10 semifinals.  Boyle was asked if she had gotten an explanation of the final play of the game that took 11-minutes to decide the call:

There's no explanation...just game was over.

When asked if she knew and understood the rule about a shot with 0.3 seconds on the clock needing to be a tip and not a catch with a shot, Boyle took the opportunity to air some of her complaints:

I don't know.  I honestly don't know.  I think there's two questionable things in the last two minutes.  One being a possession arrow and that shot, and I think there's discussion for both.

Anyone watching the final shot of the game, could see that there would be dispute on how it was ruled since Walker clearly got the shot off prior to the light on top of the backboard being lit to signal the end of time.  The possession arrow was an issue that was missed by nearly everyone.  Everyone except for the Cal bench.  When Boyle was pressed on the possession arrow issue, she stated:

Two jump balls, supposedly.  Two jump balls and both possessions went their way.

Asked again about the officials not explaining the final ruling on the shot that went in but didn't count, Boyle commented:

If you were out there, they just ended the game and walked off the court.

Boyle has a point when mentioning that discriminating a 'tip' compared to a 'grab' is objective.  The rule supersedes the normal rule of getting the ball out of your hands prior to the buzzer - something everyone agrees Walker did.  Because Walker didn't slap at the ball with one hand or do the perfect open-handed volleyball push to the ball in the basket, the shot doesn't count because the NCAA rules basically say that it's impossible to make that shot in 0.3 seconds.

There was also the belief that Walker may have been fouled on the final play.  USC head coach Mark Trakh was asked about the play and the possibility that the officials were also looking to see if Walker had indeed been fouled on the shot - if it was a possibility as to why it took so long to make the final call:

Well, if she was fouled they would've called it.  They can't call a foul by looking at the monitor.  You know you can't go back and say, 'that's a foul.'  They can go back to every game, every play and say, 'is that a foul?'  So, I don't think they were looking at a foul.  I think they just wanted to make the right call and see if she caught the ball.  If she caught it two hands, even if she's in the air and goes back up with it, you can't get that off in point-three seconds.  I mean, that's a rule, O.K., that's a rule, and that's exactly what happened and that's exactly what happened to Nadia Parker a year ago at Oregon State.  So I think they just wanted to get it right and as far as I'm concerned, they got it right.  The only thing you can do with point-three seconds is, it's gotta' tip off your hands.  If she went up and did this, you know volleyball tap kinda' thing, it would've counted, but she grabbed it - two hands, and.  I mean it was a great play.  It was an awesome play and if their was point, it's like we told Nadia Parker last year, 'If there was point-four seconds left on the clock, we beat Oregon State.'  But there was point-three, and if there is point-three, the rule clearly states that you gotta' tip the ball and no I don't think there was a foul on that play or they would've called it.

Boyle made sure to state that she wasn't taking anything away from USC, "they played a great game."  Her beef was with the quality of the officiating and even noted that she'd like to speak with the head of officials about some of her complaints.

It was a physical game.  Officials let the plays continue with plenty of pushing and shoving that was never called.  At one point of the game, it was so physical that Walker went down after getting the wind knocked out of her from an elbow to the gut.  Devanei Hampton and Gray-Lawson also took spills that ended up not being serious.

It was interesting that the Bears would continue to play for the win, taking the chance of losing a starter prior to the NCAA Tournament, especially when they were playing without forward Rama N'diaye due to a concussion from Friday's victory over Washington.  However, doing that made a statement about the determination they have about winning EVERY game - a key component to the apparent heartbreak they felt after the loss.

The Trojans started the game hot, with four steals in the first three minutes fueling a 14-4 run to start the game.  The run forced Boyle to call her second 30-second timeout to settle her Bears at the 12:10 mark of the first half.  Cal came out of the timeout and went on a 6-2 run to get back into the game, but USC kept them in their rear-view mirror with good defense and solid shooting.  At the end of the first half, the Bears had gained a little ground, still trailing 31-24.

After beginning to assert herself and her will at the end of the first half, Hampton began taking control of the middle in the second half of the game.  She scored 10 of her 18 points in the second half and many times did so with two or three Trojans hanging all over here.  She also added 13 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season.

Gray-Lawson played well after having trouble finding her shot early.  She shot 6-16 from the field and 1-5 from the three, but she recorded 13 points, eight rebounds, and a steal for the game.

The Bears' offense, once again, ran through Walker.  Her double-double combined with Hampton's was the second time this season they had performed that feat in the same game.  Walker scored a game-high and Cal Pac-10 Tournament record 29 points (formerly held by Hampton with 23).  It was the 17th time she'd scored over 20 points this season and the 35th time of her career.  She also pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds, had four assists, three steals, and two blocked shots.

Despite the great play of Cal's front-court players, it wasn't enough to beat Camille Lenoir and her Trojans.  Lenoir, the shifty senior point guard from Los Angeles, scored 25 points, had two rebounds, two assists, and a steal as she led the way to victory.  She was so difficult to defend, that Cal's Natasha Vital was fouled out with 13 seconds left in the game and Gray-Lawson finished the game with three fouls, accounting for eight of Cal's 13 total fouls.

The only other player to score in double-digits for the Trojans was Hailey Dunham with 12.  Dunham, who started the game shooting 5-7 from the field, finished 6-10 with four rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a blocked shot.  Kari LaPlante led all Trojans with 10 rebounds.

USC will need to defeat #2 Stanford in tonight's Pac-10 Tournament Championship in order to move on with the automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament.

You would've never known it after watching Cal play Friday and Saturday night, or after seeing their faces following the frustrating loss, but the Bears are predicted to be a #4 seed next week, playing for a bigger prize - the national title.  They may not have gotten everything they wanted out of the Pac-10 Tournament, but they can take solace in the fact that they'll be healthy and even more determined when a loss will truly end their season.

Technicals: None
Officials: Bob Scofield, Brenda Pantoja, Chuck Gonzalez
Attendance: N/A

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