Cougs open season cold in Berkeley with 80-58 loss to Cal

Well, that was a cold way to start the season. The Cougs went to Berkeley and got handled 80-58 by Cal, and there's not much sugarcoating that score. This wasn't a rivalry game where you shrug off a close one, this was a 22-point loss in a nonconference game between two former Pac-12 programs that now live in different conferences. It stings, but it tells us something about where this team is right now. The women's basketball squad has work to do, and the margin for error in November is a lot thinner than it looks on the calendar.

The box score tells a clear story. Cal's Lulu Twidale hit six threes, including a dagger at the halftime buzzer, and finished with 26. That's a problem. WSU's Eleonora Villa put up 20 points and seven assists, which is a real bright spot, but she can't do it alone. The Cougs cut the lead to eight in the third quarter, which shows they have fight, but then Cal answered with a 12-2 run. That's the kind of punch that decides a season opener. Compare that to the grit we saw from the rowing team, who Cougs rowed hard, wrapped fall strong at Head of the Lake and finished the fall on a high note. That squad found a way to finish strong. The women's basketball team needs to find that same finishing gear, because right now they're getting run off the floor after halftime.

The third-quarter run was the moment that should keep coaches up at night. It's one thing to trail by 12 at the break; it's another to claw back to eight and then let the other team drop a 12-2 response. That's not a talent gap, that's a momentum gap. Cal wanted it more in that stretch, and they took it. This feels a little like the football team's fourth-quarter struggles we saw in San Diego, where That Eshelman Run Felt Like a Comeback but the Fourth Quarter Had Other Plans. Same pattern: a spark of hope, then a cold snap. The Cougs have to learn how to sustain a rally, not just start one.

The specific takeaway here is that WSU cannot afford to spot a team like Cal a double-digit lead in the second quarter and expect to win. The margin for error is too thin. Villa is a legitimate scorer, but she needs help from the supporting cast. Someone else has to hit a three-pointer when the defense collapses on her. Someone has to step up and answer Twidale's buzzer-beater with a run of their own. The next game is a chance to show whether this loss was a wake-up call or a warning sign. Watch how the Cougs respond in the first five minutes of the second quarter next time. That's where the season gets decided. Go Cougs.