Reporter

CSU Bakersfield women’s basketball coach Greg McCall is usually rooting for his daughter Erica McCall whenever she steps on the floor for No. 11 Stanford.

However, this time he found himself trying to help the Roadrunners find a way to stop her as they faced off against the Cardinal at the Icardo Center on Thursday, Dec. 1.

With a women’s basketball record crowd of 1,688 people in attendance, CSUB fell to Stanford, 77-56.

“I was excited about this game,” said Greg McCall. “As you can tell, it’s a huge family affair. It’s just an overwhelming feeling of joy, regardless of the outcome of the game.”

Erica McCall, who is a senior forward for the Cardinal, is a native of Bakersfield and attended Ridgeview High School.

A large contingent of Erica McCall’s fans was in attendance to support her, including her younger brother, Justin, who is a senior at Ridgeview.

He has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at CSUB next season. Erica McCall’s older sister, DeWanna Bonner, was also in attendance. She is a member of the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA.

“I was speechless when I saw my sister walk in the door. I’m really excited for my brother to come here next year, too. I think it just shows the dynamics that we have in our family. It’s a love for basketball,” said Erica McCall.

Prior to tipoff, Greg and Erica McCall embraced each other near the Roadrunners’ bench.

At the end of the first quarter, the game was tied up at 20.

The Roadrunners (1-5) were led by senior center Brittany Sims, who converted all three of her field goal attempts in the quarter for six points.

However, the second quarter was dominated by the Cardinal as they held the Roadrunners to only 6 points on 2 of 12 shooting.

Stanford led 40-26 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Stanford used its size advantage to extend its lead.

They scored 16 of their 26 third-quarter points in the paint.

The fourth quarter saw the Cardinal take its largest lead of the game as they stretched it to 27 points and never looked back.

“Hats off to Stanford, you can tell why they’re ranked number 11 in the country. They’re a tough team; they played an excellent game,” said coach McCall.

Erica McCall finished with a game-high 18 points and 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.

Redshirt-senior forward Erika Williams finished with 11 points for the Roadrunners.

Sims finished with 10 points and four rebounds on the night.
Stanford outrebounded CSUB by a margin of 51 to 22.

CSUB also was held to 6 of 24 shooting from three-point range.

“I thought there was times when we did a lot of really good things; I saw a lot of bright spots with our team. I thought we hung with tough in the first quarter; we just started to make some mistakes,” said coach McCall.

Up next for the Roadrunners is a matchup against the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 1 p.m.