While, I arrived late to Berkeley after traveling from the game in Palo Alto this afternoon, I walked into a large crowd at Haas Pavilion cheering on the Bears... 7,864 in fact.

Unfortunately, No. 2 Stanford raced out to an early lead and took a 43-24 advantage into halftime en route to an 86-61 victory. There is a reason Stanford finished the Pac-12 season a perfect 18-0 and 28-1 overall.

Sophomore Gennifer Brandon led Cal (22-8, 13-5 Pac-12) with 11 points and seven rebounds, while junior guard Eliza Pierre was also in double digits for the Bears with 10 points.

Cal played even with Stanford on the boards and in the blocks with each squad recording 41 rebounds and 26 points in the paint.

The Cardinal was led by Tony Kokenis with 23 points on the evening, followed by Nnemkadi Ogwumike with 22 points to go along with nine rebounds.

Cal will be the No. 2 seed in this coming week's Pac-12 Tournament and will play Thursday at 5 p.m. at Galen Center against the winner of the first-round game between Colorado and Utah.