Bouncing back for 1st Pac-12 home victory
With 10 games remaining in the regular season, Cal matched its win total from all of last season.
Sunday’s victory provided a much-needed boost in a season that had been trending drastically in the wrong direction.
Cal had four double-digit scorers and played one of its best halves of the month to dispatch Arizona 71-60 in front of a Haas Pavilion crowd that got to witness a Pac-12 victory for the first time this season.
Asked how much the Bears needed this win, sophomore point guard Asha Thomas said:
“Very bad. Very bad. We were hungry for a win, of course, but we wanted to play all 40 minutes. I think we really did that.”
In a game that was tied five times and included eight lead changes, the Bears didn’t trail in the final 17 minutes. They led by as many as 13 points, completely dominating the second half after shaking a funk that had been following them all month.
The Bears (15-5, 3-5 Pac-12) had a 30-minute postgame meeting after dropping their fifth game in their past six tries Friday, and the message seemed to fully sink in during Sunday’s second half against the Wildcats (11-8, 2-6), who have lost 20 of their past 21 meetings with Cal.
Thomas, who leads the Pac-12 in assist-to-turnover ratio, has 16 assists to five turnovers in her past six games. Just for good measure, she also had a career-high 24 points Sunday.
“It’s tremendous, what she’s doing,” Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “I thought she was really phenomenal as a leader, talking the whole time. She was aggressive when she needed to be aggressive . ...
“She was just a steady presence who can handle any type of criticism or coaching and can handle the ups and downs of life in basketball.”
Kristine Anigwe, who was held to a career-low eight points Friday, responded with 14 points and eight rebounds. Mikayla Cowling had 10 points and six assists, and Mi’Cole Cayton added 10 points for the Bears.
Arizona was led by LaBrittney Jones and Malena Washington, who combined for 32 points. However, the Wildcats committed 16 turnovers that Cal converted into 20 points.
There were two ties and five lead changes in a first quarter during which neither team led by more than four points. Arizona got seven points apiece from Jones and Washington and led 17-14 after the period.
The Wildcats extended their advantage to 22-16 on a Lucia Alonso three-pointer in the first four minutes of the second quarter, but Cal bounced back with an 8-0 run to take a twopoint lead at the 3:12 mark.
With Anigwe on the bench in foul trouble, Arizona regained a 28-27 lead heading into the break. In the third quarter, Cal finally started looking like the team that rolled through the first two months of the season.