3-game skid over, offense ignites in sweep of mountain schools
CAL WOMEN 84, UTAH 73
The Cal women’s offensive slump is over.
The Bears scored a seasonhigh 30 first-quarter points and pretty much coasted to an 84-73 victory over Utah on Sunday afternoon at Haas Pavilion.
After disjointed offensive efforts led to a three-game losing streak, the Bears (17-8, 8-6 Pac-12) responded by sweeping the weekend against the Pac-12’s mountain schools. Cal beat Colorado on Friday.
“People were knocking down shots, getting good looks, making extra passes and making the right plays,” junior point guard Asha Thomas said. “That forces you to have fun.”
Thomas led the fun with 22 points and six assists, and Kristine Anigwe managed to put up 22 points and six rebounds despite foul trouble as the juniors paced a well-balanced attack.
“We rely on them so much, and they make it look a lot easier than it is,” head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said of Thomas and Anigwe, who combined to make 16 of their 22 shots. “I thought their leadership was tremendous, and they made big plays when they needed to. …
“To have a point guard and a post player who you can rely on in crunch time, it’s a really nice thing for a coach.”
It’s also a nice thing to have whirring ball and player movement and precision shooting, like Cal showcased against Utah (15-10, 6-8). Senior wing Mikayla Cowling added 12 points and eight assists, Jaelyn Brown scored nine off the bench, and freshman guard Kianna Smith had eight points, five rebounds and four assists.
Cal shot 57.1 percent from the floor, connecting on 5 of 9 three-point attempts, and dished out 18 assists. Associate head coach Charmin Smith joked that she was asked if the team was considering a shooting coach after the recent swoon, and Gottlieb said she challenged Anigwe to step up her freethrow percentage after a recent one-on-one competition in practice.
The team didn’t seek outside help, but responded by shooting 84.8 percent from the foul line during the weekend sweep and 55.6 percent from three-point range against Utah.
The Utes got 27 points from Megan Huff, but they were seemingly out of it before fans even settled into their seats. Thomas scored eight points during a 10-2 run to put Utah in a 17-6 hole 5½ minutes into the game, and the Bears connected on their first four three-point attempts, including one from Smith, who broke out of a 1-for-20 slump.
Anigwe scored 10 of her 16 first-half points in the second quarter as Cal stretched its lead to 20 points. She made two tough shots against double teams, sandwiched around a Brown three-pointer, during a 7-0 run that put the Bears ahead 47-27 with a minute to play in the second quarter.
Cal, which averaged 48 points per game during its losing skid, passed that total on the first possession of the second half when Cowling hit a 15-footer. With Anigwe in foul trouble, however, Utah trimmed its deficit to 76-70 with two minutes left.
The Utes got no closer as Thomas, who scored 10 fourth-quarter points, went 4-for-4 from the line.
“Pac-12 sweeps are not easy to come by,” Gottlieb said. “Coming off last week, this team locked in, focused on doing the right things, which aren’t always the easy things to do, and it’s really nice as a coach to see it pay off for them.”