Cal women net first victory
In their first 14 games this season, the Cal women’s best shot at a win came Jan. 1 at Arizona State, where a miss on a potential goahead shot in the closing seconds led to a threepoint loss.
Sunday, in a rematch with the Sun Devils in the Bears’ final home game this season, Cal got the job done.
With Leilani McIntosh scoring 21 points to lead three Bears in double figures, Cal (114, 111 Pac12) posted its first victory since March 5, defeating Arizona State 6755 at Haas Pavilion.
“We talked about what we needed to do (to win) so much, and we were so locked in,” secondyear Bears head coach Charmin Smith said. “This team is gaining a confidence that we’re OK, we can weather the storm.”
This time, rather than chasing the Sun Devils (109, 59) for much of the fourth quarter — including the final 61⁄2 minutes — as they did in Tempe, the Bears took the lead with 2:49 to go before halftime and didn’t give it back.
Cal eventually pushed its lead to 5034 in the fourth quarter, and Arizona State could get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Though Arizona State had the edge in points off turnovers (108), points in the paint (207) and bench points (127), the Bears had a Big Three to combat that:
⏩ McIntosh played all 40 minutes for the third consecutive game, and in addition to her scoring, the sophomore point guard committed just one turnover;
⏩ Freshman Mia Mastrov, who graduated early from MiramonteOrinda in time to make her Cal debut Feb. 5, added 12 points and a teamhigh seven rebounds in 40 minutes;
⏩ Sophomore forward Evelien Lutje Schipholt had 12 points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 37 minutes.
The rest of the Bears played their roles well, too, helping Cal shoot a seasonbest 48.8% from the field — it shot 38% in the first meeting — and match Arizona State in the rebound battle.
Cal also thrived at the free throw line, going 22for28 on foul shots, including 11for12 in the fourth quarter. Arizona State finished 11for20 from the line.
“I feel like this was a great team win for us,” McIntosh said. “This gives us a lot of momentum going into the Pac12 Tournament and Stanford next weekend, so I’m really happy for us.”
Taya Hanson led Arizona State with 17 points and Jaddan Simmons added 10.
The Sun Devils were held to 29% shooting and were worse from inside the arc (10for39, 26%) than from long range (8for24, 33%).
“We’ve been working really hard and I think (the win) shows how much progress we’ve made,” said Cal’s Archer Olson, the lone senior on the team.