Fouls costly to Bears in 3rd loss to Bruins
SEATTLE — Cal outshot and outrebounded UCLA, but committed too many fouls (24) and lost to the Bruins for the third time this season. This one hurt the most, a 77-74 verdict in a quarterfinal of the Pac-12 tournament Friday in Seattle. It was UCLA’s sixth straight win over Cal in conference tournament play.
It was 67-67 with three minutes left when Cal’s best player, Kristine Anigwe, fouled out after a 15-point, 11-rebound performance. The call came on a rebounding scuffle in front of the Bears’ bench, and Cal players and fans howled in protest.
A layup by Kelli Hayes, a senior from Mitty-San Jose, was huge down the stretch. It was the Bruins’ only field goal the rest of the way, but they sank eight free throws, five by Jordin Canada, to clinch the win.
The ninth-ranked Bruins (24-6) will play No. 6 Oregon in a semifinal Saturday at 6 p.m. Oregon, the tournament’s top seed, clobbered Colorado in a quarterfinal 84-47.
“It could have been a little better from start to finish, but I thought when crunch time came, we put ourselves in position to beat a very good UCLA team,” Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said.
Asked about the call on Anigwe, Gottlieb said it was a tough game to officiate because of the athleticism and quickness on both sides. It was hard to accept that UCLA was 24-for-34 at the foul line while her team was 11-for-16, she acknowledged
“Down the stretch, not a lot of calls went our way,” she said. “Yes, at the time, (the Anigwe call) was hard to swallow.”
Anigwe, who spent part of the third quarter in the locker room because she felt ill, emerged from postgame treatment to say, “I don’t know whether or not it was a foul, but the refs thought it was, so that’s the only opinion that matters.”
Canada, whom Gottlieb called “one of the best if not the top point guard in the country,” scored 27 points, hitting 11 of 12 free throws. She also had five assists and five steals.
Hayes had a career-high 18 points, and Monique Billings also had 18 for the Bruins. Lajahna Drummer added 11 rebounds.
Mikayla Cowling led the Bears (21-10) with 16 points, Asha Thomas had 15 and Kianna Smith had 12.
Cal led 62-55 with seven minutes left, but UCLA went on a 10-0 run. The big basket was a three by Hayes.
“In my mind, she was really the difference-maker for us,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said. “I’m really proud of the way she stayed ready.”
UCLA clobbered Cal by 36 in December and beat the Bears by eight in January. In the third game, UCLA shot just 36 percent and was outrebounded 42-41.
Despite the setback, the Bears appear headed for the NCAA Tournament, and Gottlieb wondered if a close loss to a top-10 team could actually help their seeding.
“UCLA is a 2 or 3, depending on who wins this tournament,” she said. “I think we’ve done a lot that makes for a strong resume.”
Thomas, the Bishop O’DowdOakland grad who had 37 points in the two tournament games, left briefly for the locker room after wrenching her knee in the first half.
She said what lost the game was “little things, not boxing out, not getting a lot of offensive rebounds in the first half. I think our game plan was solid. We just came up short.”