SEATTLE, Washington – Trailing by one entering the fourth quarter, Cal's guards took over in the final ten minutes as the Bears opened the Pac-12 Tournament with a 71-68 win over Washington. The second meeting in five days between the Golden Bears (21-9, 11-7 Pac-12) and Huskies (7-23, 1-17 Pac-12) went down to the wire with Cal erasing a six-point deficit late in the third quarter.
Cal junior Asha Thomas scored 17 of her team-high 22 points in the second half while Mikayla Cowling and Jaelyn Brown added 14 points apiece for the Bears, who advance to Friday's quarterfinal where they will take on No. 9 UCLA.
"I don't think we were our best all around, but I thought we were together," said Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. "I thought we were gritty. I thought we got stops when we needed them, and big buckets when we needed them. [Asha Thomas] was tremendous in the clutch, but I thought it was an all-around team performance.
Washington sophomore Amber Melgoza led all scorers with 30 points, going 9-21 from the floor and 4-8 from beyond the arc.
In a matchup that saw seven lead changes and ten ties, Cal took the lead for good with 9:43 left to play as Cowling knocked down a jumper, part of a 9-0 run for the Bears to open the fourth quarter. Cowling, who had 12 points in Sunday's regular season finale vs the Huskies, went 7-13 from the floor to finish with 14 points, matching her career-best for points scored in a Pac-12 Tournament game.
Thomas, an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention Selection spurred the Bears back, scoring 12 of Cal's points during a 14-0 run that spanned late in the third quarter to midway through the second. The 22 points are Thomas' most in a Pac-12 Tournament game and mark her fourth 20-point outing in the last six games.
While Thomas paced the Bears' offense in the fourth quarter, Brown carried Cal in the second, scoring nine of the Bears' 11 points in the second quarter as she helped the Bears take a 35-30 lead at halftime. An All-Freshman honorable mention last season as a freshman Brown matched her season high with 14 points off the bench, going 5-11 from the floor.
Freshman guard Kianna Smith dished out assists in her first career postseason appearance, finishing just two helpers shy of Cal's single-game Pac-12 Tournament record. Three-time All-Pac-12 honoree Kristine Anigwe led all players with nine rebounds as the Bears held a 38-16 advantage on the glass. After going scoreless in the first half, Anigwe went 4-6 from the floor in the second half, finishing with eight points on the afternoon.
The Bears now prepare for a Friday afternoon matchup with four-seed UCLA. The California rivals will tip off at 2 p.m. in the sixth meeting all-time between the schools in the Pac-12 Tournament. Cal and UCLA last met in the semifinals of the 2016 Pac-12 Tournament, a thrilling matchup that saw the Bruins edge the Bears, 73-67 in overtime. Ranked No. 9 in the latest Associated Press Top 25, UCLA won both meetings with the Bears during the regular season.
For more information and updates, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalWBball), Instagram (@CalWBball) and Facebook (Facebook.com/CalWBball).
