WBB1/18/2015 11:03 PM | By: Cal Athletics
Cal Hangs On For 16th-Straight Win Over Arizona, 68-56
BERKELEY - A first-half rout turned into a second-half nail biter, but in the end the Reshanda Gray-led California Golden Bears claimed a 68-56 win at Haas Pavilion against visiting Arizona to give Cal it's 16th-consecutive win over the Wildcats.
Gray did most of her work in the second half for the Golden Bears (12-5, 4-2 Pac-12) by earning her sixth double-double of the season with 28 points and 10 rebounds. The senior All-American candidate scored 18 of her 28 and pulled down eight of her 10 boards in the final 20 minutes alone to hold off a Wildcats (7-10, 0-6) team that fought back late in the second half.
Classmate Brittany Boyd added 11 points with seven assists and three steals, in the process moving to No. 5 on the Pac-12's all-time assists list with 648 in her career after passing Milena Flores of Stanford (644) Sunday.
Freshman Penina Davidson hit double-figures scoring for the second time this season with 10 points on a 4-of-6 effort from the field.
The Wildcats were led by Candice Warthen's 14 points and seven rebounds and claimed a two-point lead with just 5:47 remaining in the game when Warthen hit a jumper from the corner to put Arizona ahead 48-46. Cal promptly went on a 7-0 run to reclaim the lead for good.
Arizona tested Cal at the line towards the conclusion, sending the Bears to shoot 17 of their 27 free throws in the final five minutes of the game. California responded by shooting a season-best 77.8 percent from the charity stripe, with Cal making 15 of those final 17 free throws over the final five minutes.
The Bears head to SoCal for a two-game road stint against USC and UCLA. Cal will take on the Trojans on Jan. 23 before tipping off against the Bruins on Jan. 25 in a game that will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks.
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