BERKELEY -- Freshman Kristine Anigwe's 27 points and second double-double in four games weren't enough to help the No. 18/17 Golden Bears overcome a 36 percent shooting performance, as Saint Mary's upset Cal Women's Basketball 64-63 Saturday at the Cal Classic presented by Four Points Sheraton.
Cal will play Sacramento State, who lost to Villanova 78-54, in the consolation game on Sunday at 1 p.m. Saint Mary's and game No. 2 winner Villanova will meet at 3 p.m. Sunday in the championship game.
Anigwe notched her second career double-double, setting a career-high 27 points with 12 rebounds. Freshman teammate Asha Thomas (4-9) added 10 and sophomore Mikayla Cowling (5-11) scored 12 for the Bears.
The Bears saw their hopes at a 32nd consecutive Cal Classic championship game berth drain alongside Saint Mary's Sydney Raggio's jumper with seven seconds left in the game. Down 63-62, the Gaels took the go-ahead basket and Thomas couldn't sink the buzzer-beating three to keep the win in Cal's possession.
Raggio's two-pointer capped off a fourth-quarter that saw the Gaels outscore the Bears 14-11, but it was their 15-8 advantage in the second quarter that kept the game close. Cal jumped out to a 25-17 lead in the first period, shooting 55 percent (11-20) as a team, but slowed to a near-halt in the second quarter after shooting 25 percent (4-16). Saint Mary's pulled within one point of Cal at halftime, 33-32.
“I thought a lot of people made good moves to the basket and we just missed, and that's frustrating and when that's happening you have to get stops on the other end,” said California head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. “I just felt like we missed too many good looks and weren't getting enough stops.”
While Cal scored more points than Saint Mary's in the third quarter, winning the period 19-18, the Bears still shot under 40 percent, going 7-19 for a near-37 percent clip. They took a slim 52-50 lead into the fourth quarter.
A layup by Anigwe to start the quarter put the Bears up by four points, but the Gaels continued to chip away at the lead, using a pair of free throws and a triple to regain a one-point lead. Saint Mary's pulled ahead by as many as four points as the Bears went cold, shooting 1-7 between 4:55 and 2:54. Junior Courtney Range and Anigwe made three consecutive free throws and Anigwe added a jumper to keep Cal within one, 62-61, near the one-minute mark. The intensity amped up when Anigwe made another jump shot to give Cal a 63-62 lead, but Raggio escaped the Cal defense in the final seconds to sink her shot for the Saint Mary's win.
“What I'm most concerned about is how we respond,” Gottlieb said. “I know that sounds like such a cliché but we have a young group and there are no other nine players I'd rather be with whether we win or lose. There's no other group I'd rather come to work with.”
NEXT UP
The Bears meet Sacramento State's Hornets at 1 p.m. in the consolation game of the Cal Classic presented by Four Points Sheraton.
2015-16 TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Season, group and single-game tickets for the 2015-16 women's basketball season are now on sale. Season tickets start as low as $27 ($1.59 per game, 17 games) for youth and seniors and $84 ($4.94 per game, 17 games) for adult general admission tickets, while single-game tickets are available starting at $3 for youth and seniors and $8 for adults. For more information, call the Gold Standard Sales and Service line at (800) GO BEARS (462-3277) or visit the CalBears.com ticket page.
JOIN THE BEARS ON THISISCALBASKETBALL.COM
Cal's one-of-a-kind multimedia fan site, ThisIsCalBasketball.com, is back for its fifth season and once again features an unprecedented look into the inner workings of the personalities behind the Cal women's basketball's roster. Visitors to ThisIsCalBasketball.com can get an in-depth look at the people behind the jerseys, from action and portrait photos to bio videos told in their teammates' own words. New to the site this year is The Challenge, a six-part reality show-style miniseries based on the Bears' Amazing Race-esque hunt around campus.
KEEP POSTED
Stay up-to-date on the latest Cal women's basketball news by following the Bears on social media. View behind-the-scenes photos and videos and learn more about Cal and its student-athletes on Twitter (@CalWBball), Instagram (@CalWBball) and Facebook (Facebook.com/CalWBball).
