Mollie McClure/McClure Photography
WBB3/21/2015 1:45 AM | By: Cal Athletics
Bears Breeze Into Second Round Of NCAA Tournament
BERKELEY – The Cal women's basketball team picked a good time to put together one of its better all-around efforts of the season.
The Bears had five players score in double figures, shot 52 percent from the field and held Wichita State to just 40 percent floor shooting in a 78-66 victory over the Shockers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at Haas Pavilion.
Fourth-seeded Cal (24-9) advances to the second round of the Albany Region against No. 5 Texas (23-10), which beat Western Kentucky 68-66 in the other first round game in Berkeley on Friday. The teams will meet Sunday at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.
The Bears are hosting NCAA first and second round games for the first time since 1992.
Cal had an efficient night offensively, dishing out 17 assists – at least three by four different players. The Bears' scoring exploits are even more impressive considering Wichita State (29-5) entered the tournament ranked fourth in the country in scoring defense at 51.0 points allowed per game.
The 78 points were the most the Shockers have allowed in a game this season.
Pac-12 Player of the Year Reshanda Gray led the Bears with 22 points and nine rebounds, sophomore Mercedes Jefflo had 14 points and senior Brittany Boyd added 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Bears, who led 78-58 with 1:17 remaining. Freshman Mikayla Cowling and Gabby Green each scored 11 points, with Cowling adding six rebounds and five assists and Green grabbing eight boards and dishing out four assists.
The only time Cal trailed was when Wichita State's Alex Harden opened the game with a layup. The Bears led 37-27 at halftime. The Shockers made two good runs at Cal in the second half, once cutting the deficit to 47-43 with 12:54 left and then trimming it to 52-47 with 10:02 remaining after the Bears had pushed the lead back to nine points.
The Bears and Longhorns have met six times in history, with the last time coming at the Rainbow Wahine Showdown at Hawaii in 2012 when Texas won 61-60. The teams have never met in the NCAA Tournament.
