BERKELEY – As Cal women's basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb walked hand-in-hand with Reshanda Gray to the postgame press conference Sunday night along with Brittany Boyd and Mercedes Jefflo, it slowly began to marinate.

While one of the most memorable eras in Cal women's basketball history had reached a disappointing conclusion with a 73-70 loss to Texas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Haas Pavilion, there was absolutely nothing disappointing about the era itself.

The Bears' senior class, led by Gray and Boyd, won a program-record 103 games during the past four seasons. It helped Cal reach the first Final Four in school history. It made at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament in all four years.

Much of that success is due to Gray and Boyd. Gray was the Pac-12 Player of the Year this season. Boyd was an All-American last season. Both have etched their names all over Cal's record books.

They came oh-so-close to registering win No. 104, with Boyd putting together a floor game that encapsulated her entire career. She finished one rebound shy of a triple-double with 17 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Boyd finished her career ranked in the top-10 in Cal career scoring and third on the Pac-12's all-time assist list with 732.

Gray ended her career with 1,769 points, good for fifth on the school's all-time scoring list. She is also No. 5 at Cal with 914 rebounds.

They couldn't do quite enough Sunday. The Bears, the No. 4 seed, got off to a sizzling start against the fifth-seeded Longhorns. A pair of 3-pointers by Jefflo and another by freshman Gabby Green helped the Bears (24-10) establish an 11-3 lead, forcing a Texas timeout with 16:16 left in the half.

But Texas (24-10), with their superior size, muscled their way back, cutting it to 11-10 after a seven-point run. The remainder of the first half was close and it was tied 27-27 at halftime.

The deciding sequence of the game came to begin the second half when the Longhorns scored the first 12 points to lead 39-27 with 14:01 to go. But the Bears relentlessly went into survival mode, riding some hot shooting from Jefflo, a few clutch shots by sophomore Courtney Range and the overall production of Boyd to stay in it.

A layup by Boyd cut the Longhorns' advantage to 47-44 with 9:44 left, but Cal couldn't get any closer until the final buzzer. It was as close as 53-49 with 7:24 remaining and 64-60 at the 1:30 mark. Range's layup at the horn accounted for the final score.

Despite the departure of Boyd and Gray, who each figure to be high WNBA draft picks, the future remains bright for Cal's program. Jefflo, Range, Green and freshman Mikayla Cowling provide a strong nucleus moving forward, and the addition of a strong recruiting class will make for a solid foundation.