EUGENE, Ore. – Cal's 24-point fourth-quarter surge wasn't enough to make up for a four-point second quarter, and the Golden Bears fell short at Oregon, 69-59, Sunday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore.
Freshman Kristine Anigwe led the Bears with a double-double on 17 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Courtney Range added 15 points for a 32-point weekend, and sophomore Mikayla Cowling logged her third consecutive double-digit outing with 11 points.
The Bears were hot from the free throw line all game long, shoot 94.1 percent (16-17), including a perfect 12-12 in the second half, but shot 35.8 percent from the floor. Cal was weighed down by a 6-30 (20.0 percent) first half but came out 13-23 (56.5 percent) in the second half.
Cal's best quarter was its last, outscoring Oregon 24-18 to earn the advantage for the first and only time of the afternoon. After Oregon led 51-35 through three, a 6-0 Golden Bear run to start the fourth quarter put the game back within Cal's reach, and halfway through the quarter the Bear defense limited the Ducks to only six points. Oregon held a 57-46 lead at the 4:46 time, shooting 1-6 in a three-minute span thanks to Cal's defensive effort.
Cal put the game within nine points but couldn't eclipse the mark, sending Oregon to the line for 14 shots in the quarter. The Ducks shot 10-14 from the line in the final 10 minutes to thwart Cal's comeback, which included an 8-14 clip from the floor.
Anigwe scored the first points of the game before Oregon scored four unanswered. The frosh evened it up with another layup at 6:46, 4-4, but it was the lone basket in almost six minutes of action, allowing the Ducks to break away by as many as six points. Oregon led 12-6 before sophomore Penina Davidson scored Cal's first points in nearly four minutes.
Cal battled back from the 1-13 drought with three consecutive shots to close out the quarter and keep the game within four points, 17-13, including a well-executed play to a wide-open Cowling for three to end the first. Cowling scored five of Cal's last seven points to close it out.
Oregon started off the second quarter with 10 points from the floor before Cal could score its first layup, from Range at 3:51. Before Range's layup, Cal had just two points on a pair of free throws from Anigwe. The Bears scored a season-low four points in the second quarter, while Oregon logged 14.
At halftime, Oregon led 31-17 as the Bears struggled with their 6-30 result from the floor, shooting just 20 percent in the half and 11.1 percent (1-9) from downtown. Cal's 17 points were the fewest in a half this season.
A three-pointer by Range opened the second half, and Cal started chopping Oregon's lead down to seven points, 31-24, in the first 1:30. Oregon's Lexi Petersen sent the momentum swinging back in the Ducks' favor, and while Cal went on a 3:18 scoring drought, Oregon used a 7-0 run to lead 41-26 with less than five minutes in the third quarter, ending the stretch leading 51-35.
NEXT UP
The latter half of Cal's four-game road trip takes the Bears to Los Angeles, Calif., where they'll meet UCLA on Friday, Jan. 22 and USC on Sunday, Jan. 24.
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).
