BERKELEY – After giving up the lead for just the second time in the game with 18 seconds left on the clock, the game looked all but over for the skidding Golden Bears, who had dropped their previous five games of Pac-12 play. Washington State's leading scorer Borislava Hristova had just sunk a jumper to give her Cougs the lead for only the second time that night, 71-69, and the Bears, who three weeks ago gave up an 18-point lead to Utah, were on the verge of collapsing once again.
Instead, head coach Lindsay Gottlieb called a timeout, drew up a play for freshman Kristine Anigwe, and sent her Bears back to the floor with a vengeance. They found the net, but not via Anigwe. Freshman point guard Asha Thomas, working well beyond her years, found sophomore Mikayla Cowling in the corner, and Cowling drained the three with six seconds on the clock to swipe the lead, 72-71.
A pair of free throws by Anigwe and junior Courtney Range all but sealed it for the Bears, who fought hard for their second Pac-12 win in the 74-71 triumph over the Cougars in their return to Haas Pavilion. Cal improves to 11-9 overall and 2-7 in Pac-12 play, including an 8-2 mark at home.
Anigwe led with 27 points (10-12) and eight rebounds. Cowling finished her evening with 18 points (8-14), five assists and four rebounds, and Range fell one board shy of a double-double with 18 and nine. Thomas commanded the floor with 10 assists and four turnovers.
After Washington State tied it up, 4-4, at 7:28 in the opening quarter, Cal churned out a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to lead 13-4 at the first break of the quarter. The Cougars tightened it up to outscore Cal 6-5 in the final four minutes of the first quarter, but Cal still led 18-10 with six points apiece from Range and Anigwe.
Cal's offensive output in the second quarter was highlighted by Range's third three-pointer of the evening and a breakaway jumper by Thomas, who split the Cougar defense on her way to the basket. Washington State was able to hold the Bears at bay, and the teams turned in nearly identical stats across the board in the quarter, each going 6-14 for 16 points and tallying nine rebounds.
The Bears held on to their eight-point lead at halftime, up 34-26 with Anigwe (12 points) and Range already in double figures (11). Range launched three treys in the half and Cal outrebounded Washington State 21-13.
On the defensive end, the Bears managed to shut down Hristova, who entered the game averaging 17.1 points per outing. Hristova had just four points through the first 20 minutes and was shooting 2-6.
The closest Washington State pulled was within three points at 3:40 in the third quarter, but Cal stretched its lead back out to as many as 10 points, propelled by a 7-0 run over the next two minutes. The Bears closed out the quarter shooting 4-4 to lead 55-47, already logging more points than in four of their first eight Pac-12 games.
Down 55-47 to the Bears, the Cougars refused to settle in the fourth quarter and Cal found itself with a precarious one-point lead at 8:29 in the fourth quarter after Alexys Swedlund hit Washington State's ninth three-pointer of the evening. The threat of a sixth-straight loss sent the Bears into overdrive, and Cal turned in three layups in a row plus a steal within the next two minutes to lead 63-56.
Washington State went on a 7-0 run to tie it up, 63-63, at 4:43. Cal's scoring drought, which neared three minutes, was broken with a layup by sophomore Penina Davidson just under the four-minute mark, and Cal regained the lead, only to have it pilfered by the Cougs at 2:55. Washington State took its first lead of the night with a pair of free throws by Louise Brown.
The Cougs' lead increased to four points, 69-65, before four points from Anigwe tied the game up.
NEXT UP
Cal hosts the nation's leading scorer, Kelsey Plum, and her Washington Huskies on Sunday at 2 p.m. The game airs live on the Pac-12 Network.
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).
