BERKELEY – Stifling defense from the very start set the Cal women's basketball team on a winning path and the Bears stuck to that script the rest of the game, holding San Francisco to 31 percent from the floor and picking up a 75-52 win to start the two-day Cal Classic at Haas Pavilion.

Courtney Range led Cal (5-0) in the scoring column with a career-high five 3-pointers contributing to a season-best 25 points. Range was also effective in the paint, leading all players with 11 rebounds. Nine different Bears scored on the day, with Kristine Anigwe adding 10 points and Penina Davidson chipping in eight points and three blocks. Rachel Howard led San Francisco (3-2) with 10 points.

While the scoring distribution and assist total (22 assists on 30 made baskets) certainly stood out for the Bears, the defensive numbers told the greater tale. A 12-2 run put Cal up 12-4 right away and, by the time San Francisco's Alicia Roufousse hit a jumper to stem the tide, the Bears had run off an over four-minute stretch without allowing the Dons to make a field goal.

The work Cal put in defensively in the first quarter extended to the second. A 3-pointer by Range pushed Cal's lead to 25-8 and that lead grew to 31-12 in short order. By halftime, the Bears had their visitors from across the Bay shooting at a 22.6 percent clip which helped Cal lead 39-21 while holding USF to just 21 points, a season-low in any half by a Bears' opponent.

Foul trouble sent Anigwe to the bench with nearly nine minutes left in the third quarter but Range did what she could to help pick up the slack. A 3-pointer with 3:59 left in the period tied her career-high of four made 3s and, by the time Anigwe returned with 2:37 on the clock, Cal still held a 48-34 advantage. A 6-0 run by the Dons helped bring the score a bit closer but 3s by Mi'Cole Cayton and Range helped keep the lead at 54-40 by the end of the quarter.

Cal extended the lead over the next few minutes, putting the game out of reach by the five-minute mark and allowing the Bears to rest their starters on the front end of a back-to-back. The Bears shot 47 percent as a team while also outrebounding the Dons 43-37. The 52 points allowed were also a season-low for Cal.

"It was a good win for us," said head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. "I told the team in the locker room if I could have scripted it to have no one play in the high 20s, really other than Courtney, minute-wise, I'd take it. I thought we had good production all the way around. Now we have to get ready for a championship game tomorrow."

The Cal Classic continues on Saturday with the consolation final set for 1 p.m. and the championship game scheduled to tip at 3:15 p.m. The Bears will face the winner of the Duquesne/Western Carolina game while USF will take on the loser of that game. The Bears have won four of the last five editions of the Cal Classic.