WBB3/4/2016 9:29 PM | By: Cal Athletics
Magical March
SEATTLE – The March Magic continues on for California women's basketball.
The No. 10 seed Golden Bears pulled off the biggest upset in Pac-12 Tournament history with a 75-64 quarterfinal victory over the No. 2 seed and 10th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils Friday morning at Key Arena in Seattle.
With the win, Cal (15-16) secured its second upset in as many days and a 6 p.m. PT semifinal meeting with No. 3 seed UCLA. The semifinal appearance for Cal is the ninth in program history and the fourth for the team under head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
Freshman Kristine Anigwe led all players in points and rebounds for the second straight game with a 24-point, 11-rebound performance against the Sun Devils (25-6). Anigwe's 90.9 shooting percentage (10-of-11) set the second-highest mark in tournament history.
Sophomore Penina Davidson continued her excellent play on the inside, scoring a career-high 17 points off the bench (on 7-8 shooting) and grabbing seven rebounds. Freshman Asha Thomas scored 16 second-half points, including four three-pointers, three of which she scored in the opening minutes of the second half.
Collectively, the Bears set a new Pac-12 Tournament record with their 69 percent team field goal percentage (29-of-42), besting the 58.7 percent (44-of-75) mark Stanford set against Arizona in the 2011 tourney. The record-setting shooting numbers were set up by a Cal tournament-record 22 assists, which were the fourth-most in Pac-12 tournament history.
After the two teams played to three ties in the first five minutes of the game, Cal took a 17-10 lead with a minute left in the first thanks to a four-minute, 9-2 run. The Bears would take a 17-13 advantage into the second but ASU would counter with a 12-4 push in the second to lead 25-21.
Undeterred by the Sun Devils' efforts, Cal shut down ASU for the rest of the quarter and turned an 11-2 run into a 32-27 halftime margin. Davidson scored six of the Bears' points during the pivotal stretch that put Cal ahead for the rest of the game.
The highlight of the game came with Cal leading 49-44 with 1:04 left in the third quarter. The Bears and Sun Devils had played a deadlocked period (17-17) before sophomore Mikayla Cowling slashed to the basket and scored while being fouled. The play excited the Cal faithful but was topped seconds later when Davidson grabbed Cowling's missed free throw, scored over two players and drew a foul as well. Davidson converted the ensuing free throw to put Cal up by double digits (54-44), where they would stay for all but a minute of the fourth quarter.
NEXT UP
Cal will meet No. 3 seed UCLA in the semifinals on Saturday at 6 p.m. The game will be televised live on the Pac-12 Network.
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).