STORRS, Connecticut – The unanimous No. 1 team in the nation proved to be too much for the Bears on Friday night, as the Cal women's basketball team tell to top-ranked Connecticut, 82-47, on Friday night at Gampel Pavilion. 

Kristine Anigwe led Cal (1-1, 0-0 Pac-12) with 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds while six different players scored in double-figures for the Huskies (2-0, 0-0 AAC), led by 14 apiece from Crystal Dangerfield, Napheesa Collier, and Kia Nurse. Jaelyn Brown added eight points off the bench for the Bears, who outscored UConn, 20-15, in the fourth quarter.

The first game in the start of a four-year series between the schools, Cal senior Mikayla Cowling scored the Bears first basket of the night, tying the game at 2-2 off a backdoor cut. The lay-in marked the 1000^th career point for Cowling, who became the 29^th player in Cal women's basketball history to reach the milestone. Cowling scored again to give the Bears a 4-2 advantage, Cal's only lead of the night, and ended the night with six points and a game-high six assists.

However, the Huskies' high-powered offense proved too much contain, as Connecticut took control midway through the first quarter behind a 17-0 run. But the Bears responded well in the second quarter, outscoring Connecticut, 13-12, in the second quarter until the final seconds when Dangerfield hit a three to give UConn a 45-24 lead at the break. Redshirt sophomore Sara Anastasieska, who sat out last season after transferring from UTSA, made her first appearance for Cal and made her presence felt, going 2-3 from beyond the arc.

Connecticut put the game away in the third quarter, outscoring the Bears, 22-3. However, Cal continued fighting and won the fourth quarter, 20-15. Anigwe, one of six Wooden Award candidates on the court on Friday night, scored eight of 14 points in the fourth quarter, going 4-6 from the floor. The 6'4" forward grabbed nine rebounds and has now scored in double-figures in 65 of her 67 career games.

The Bears will be back in action on Sunday, taking on the Brown Bears (2-0, 0-0 Ivy) at Noon ET/9 a.m. PT. This will be the first meeting ever between the schools and Cal's first game against an Ivy League opponent since an 80-39 victory over Dartmouth on December 20, 2011. Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb graduated from Brown in 1999, where she was a member of the women's basketball team and served as a student assistant coach for the 1998-99 season. 

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