BERKELEY – Using big runs to start both the first and second halves, the Cal women's basketball team extended its win streak to five in a row with a 70-45 victory over BYU on Saturday evening at Haas Pavilion. Senior guard Mikayla Cowling led the Golden Bears (8-2, 0-0 Pac-12) with a season-high 21 points on 4-5 shooting from beyond the arc, while freshman Kianna Smith added 12 points and five assists. Cassie Devashrayee paced the Cougars (4-6, 0-0 WCC) with 10 points as the Bears' defense held an opponent to fewer than 50 points for the second time this season.
Freshman forward Alaysia Styles grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds as the Cal outrebounded BYU, 55-36, on the night.
Looking for their fifth consecutive win, the Bears got off to a hot start, scoring the first seven points of the game and holding BYU scoreless for the first 3:34 of the contest. Cal opened the game on a 15-2 run and outscored the Cougars 22-5 in the first quarter, the fewest points the Bears have allowed in any quarter all season.
The Cougars regained some ground with a 7-0 run of their own midway through the second quarter, but the Bears maintained a 35-21 advantage entering the locker room as Cowling drained a three at the buzzer as time expired. Â
Cowling, who entered the night averaging just seven points per game on the season, tied her career best with four made three pointers and added a season-high eight rebounds while putting together the fourth 20-point performance of her career. The senior guard from Benicia, California, was honored prior to the game for scoring her 1,000th career point on November 17 against UConn. She quickly got to work adding to that total, leading all scorers with 13 points in the first half. Her performance and leadership on both ends of the floor drew praise from her head coach.
"I thought Mikayla started us off and everyone else fed off of that," said Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. "Four-of-five from three is really nice, but more than anything, she held their leading scorer, who is averaging 21 points a game, to 4-for-15 shooting. That's what she brings to this program."
Cal's sharpshooting and defensive intensity was on display again to start the third quarter, as the Bears opened the second half on a 16-2 run. Junior guard Asha Thomas, who went 0-4 from the floor in the first half, knocked down her first two three-point attempts of the half to ignite the Bears offense. Thomas finished the night with nine points and four assists. Smith capped off the third quarter with a three-pointer as time expired, one of two triples on the night for the rookie from Moreno Valley, California.
The second leg in a doubleheader at Haas Pavilion, Saturday's game held extra significance for Smith. Her father, John, is the associate head coach for the Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team, who fell to the Golden Bears in overtime in the preceding game. Her older brother, Jamal, is the starting point guard for the Titans, and finished with 10 points, seven assists, and five rebounds in the loss.
The Bears will hit the road for their final game of the non-conference campaign, visiting Kentucky on December 21. The game against the Wildcats will tipoff at a 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT and will be broadcast live on the SEC Network. Kentucky (8-3, 0-0 SEC) has been ranked as high as No. 20 in the AP Poll this season and has reached at least the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament each of the last eight years. This will be the first meeting between the Wildcats and Golden Bears.
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