SANTA CLARA, California – The Cal women's basketball team jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, downing Santa Clara, 79-41, on Saturday afternoon at the Leavey Center. The Golden Bears (5-2, 0-0 Pac-12) opened the game on a 16-0 run and held the Broncos (2-5, 0-0 WCC) scoreless for the first 6:29 of the contest.

Junior center Kristine Anigwe led all scorers with 17 points while sophomore Jaelyn Brown matched her season high, scoring 11 points for the second consecutive game while going 3-6 from beyond the arc. Junior guard Asha Thomas dished out a season-high eight assists to go with five points and zero turnovers in 25 minutes of action.

With the win, Cal improves to 2-1 on the road this season and has won 19 of its last 20 games West Coast Conference foes. The 41 points are the fewest the Bears have allowed in any game over the last two seasons, while the 38-point margin of victory is Cal's largest since a 62-point win over CSUN on December 30, 2015.

The Bears controlled Saturday's game from the outset, going 3-3 from beyond the arc to open the first quarter. Freshman guard Kianna Smith connected on her first two three-point attempts of the game and went 3-4 from beyond the arc in the first half. Smith, the reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, finished the game with nine points and five assists while classmate Alaysia Styles grabbed a team-high six rebounds to go with nine points.

Cal dominated on the defensive end, holding Santa Clara without a basket until Tamia Braggs finished a layup with 3:31 left in the first quarter. Senior Ashlyn Herlihy led the Broncos in scoring with 10 points on 4-7 shooting. And while Cal's guards were connecting from beyond the arc, Anigwe was once again making her presence felt down low, connecting on her first four field goal attempts of the game. The Wade Trophy candidate had 10 points by halftime and finished the game with 17 points, three rebounds, two blocks, and two steals in 21 minutes of action.

In its best defensive performance so far this season, Cal forced Santa Clara into 22 turnovers, which the Bears converted into 36 points off turnovers. The Bears outrebounded the Broncos, 30-26, and held a 37-15 edge in bench production, with 11 of the 12 Cal players who saw action finding the scorers sheet.

Offensively, it was another efficient outing for the Bears, shooting 52.7 percent (29-55) from the floor and assisting 25 of the team's 29 made field goals.

Cal will be back in action on Thursday, hosting San Diego at 7 p.m. PT at Haas Pavilion. One of only two  home games remaining for the Bears in non-conference play, the game on December 7 will be the just the second meeting between the schools and the first since the 2007-08 season.

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