BERKELEY – The Bears capped off the first half of the conference campaign in victorious fashion, beating Arizona, 63-39, on Friday night at Haas Pavilion to complete the season sweep of the Wildcats. Three different players scored in double-figures for the Golden Bears (15-5, 6-3 Pac-12), led by a 12-point, 15-rebound double-double from Kristine Anigwe. Senior Penina Davidson added 10 points and seven rebounds while Asha Thomas scored 12 points in the win.

Sam Thomas led the Wildcats (5-15, 1-8 Pac-12) with 11 points while Destiny Graham added 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Bears held Wildcats leading scorer JaLea Bennett, who entered the night averaging 15.1 points per game, scoreless.

The 39 points are the fewest the Bears have allowed in any game all season and the fewest Cal has given up in any conference game over the last two seasons.

While the first meeting between the Bears and Wildcats in Tucson went down to the wire, Cal was in control from the outset, opening the game on a 9-0 run.  Arizona shot 50 percent (4-8) from three-point range in the first quarter, but the Bears locked down on defense in the second and held Arizona to just three points in the period, taking a 38-17 lead at the half. The three points marked the fewest the Bears have allowed in any quarter all season.

Anigwe made her mark felt on both ends of the floor in the opening half, starting the game with two blocks in the first few minutes and grabbing 10 rebounds in the first half alone. The two-time honorable mention All-American ended the game with 12 points on 6-12 shooting from the floor and registered her fourth game this season with 15 or more rebounds. No other player in the Pac-12 has more than two such games this season.

Thomas continued her steady output on the offensive end, scoring in double-figures for the sixth time in her last seven games. Davidson continued her steady performance in post, adding 10 points the Bears outscored the Wildcats, 42-6, in the paint.

While senior guard Mikayla Cowling was sidelined under concussion protocol, the Bears received contributions from across the board. Eleven different players saw action for the Bears on Friday night with 10 finding their way to the scoresheet.

"Playing without [Mikayla Cowling], I think everyone stepped up tremendously," said head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, "You never want to be without someone, but it's a good sign that we can play without a key piece. We are a lot tougher and better than we were in Tucson and we're excited to play on Sunday."

Cal will be back in action on Sunday afternoon, hosting 25^th-ranked Arizona State (14-7, 5-4 Pac-12) at 3 p.m. PT. The Top-25 matchup is presented by UC Optometry.


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