TEMPE, Arizona – Cal's comeback attempt came up short on Friday night, as the Golden Bears fell to No. 25 Arizona State, 80-71, on Friday night at the Wells Fargo Arena. The loss snaps the Bears' (10-4, 1-2 Pac-12) four-game winning streak and marks Cal's second consecutive loss in conference play, both coming against ranked opponents. The Sun Devils (12-3, 3-0 Pac-12) remain perfect in conference play and extend their home winning streak to eight in a row.
Junior guard Asha Thomas led the Bears with 25 points while classmate Kristine Anigwe added 24 points and seven rebounds, going 10-14 from the floor. Sun Devils forward Kianna Ibis led all scorers with 26 points on the night.
One of the most tightly contested rivalries in the conference, Arizona State opened the game on a 6-2 run before the Bears were able to knot the game up at 8 apiece. However turnovers, foul trouble, and cold shooting plagued the Bears throughout the first half. Cal shot just 38.5 percent (10-26) from the field through the opening two quarters and went 0-5 from beyond the arc. Facing an Arizona State defense that ranks among the top in the conference, the Bears committed eight turnovers in the first, which the Sun Devils converted into 15 points, taking a 33-25 lead into the locker room.
Trailing at half for just the fourth time all season, the Bears' offense came alive in the second half, led by a  dominant performance in the post from Anigwe. The 6'4" Phoenix product scored 10 points in the third quarter alone and connected eight of ten field goal attempts in the second half, including a streak of eight in a row. As a team, the Bears shot 67 percent from the field in the second half (20-30), while committing just three turnovers.
Cal closed the deficit to three points midway through the third quarter when Thomas connected on her first three-pointer of the night. Thomas finished with a team-high 25 points on 10-20 shooting from the floor and a 3-10 performance from three.
However, the Sun Devils continued to find ways to score, making timely shots to deny the Bears from getting any closer, highlight by a jumper from Ibis at the end of the third quarter to give the Sun Devils a six-point advantage entering the fourth.
The Bears will now head to Tucson, squaring off against Arizona (4-10, 0-3 Pac-12) on Sunday at 12 MT/11 a.m. PT. The Wildcats are winless to start the conference campaign, falling to No. 24 Stanford, 61-46, on Friday night. Cal swept the series vs the Wildcats last season, including a 74-64 victory at the McKale Center on December 29 to open the 2016-17 Pac-12 slate
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