SAN DIEGO - A dominant second-half performance was the difference on Saturday afternoon, as the Cal women's basketball team downed San Diego,70-53, in the finale of the San Diego Thanksgiving Tournament. Tied 29-29 at the half, the Golden Bears (6-0, 0-0 Pac-12) outscored the Toreros (2-3, 0-0 WCC), 41-24, over the final two quarters to remain perfect on the year. Senior center/forward
Kristine Anigwe led the Bears with 25 points and 16 rebounds, and continues to pace the nation with a double-double in every game this season.Â
With her 25-point effort today, Anigwe has now scored 1,993 career points, passing Golden Bear great Alexis Gray-Lawson for third on Cal's all-time scoring list. A three-time WBCA Honorable Mention All-American, Anigwe ranks fifth in program history with 956 career rebounds and has a chance to become just the 11th player in Pac-12 women's basketball history with 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
Maddison Pollock paced the Toreros with 19 points while Sydney Hunter added 13 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
The Bears shot a season-high 56.9 percent from the floor in Saturday's win, connecting on 29 of 51 field goal attempts. Cal's efficiency was on full display in the third quarter, when the Bears shot 75 percent from the floor (9-12) and connected on eight consecutive field goal attempts to close the quarter and gain separation in what had been a one-possession game for most of the first half. Ten different players scored for the Bears on the afternoon, led by Anigwe's 25-point outing.
Asha Thomas added nine points while
CJ West and
Alaysia Styles added eight points each.
Graduate transfer Receé Caldwell led the Bears with five assists and matched her career-high with four steals.
All 13 active players on the Bears roster saw time in the win, which marked the collegiate debut for freshman
Sierra Richey. Redshirt sophomore
Mi'Cole Cayton, who made her return from an ACL injury last weekend against Pacific, tallied her first points of the 2018-19 campaign on a reverse layup late in the fourth quarter.
Ranked No. 18 in the nation, the Bears will be back in action on Sunday, December 2, hosting CSUN at 2 p.m. PT at Haas Pavilion. The game against the Matadors marks Cal's first home game in nearly a month. The Bears opened the 2018-19 season with an 80-79 victory over Houston at Haas Pavilion, but have played atll their games at neutral or road venues since.