BERKELEY – File this one in the "making up for lost time" department.

After being forced to sit out the final 6-and-a-half minutes of the first half with three fouls on Tuesday night, Cal All-American Kristine Anigwe wasted no time making a statement when she was finally able to return.

Anigwe poured in 21 of her 37 points in a decisive third quarter and the No. 24 Cal women's basketball team held on to beat Houston 80-79 in its 2018-19 season-opener at Haas Pavilion.

After the Cougars led 30-29 at the break, Anigwe helped Cal build a 71-59 lead with 6:09 remaining in the game with two different stretches in which she scored 10 straight points for the Bears.

Houston, which received votes in the preseason Associated Press poll, was able to charge back to cut the deficit to 78-77 with 10 seconds to go, but Cal junior Jaelyn Brown calmly drained two free throws and a 3-point attempt by Houston guard Jasmyne Harris in the final seconds rolled off the rim.

"I was just trying to win," said Anigwe, who registered her 11^th career 30-point game. "I wanted to create a gap so we could manage the fourth quarter. We made some mistakes at the end but we were able to recover. I'm proud of our team."

After a free throw by Thomas tied the score at 30-30 to begin the third quarter, Anigwe scored Cal's next 10 points to help put the Bears in front. Brown scored on a putback, and Anigwe then went on another personal 10-point run to help give the Bears a 53-44 lead with 1:45 to play in the third period.

It marked the most points in a quarter by a Cal player since NCAA women's basketball switched its format from halves to quarters for the 2015-16 season.

Anigwe was 13-for-20 from the field and a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line. She also added 13 rebounds.

"Kristine is a beast and she showed why she is one of the best, if not in the conversation for the best player in the country," Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "The weird thing is, we kind of expect her to do that. It becomes ordinary for her. She did her job, and she obviously does it really well."

Brown finished with 10 points and a career-high eight rebounds while senior guard Asha Thomas added 10 points and seven assists with just one turnover in 35 minutes.

The Cougars proved to be a formidable season-opening opponent for the Bears, employing a smothering full-court pressure defense that gave Cal some problems. Houston had four players score in double-figures and forced the Bears into 21 turnovers, although only one in the third quarter when Cal built its lead.

"Houston is a really good team," Gottlieb said. "We didn't take the easy path to start our season, and I'm really glad for that. We made things tougher on ourselves at times, but I loved the feel of the team the whole game. We were completely locked in. Houston presents a big challenge, but we did what we needed to do."

The win was the seventh in a row in season-openers for the Bears, who travel to play at Penn State on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT.