BERKELEY – In a battle of unbeatens that more than lived up to its billing, top-ranked Connecticut handed Cal its first loss of the season, winning 76-66, on Saturday afternoon at Haas Pavilion. A crowd of 10,818 – a record for a women's game at Haas Pavilion – was on hand to watch the Golden Bears (9-1, 0-0 Pac-12) host the AP No. 1 team in the nation for the first time in program history. However, the Huskies (11-0, 0-0 AAC) ultimately came out on top, snapping the Bears' nine-game winning streak.

With the Bears trailing by six at halftime, UConn outscored Cal 23-14 in the third quarter to build a double-digit lead. Yet the Bears powered through, nearly erasing a 17-point deficit fourth quarter to bring the game within six points after a layup by Kianna Smith with 1:19 left in the game. Cal had a chance to cut it to a one-possession game after a blocked shot by Kristine Anigwe, but Asha Thomas' three-point attempt rimmed out with 43 seconds left to play and the Huskies put the game away at the foul line.

Thomas led all scorers with a season-high 22 points on 6-13 shooting from beyond the arc while graduate transfer Recee Caldwell scored nine of her 11 points in the opening quarter as Cal connected on five of its first seven three-point attempts of the night. Smith chipped in 10 points for the Bears while Anigwe finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds for her 10^th double-double of the season and 11^th straight dating back to the 2017-18 campaign.

With her sixth rebound of the game in the second quarter, Anigwe became just the fifth player in Cal women's basketball history to record 1,000 career rebounds and only the third Cal basketball player – male or female – with 2,000 career points and 1,000 career boards.

Senior Katie Lou Samuelson led Connecticut with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while all five starters finished in double-figures for the 11-time national champion Huskies.

Coming off a 35-point loss to UConn last season in Storrs, Saturday's game made a strong statement about the Bears' development over the last year.

"I love the fight of our team," said Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. "I think it says a lot about how far we've come, who we are as people, who we are as a basketball team. To be able to hang with UCONN you have to take some punches, they're really good. I don't think we were perfect. We missed some shots that we usually make… but I don't think this team is tapped out at a 10-point loss to UConn at home. I think we raised the expectations of what we want the season to be."

Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma, who joined Gottlieb and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr the night before for "A Chat With Champions", echoed the sentiment.

"They're a good team," said Auriemma. "They're bigger than they look on film, they're longer than they look on film. They play hard, they compete. I thought [Kristine Anigwe] passed the ball better tonight than I've seen here pass it in a long time. That really changes their team when she's passing the ball like that."

Anigwe finished with three assists for the Bears, who finished the game with 26 made field goals on 15 assists. Cal committed a season-low eight turnovers and outscored Connecticut, 12-9, on points off of turnovers. 

The second game of a four-year series between the two programs, Cal and UConn will meet again next regular season back on the East Coast.

After a brief break for the holidays, Cal returns to Haas Pavilion on December 30, hosting Harvard at 2 p.m. PT in the final game of the non-conference slate. This will be just the second meeting all-time between the Golden Bears and Crimson, but the second year in a row that Cal will face an Ivy League foe. The Golden Bears beat Brown University on the road last season, as Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb squared off against her alma mater. The December 30 game against Harvard marks Cal's final tune-up before opening Pac-12 play on January 4, when the Bears host UCLA at 7 p.m. at Haas Pavilion.

For more information and updates on the Bears throughout the year, follow the team on Twitter (@CalWBball), Instagram (@CalWBball) and Facebook (Facebook.com/CalWBball).