California Golden Bears Athletics
California
Washington State
Bears Close Regular Season On The Road
2/21/2018 10:42 PM | Women's Basketball
Cal at Washington State
Thursday, Feb. 23 | 7 PM PT | Beasley Coliseum | Pullman, WA
GAME NOTES | LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS | RADIO | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK
PULLMAN, Washington – Coming off a thrilling Senior Day, Cal looks to keep its momentum going in the final weekend of regular season play. The Golden Bears (18-9, 9-7 Pac-12) kick off the road trip on Friday night, taking on Washington State (10-18, 3-13 Pac-12) at 7 p.m. PT at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Washington. Cal enters the weekend sixth in the conference standings with two games remaining in the regular season.
Friday night's game with the Cougars will be a rematch of a thrilling meeting earlier this season at Haas Pavilion that saw 16 lead changes before the Bears eventually came out on top. Cal center/forward Kristine Anigwe scored a season-high 30 points on 12-19 shooting from the floor and added 17 rebounds as the Bears erased a five-point fourth-quarter deficit. Led by 25 points from guard Borislava Hristova, Washington State led after three quarters before the Bears responded on their home court, surging ahead to complete the weekend sweep.
The Bears head to Washington State on the heels of their biggest win of the season, knocking off 14th-ranked Stanford, 78-66, in their final game of the season at Haas Pavilion. Junior Asha Thomas posted her third consecutive 20-point game, leading all scorers with 25 points as the Bears beat their Bay Area rivals at home for the first time since 2009. Freshman point guard Kianna Smith added 16 points on 7-11 shooting for the Bears while Anigwe had 11 points and 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season.
Cal now takes to the road, looking to snap a three-game losing streak away from Berkeley. The Bears are 6-6 overall on the road this season, but just 2-5 in conference play with all five losses coming at Top 25 opponents. Cal also looks to avenge a heartbreaking loss last season in Pullman, falling to the Cougars, 84-79, despite a 32-point performance from Anigwe. The loss was just Cal's second in Pullman in the last 10 seasons.
Washington State will be looking to snap a skid of its own on Friday night, entering the weekend on a five-game losing streak and having lost eight of its last nine games in Pac-12 play.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Friday's matchup with the Cougars can be viewed live on the Pac-12 live stream, with live stats also available. Fans can receive additional in-game updates and behind-the-scenes information by following the Bears social media accounts (Twitter: @CalWBBall, Instagram: @CalWBBall).
LAST TIME OUT
As freshmen, Mikayla Cowling and Penina Davidson upset then-No. 18 Stanford at Maples Pavilion. On Saturday, Cal's now-seniors earned their second career win over their Bay Area rivals, knocking of No. 14 Stanford, 78-66, in the final home game of their Cal careers. Less than 72 hours after Cal saw its comeback attempt fall short on the Farm, the Golden Bears responded with their first home win over the Cardinal since 2009.
"What can I say," said Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. "It was our day and I'm so incredibly proud of our seniors, and how they've led us and what they've led us through. I thought everyone battle and our guards played greatly today. I'm super happy for this team."
Junior Asha Thomas led all scorers with 25 points, her third consecutive 20-point performance. Three other Golden Bears scored in double-figures in the win, including an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double from Kristine Anigwe, 16 points from freshman Kianna Smith, and 10 points off the bench from sophomore Jaelyn Brown. Cowling finished with nine points and five assists while battling foul trouble. Davidson added eight rebounds, two blocked shots, and two assist in her final collegiate home game.
Playing in front of a crowd of over 4,000, the Bears came out energized and led by as many as 16 points. But the 14th-ranked Cardinal remained dangerous throughout, opening the fourth quarter on a 10-3 run to draw within two points of the Bears with less than five minutes left to game. However, the Bears responded with big three-pointers by Thomas, Cowling, and Brown, and put the game away late from the free throw line to earn their first win of the season over a Top 25 opponent. The win snapped Cal's 14-game losing streak vs ranked teams and gave the Bears an important resume win for March.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
Washington State enters Friday's matchup on a five-game losing streak, looking for its first conference win since a February 2 road win at Arizona. The Cougars are coming off a pair of narrow defeats on the road, falling to Utah 54-50 on February 16 before a 72-69 loss at Colorado on Sunday. A game-tying three at the buzzer was waved off, as the Cougars' comeback attempt fell short. Guard Alexys Swedlund, who missed the first meeting with Cal this season due to injury, led Washington State with 14 points in the loss, going 5-9 from the floor.
A 5'11" junior, Swedlund is second on the team in scoring this season and is averaging 11.5 points per game over her last six games, shooting 51.5 percent (17-33) from three-point range over that stretch. Hristova leads Washington State in scoring at 18.1 points per game and is averaging 19.1 points per game during conference play, good for fourth overall in the conference. Senior Pinelopi Pvalopoulou is among the conference leaders in three-point percentage, shooting 45.8 percent (22-48) from three-point range during Pac-12 play, good for third in the conference.
As a team, the Cougars rank fifth in conference play in three-point percentage (34.0 percent) and are third in the conference in blocked shots at 4.8 blocks per game.
Washington State finished tied for seventh in the Pac-12 last season and reached the semifinals of the WNIT. Head coach June Daughterty is in her 11th season in Pullman and returns four starters and 12 players overall from last season. The Cougars were picked to finish seventh in the 2017 Pac-12 Preseason Coaches' Poll.
UP NEXT
Cal will close out the 2017-18 regular season in Seattle, squaring off against Washington at 3 p.m. PT on Sunday. The Golden Bears beat the Huskies (7-20, 1-15 Pac-12), 69-60, on January 12 at Haas Pavilion, led by a 26-point, 10-rebound effort from Kristine Anigwe. Penina Davdison added 18 points and nine rebounds as the Bears outscored the Huskies, 40-14, in the paint. Washington enters the weekend 12th in the conference standings and hosts No. 16 Stanford at 8 p.m. PT on Friday.
JOIN THE JOURNEY: THE RETURN OF THISISCALBASKETBALL.COM
Cal's one-of-a-kind multimedia fan site, ThisIsCalBasketball.com, is back for its seventh season and once again features an unprecedented look into the inner workings of the personalities behind the Cal women's basketball's roster. Visitors to ThisIsCalBasketball.com can get an in-depth look at the personalities behind the jerseys, from action and portrait photos to bio videos and conversations between current players and alumnae.
STAY POSTED
Keep up-to-date on the latest Cal women's basketball news by following the Bears on social media. View behind-the-scenes photos and videos and learn more about Cal and its student-athletes on Twitter (@CalWBball), Instagram (@CalWBball) and Facebook (Facebook.com/CalWBball).
