BERKELEY – The Cal women's basketball teams snapped a three-game skid in dramatic fashion, pulling out a 78-76 win over visiting Colorado on Friday night at Haas Pavilion. The down-to-the-wire contest saw 14 ties and 15 lead changes before junior guard Asha Thomas gave the Golden Bears (16-8, 7-6 Pac-12) the lead for good, knocking down a pair of three throws with 32 seconds left to play. Senior Mikayla Cowling added another from the charity stripe with :03 left on the clock and the Bears' defense held the Buffaloes (12-12, 3-10 Pac-12) scoreless for the final 1:26 of the game.

Thomas led the Bears with 18 points and went a career-best 8-8 from the foul line while Cowling scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half. Cal ended the night with five players in double-figures, with Kristine Anigwe (14 points), Jaelyn Brown (13 points), and Penina Davidson (10 points) all giving the Bears valuable contributions. Colorado's Zoe Correal led all scorers with 20 points while Alexis Robinson added 19 points for the visiting Buffs.

Needing a strong response after three consecutive losses to Top-25 opponents, head coach Lindsay Gottlieb got just that from her squad on Friday night.

"We didn't play perfectly by any means but I had no doubt in my mind everyone was with us tonight," said Gottlieb.  

Cowling, who scored nine of Cal's final 13 points, echoed the sentiment.

"We had a pretty rough weekend [in Oregon] and gutsy wins like these show our potential," said the senior. "We have a couple more games to prove something to the world and to ourselves."

The start of Friday's game saw both teams struggle offensively, shooting a combined 26 percent (10-38) from the floor in the first quarter. Brown paced the Bears offense in the first half, scoring 11 of her 13 points in the first 20 minutes of action. The sophomore from Murrieta, California finished the game 6-9 from the floor and 1-1 from beyond the arc, knocking down a triple early in the second quarter to end the Bears drought from beyond the arc.

Cal held a two-point lead heading into the locker room, but the second half saw both teams battle for control until the final moments, neither team leading by more than six points at any point in the game.

In the end, offensive rebounding and free throws proved pivitol for Cal. The Golden Bears finished the game 13-15 from the charity stripe and grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, which they converted into eight second chance points.

Thomas, the top free throw shooter in the Pac-12, scored 15 of her team-high 18 points in the second half while Cowling, who had just 15 points in her previous three games combined, stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points on 8-14 shooting, also adding seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

Davidson grabbed a game-high five offensive rebounds and finished one rebound shy of her fourth double-double of the season while Anigwe matched her season-best with three blocked shots, adding 14 points on a 6-8 performance from the floor.

The Bears continue their homestand and Breast Health Awareness Weekend on Sunday, hosting Utah (15-9, 6-7 Pac-12) at 2 p.m. PT. The Utes and Bears entered the weekend tied for sixth in the Pac-12 standings, before the Utes suffered a 70-49 loss at Stanford on Friday. The Utes have won the last four regular season meetings with the Bears, including sweeping both matchups last season.

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