STORRS, Conn. – The Cal women's basketball team went toe-to-toe for forty minutes against the fifth-ranked team in the nation, before ultimately falling, 72-61, to perennial power Connecticut, 72-61, on Sunday afternoon at Gampel Pavilion. The Golden Bears (0-2, 0-0 Pac-12) kept the fifth-ranked Huskies (1-0, 0-0 American) within striking distance all game, before UConn pulled away in the second half.

Cal redshirt senior Sara Anastasieska led all scorers with 25 points, setting a new career high. Anastasieska – who missed the majority of the last two seasons with injury – went 5-for-10 from beyond the arc, part of a 9-for-23 performance on the day for the Bears from three-point range.

Junior forward Alaysia Styles also had a standout day for Cal, finishing with a career-high 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds on the day.

Christyn Williams led UConn with 24 points, while junior Megan Walker added 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Huskies

"When we play hard and we play together, we can play with anyone," said Cal head coach Charmin Smith. "I think this is just a building block and I thought we played extremely hard for 40 minutes. We weren't perfect, but the energy and effort were there. This is a standard that we as coaches now get to hold them to for the rest of the season, because we've seen what we can do against a really good team that's number five in the country. We stuck together through adversity on this trip and we're going home with our heads held high, knowing that we can be better and willing to commit to the work that it's going to take to be better."

Looking to bounce back from an opening night loss at Harvard, the Bears got off to a bright start and took a 7-6 lead over the Huskies after Anasatasieska knocked down her first of five three-pointers on the afternoon.

"Sara was phenomenal," Smith said. "We know what she's caapable of and we've seen her in practice every day. But, I'm just really excited for her that she had a chance to play at her best against UConn."

In addition to three-point shooting, the Bears benefitted from an active and impressive presence inside led by Styles. The junior scored nine of her career-high 13 points in the first half, going 4-for-6 from the floor. Cal outscored UConn in the paint and off second-change points in the first half, and trailed by just seven points heading into the locker room.

The 11-time national champion Huskies opened the second half on a 7-2 run, to grow their lead to 12 early in the third quarter. The Bears cut the deficit back to eight after senior Jaelyn Brown knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key off a kickout from classmate Chen Yue. Brown finished the day with six points while Yue had six points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots.

Brown and freshman point guard Leiliani McIntosh had three assists apiece for the Bears.

UConn took its largest lead of the game early in the fourth quarter off a pull-up jumper from Williams, which gave the hosts a 65-47 lead. However, Cal outscored UConn 14-10 in the fourth quarter, getting its final points of the day off a finish inside from senior CJ West.

The Bears return to Berkeley for their home opener on Sunday, November 17, hosting UC Riverside (1-2, 0-0 Big West) at 5 p.m. PT at Haas Pavilion.

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