BERKELEY – Lucky number seven! The Cal women's basketball team extended its win streak to seven in a row, besting Santa Clara, 69-65, in a Saturday thriller. The Golden Bears (7-2, 0-0 Pac-12) prevailed in a back-and-forth battle with the Broncos (4-5, 0-0 WCC) to pick up their eighth consecutive home win – a streak that dates back to the end of the 2018-19 season.

Cal led by as many as 10 points early in the second quarter, but a Santa Clara surge late in the first half kept the game tightly contested for the final 20 minutes of action. However, the Bears came up with timely plays on both ends of the floor to pick up their seventh consecutive win. Cal's seven-game winning streak is the team's longest since opening the 2018-19 season at 9-0.

"I think this was a good win for our program," said Cal head coach Charmin Smith. "I think Santa Clara challenged us in a lot of ways and I am glad that after giving up a lead, we were able to recover and come out with the win. I am excited about what this program is doing with having four freshman on the floor at the end of the game.  I think we are really growing and getting better every day."
  
Senior guard Jaelyn Brown led all scorers with 26 points – her third 20-point outing of the season and the second-highest scoring performance of her Cal career. Brown, the Bears' leading scorer this season, also tallied a game-high 11 points for her second double-double of the season.

Along with Brown's strong outing, the performance of Cal's interior duo of Evelien Lutje Schipholt and Chen Yue proved pivotal on the day. With starting center CJ West sidelined due to illness, Lutje Schipholt and Yue combined for 29 points and 19 rebounds as the Bears outscored the Broncos, 42-24 in the pain.

Lutje Schipholt, who collected Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors for her performance in Cal's upset win over No. 20 Arkansas earlier this season, had a career-high 19 points and added nine rebounds – seven of which came on the offensive glass. The Dutch international came up clutch in the fourth quarter, scoring nine of Cal's final 11 points of the game as the Bears erased a four-point fourth-quarter deficit.

Making her fourth start of the season, Yue provided valuable contrubitions on both sides of the ball, posting her first career double-double with career highs in both points (10) and rebounds (10). The first Chinese-born woman to play Division I basketball, Yue finished the game 4-fo-6 from the floor and added two assists and one blocked shot.

"Every game, I am just trying to do whatever I can to get the team to win," said Yue, a double-major in business administration and statistics. "I just try and focus on all the little details because they add up. That just my mindset. Santa Clara is a really good team and we just want to take every opportunity to do our best not to waste any minutes."

Merle Wiehl led Santa Clara with 19 points, going 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. Three other players finished in double-figures for the Broncos, who shot 45.8 percent (27-59) from the floor in the loss.

Playing its lone game of the week, Cal's offense started slowly. The Bears opened the game 1-of-7 from floor before connecting on seven of their next eight field goal attempts to take a 21-13 lead after the first 10 minutes of action. Brown paced the Bears with 11 points in the first quarter, going 3-6 form the floor and 5-5 from the foul line to start the action.

Yet despite the early lead by the Bears, the Broncos responded and outscored Cal, 23-12, in the second quarter. The Broncos closed the quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 36-33 lead into the locker room, just the second time this season the Bears have trailed at the half.

Santa Clara took its largest lead in the game at 39-36 early in the third quarter, before a 9-3 run by the Bears put the hosts back in control. Brown paced the Bears in the third quarter again, scoring eight points and giving Cal a one-point lead heading into the fourth with an offensive rebound and put-back finish.

Neither team led by more than five points in the fourth quarter, as the game saw a total of five lead changes and six ties. Freshman point guard Leilani McIntosh continued to be a disruptive force on the defensive end, coming up with a game-high four steals to go along with five points.

Cal was held without a three-pointer for the first time this season, but compensated with a 15-of-20 performance at the foul line and committed a season-low four turnovers.

The Bears will play their final game before the holiday break next Saturday, hosting No. 14 Kentucky (10-0, 0-0 SEC) at 4 p.m. PT on December 21. One of 14 undefeated teams left in women's Division I basketball, Kentucky hosts No. 7 Louisville on Sunday before heading to the Bay to take on the Bears. Cal and Kentucky met for the first time on December 21, 2017, a 62-52 win for the Bears in Lexington, Kentucky. Cal is 1-1 against ranked teams this season, with a home win over No. 20 Arkansas and a loss at No. 5 UConn.

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