BERKELEY - The Cal women's basketball team's stretch of four consecutive games against Top-10 opponents came to an end on Sunday, as the Bears fell to No. 7 Oregon State, 82-74, at Haas Pavilion. The hard-fought affair saw the Golden Bears (14-9, 5-7 Pac-12) get off to a strong start, leading the Beavers (20-4, 10-2 Pac-12) by as many as 11 points in the second quarter. However, Oregon State countered with a run of its own and led by 10 with just second left in the third quarter. Cal chipped away at the deficit and got within two points with 1:47 left to play, but the Beavers were able to put the game away at the foul line.
Kristine Anigwe, who broke Cal's all-time scoring record on Friday night, broke the school's career rebound record on Sunday, passing the previous mark of 1,219 career rebounds held by Gennifer Brandon. Anigwe led all players with 31 points and 18 rebounds, extending her double-double streak to 24 in a row. This was Anigwe's fourth 30-point game of the season and her third in conference play. Anigwe continues to lead the nation in rebounding, averaging 15.8 rebounds per game and is averaging 24.3 points and 17.8 rebounds per game in conference play.
Asha Thomas also broke a Cal career record on Sunday, connecting on five three-pointers to become the program's career three-point leader with 212 career triples. Thomas finished with 15 points and four assists as she eclipsed the previous record of 211 held by Alexis Gray-Lawson.
Destiny Slocum led Oregon State with 26 points on 12-19 shooting while Aleah Goodman (17 points) and Mikayla Pivec (16 points) also scored in double-figures for the Beavers.
Coming off a loss to No. 3 Oregon on Friday night, Cal got off to a strong start on Sunday afternoon. Junior forward Jaelyn Brown scored nine of her 11 points in the opening quarter, going three-for-four from beyond the arc to start the game, while also adding six rebounds and two assists on the afternoon. As a team, Cal shot 57 percent (4-7) from three in the first quarter to take a 20-15 lead.
The Bears grew their advantage to as many as 11 points early in the second quarter as Anigwe scored six consecutive points to give Cal a 32-21 lead. However the Beavers, who entered the game having won their last seven head-to-head meetings with the Bears, responded with an 11-2 run to close the quarter and cut Cal's lead to just two points heading into halftime.
Oregon State carried that momentum into the third quarter, during which the Beavers outscored the Bears, 24-14. Pivec scored 12 of her 16 points for the Beavers in the third quarter, hitting a pair of free throws with 49 seconds left in the period to give Oregon State its largest lead of the day at 59-49.
Cal found its touch from beyond the arc and quickly chipped away at the deficit, drawing within three points with 6:42 left to play after a three-pointer by grad transfer Recee Caldwell, her only field goal of the game. The teams continued to trade baskets before Anigwe cut Oregon State's lead to two points when she grabbed the offensive rebound off a miss by
Kianna Smith and finished with the putback.
However, Cal would get no closer as Oregon State responded with a score on the other end and went four-for-four from the foul line over the final 20 seconds to ice the game.
The Bears will return to the road, heading down the California coast for a trip to Los Angeles. Cal opens the weekend at USC on Friday night before a Sunday afternoon matchup against UCLA. The Bay Area and Los Angeles schools squared off in Cal's first weekend of Pac-12 play, with Cal splitting the matchups. The Bears fell to UCLA in overtime before bouncing back with a win over USC. Cal is 5-4 overall on the road this season, but just 1-4 on the road in Pac-12 play, picking up its first conference road win of the year at Colorado at the end of January.
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