California Golden Bears Athletics
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Sights On Seattle
2/28/2019 10:33 AM | Women's Basketball
Cal Heads To Washington For Final Weekend Of Regular Season
Cal at Washington
Friday, March 1 | 7 PM PT | Alaska Airlines Arena | Seattle, WA
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SEATTLE – Coming off a crucial sweep to close out the schedule, the Cal women's basketball now hits the road for the final weekend of the 2018-19 regular season. The Golden Bears (16-11, 7-9 Pac-12) head to the Pacific Northwest, facing Washington (9-18, 2-13 Pac-12) at 7 p.m. PT on Friday night before closing out the conference campaign with a 12 p.m. PT showdown Sunday at Washington State (9-18, 4-12 Pac-12).
While the Golden Bears have lost their last three games away from Berkeley, head coach Lindsay Gottlieb's squad hits the road with significant momentum, coming off a sweep of Arizona and Arizona State. The Bears opened the weekend with a 69-60 win over the 17th-ranked Sun Devils before pulling off a thrilling comeback on Senior Day against the Wildcats. Trailing by as many as 20 points in the second half and 14 in the fourth quarter alone, the Bears erased the deficit and prevailed in an overtime thriller, winning 82-76, in their final home game of the season.
Graduate transfer Recee Caldwell led the Bears with 24 points in the comeback win and averaged 22.5 points per game on the weekend. Caldwell was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for her standout performance, which saw her shoot 62 percent from three-point range in the two wins. Cal swept the Pac-12 weekly honors as guard McKenzie Forbes was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Forbes scored all 17 of her points against the Wildcats in the fourth quarter and overtime, going 5-for-5 from three over the final 15 minutes. Playing her final game at Haas Pavilion, senior Kristine Anigwe finished with 20 rebounds and 16 points as she extended her double-double streak to 28 in a row. Anigwe is one double-double away from matching former Oregon standout Jillian Alleyne's Pac-12 record of 29 consecutive double-doubles, which is also the fourth-longest streak in Division I women's basketball history.
A candidate for National Player of the Year, Anigwe had 30 points and 18 rebounds in Cal's first meeting this season against Washington, a 79-70 win for the Bears on January 20 at Haas Pavilion. The back-and-forth affair saw 14 lead changes and nine ties before Cal took control down the stretch, outscoring the visiting Huskies, 30-19, in the fourth quarter for the win. Caldwell (15 points) and Forbes (10 points) also scored in double-figures for the Bears while junior guard Amber Melgoza had a team-high 27 points for Washington, going 10-22 from the floor and 4-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Cal has won the last four head-to-head meetings between the teams, including an 83-67 win last season at Alaska Airlines Arena.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Friday's game against the Huskies will be available via 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).
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Washington returns to Alaska Airlines Arena coming off a 60-46 road win over Colorado on Sunday. The Huskies snapped a 10-game losing streak with their win over the Buffs, completing the season sweep of Colorado to move into 11th in the Pac-12 standings entering the final weekend of the regular season. Mai-Loni Henson and Amber Melgoza led the Huskies with 17 points apiece, helping Washington take a commanding 21-7 lead after the first quarter. Henson and Melgoza also grabbed eight rebounds each for Washington, who finished with nine steals and four blocks on the night.
A 5'10" junior, Melgoza leads the Huskies and ranks seventh in the Pac-12 in scoring this season, averaging 18.1 points per game. Melgoza also leads Washington in rebounding at 4.0 rebounds per game and ranks fifth in the conference in free throw percentage, shooting 82.3 percent from the line on the season. Sophomore guard Missy Peterson is second on the team in scoring at 8.5 points per game.
Head coach Jody Wynn is in her second season in Seattle and returns four starters from last season.
UP NEXT
Cal heads across the state to Pullman, Washington for its final game of the 2018-19 regular season. The Bears will take on Washington State (9-18, 4-12 Pac-12) at Noon PT on Sunday in a game that will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks. The Bears have won six of the last seven meetings with the Cougars, including a 77-63 victory earlier this season in Berkeley. Cal has split its last two trips to Pullman, winning 67-54 last season after losing, 84-79 during the 2016-17 season.
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).
