BERKELEY – In a game that featured 30 lead changes and 12 ties, Cal (10-10, 1-8) came up just short, falling to Oregon (14-6, 5-4) 78-73 at Haas Pavilion Friday night. Jayda Curry and Kemery Martín paced the Bears with 13 points each with Curry matching her career-high with eight assists.
 
The Ducks came into the game leading the Pac-12 and ranking eighth in the country in 3-point percentage but were held to just 15.3 percent and three made 3-pointers, both season lows and the lowest percentage for a Cal opponent this season. Oregon took advantage of a significant disparity at the free-throw line, going 17-for-21 while Cal was limited to just nine attempts.
 
"We are grinding and it's disappointing and frustrating," said Cal head coach Charmin Smith. "We know we're better and we just have to keep pushing and we'll get over the hump. We just have to stay with it."
 
Cal shot the ball well to open the game shooting 50 percent in the opening quarter, but Oregon used six trips to the charity stripe to stay in the game. Curry hit a 3-pointer at the 1:23 mark to give the Bears a two-point lead, but Oregon hit 3-of-4 free throws to end the quarter with the advantage. Neither team could take control of the game in the second quarter with the lead changing seven times. A Martín 3-pointer followed by a jumper from Claudia Langarita gave Cal a four-point lead, which would be its biggest of the game, with 2:24 remaining but Oregon was able to hit a jumper as time expired to go into the half only down two points. Michelle Onyiah did a good job controlling the boards with seven rebounds up until that point.
 
Cal opened the third quarter going 5-of-7 from the field but Oregon was able to answer every time to keep the game close. The lead would change 10 more times in the quarter before a Leilani McIntosh floater at the buzzer gave the Bears a one-point lead going into the fourth. The game remained tight in the fourth and McIntosh gave the Bears a three-point lead with a 3-pointer at the 2:56 mark. Oregon responded with back-to-back buckets to regain the lead. McIntosh would hit two free-throws to give Cal a one-point lead with 1:52 left, but the Bears went scoreless from the field the rest of the way, while Oregon went 3-for-4 to close out the game and sneak away with the win.
 
Curry's 3-pointer extended her Pac-12 leading streak of consecutive regular-season games with a made three to 42 games, which remains the second longest streak in Pac-12 history and just three games away from Shay Murphy's (USC) all-time mark of 45 games. Martín finished with three 3-pointers for the seventh time this season.
 
Oregon was led by Grace VanSlooten who had 20 points and nine rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
California: The Bears stay home to face Oregon State this Sunday at 1 p.m.