LAS VEGAS (AP) - It was a tale of two halves in the Cal women's basketball team's opening-round game against Washington State on Wednesday evening. The 10th-seeded Bears led 27-21 at halftime after holding the Cougars to 25% shooting, but Cal allowed seventh-seeded WSU to get going and shoot 59% in the second half in a 61-49 loss at Michelob Ultra Arena.
"Obviously disappointed with the outcome," Cal head coach
Charmin Smith said. "I thought we had a solid game plan, it started off well, and then just struggled through the third and fourth quarter. Washington State's a good team. So just unfortunately wasn't meant to be for us today."
Jayda Curry scored 16 points for the Golden Bears, who finished the season with a record of 13-17). Ugonne Onyiah and
Mia Mastrov provided big sparks with each scoring 10 points off the bench.
Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 23 points and Bella Murekatete had a double-double for Washington State.
After trailing for most of the first three quarters, a layup by Jessica Clarke gave the Cougars a five-point lead with 6:10 to go in regulation. The lead reached 53-45 1 1/2 minutes later when Astera Tuhina connected on a 3-pointer, just WSU's second of the game in 15 attempts. Tuhina added a jumper on WSU's next possession and the lead was 55-45 with 3:32 remaining.
Cal got within 55-49 on a fast break layup by
Leilani McIntosh with 2:20 to go, but the Golden Bears did not score again.
Leger-Walker made 8 of 15 shots and 6 of 8 free throws to go with six rebounds and two assists. Murekatete had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Tuhina added nine points and four assists for Washington State (20-10).
A 3-pointer from Leger-Walker got the No. 7 seed Cougars within 38-36 with 3:03 remaining in the third quarter. The Cougars hadn't been that close since they trailed 11-10 in the first minute of the second quarter. The score was tied twice later in the third quarter and WSU took a 44-42 lead into the fourth period after Leger-Walker made two free throws with 15 seconds left in the period.
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