It was a tale of two halves as the California women's basketball team built a 16-point halftime lead but fought off a second-half Virginia surge to come away with a wire-to-wire 64-58 win at Haas Pavilion on Thursday night and has now won six of its last seven ACC contests. The Golden Bears (16-10, 7-6 ACC) held the Cavaliers (17-8, 9-5), who came into the game leading the ACC in assists (18.6 per game) to just 11 and well under their scoring average of 77.0 points per game. Cal was also able to hold Kymora Johnson, who came into the game ranked second in the conference in scoring (19.2) to just 10 points on the night.
 
Up 10 to start the fourth quarter, the Bears made several clutch plays as the Cavaliers got the score to within one possession multiple times. Virginia used an extended 14-2 run from the third to the fourth quarter to get within two points with 7:06 to go before Mjracle Sheppard drove hard in the lane and scored a layup. A couple minutes later, the Cavaliers cut the deficit to three points, but Gisella Maul answered and drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to take the momentum back. Then with 2:04 to go and down just two points, Virginia forced consecutive stops and had a chance to tie or take the lead with 38 seconds left but Sakima Walker held her ground and forced a missed layup and grabbed the rebound, forcing the Cavaliers to foul. Lulu Twidale hit four free throws in a row the rest of the way to secure the win.
 
Walker posted a game-high 20 points, her second 20-point outing of the season, and grabbed 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season. Twidale nailed three triples on the way to 17 points and Maul added 12 points and two triples.
 
Twidale hit a 3-pointer and took an outlet pass the distance for a layup that put Cal up 7-2 within the first few minutes of the game. After the Bears took a 16-9 lead, the Cavaliers responded hitting on 4-of-5 to get within two and Cal would take a 17-15 lead into the second quarter. Twidale had eight of Cal's points in the quarter.
 
With the game tied at 17-17 Twidale knocked down her third triple of the game that sparked a 6-0 run and put Cal up 26-19 at the 6:50 mark. Maul's first triple of the game gave Cal a 10-point lead with 5:33 to go. Making just her second appearance since coming back from an injured leg, Puff Morris hit a couple of 3-pointers during a stretch where the Bears went 8-of-9 from the field to take a 41-27 lead with 1:15 to go. Walker was perfect from the field in the half (6-of-6) and hit a turnaround hookshot at the buzzer to give Cal a 45-29 lead at the break.
 
Virginia came out of halftime on an 8-0 run until Claudia Langarita lobbed it into Walker who finished with a layup. The Bears retook control after they went on a 6-0 run capped when Maul lobbed it into Naya Ojukwu who finished at the rim to put Cal up 53-38 at the 2:45 mark. The Cavaliers however got back into the game scoring seven straight to end the quarter and Cal took a 53-45 lead into the final frame.
 
"I think this is a really good win for our program and we needed it," Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. "Virginia is a really good team. I liked our defense, particularly in the first half. We needed the lead that we got, and then we did what we needed to do to hold on. I'm really happy with how Sakima [Walker] has been on the block. We have that low post presence that's made things a lot easier for Lulu [Twidale] and Gisella [Maul] as well. And Lulu and Gisella stepped up and made shots and hit free throws down the stretch too. So it was a really good team win. Happy to see Puff [Morris] back."
 
Virginia was led by Tabitha Amanze's 14 points.
 
NEXT UP
Cal stays home to face Virginia Tech on Sunday at 2 p.m. PT.
 
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