Cal Women Beat Boston College for Their 20th Win

Bears commit 26 turnovers and shoot poorly from long distance but still get back on track after losing their previous two games

Cal women's basketball / Photo by Robert Edwards, KLC fotos

Cal suffered through severe ball-handling problems, had a poor night from the three-point line and had trouble putting away an underdog opponent, but the Bears managed to record their 20th win with a 72-63 victory over Boston College on Thursday night at Haas Pavilion.

This was not a clean game for the Bears, who committed 26 turnovers and shot just 5-for-24 from beyond the three-point line. However, they did improve their record to 20-6 for their first 20-win season under Charmin Smth and their first since 2018-19, when Cal finished with a 20-13 record. Cal also improved to 8-5 in the ACC and ended a two-game losing streak despite struggling at home against a team Cal was expected to beat comfortably.

Cal seemed to be in complete control when it took a 17-point lead against Boston College (13-14, 4-10 ACC) four minutes into the third quarter. But Cal found itself leading by just five points with 2:04 remaining in the fourth quarter before the Bears scored four straight points to end Boston College's upset hopes.

Although Cal struggled from long range, the Bears outscored Boston College 38-18 in the paint, led by Michelle Onyiah, who tallied 21 points, including the 1,000th point of her Cal career, and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 2:27 remaining in the contest.

Marta Suarez added 18 points for Cal, which, despite its three-point problems, shot 50 percent from the field, thanks to 21-for-28 shooting on two-point attempts.

The other postive stats for Cal were its 17 assists on its 26 made baskets and its 15-for-18 shooting from the foul line.

Ioanna Krimili made three three-point shots, giving her 75 for the season as she increases her Cal single-season record for made three-poiners in a season. She is now three three-pointers ahead of teammate Lulu Twidale, who was just 1-for-9 from long range on Thursday but would hold the school single-season record for threes were it not for Krimili.

Boston College's ball-handling was not perfect either. The Eagles committed 19 turnovers and shot just 32.2% from the field while losing for the sixth time in their past seven games.

Cal used a spurt late in the first half to take a 36-25 lead at halftime. 

Five minutes into the second quarter, Cal had nine turnovers and was 1-for-8 on three-pointers, helping Boston College to take a 23-22 lead with 5:25 left in the half.  But Cal outscored the Eagles 14-2 over the remainder of the quarter to going into the break with an 11-point advantage.

Onyiah had 10 first-half points for Cal, which shot 53.6% percent from the field over the first 20 minutes despite making just 3-of-13 shots from long range. Cal was 12-for-15 on two-point attempts.

Boston College was 5-for-10 from distance in the first half but was just 4-for-15 on two-point shots.

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