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Cal Women Get Back on Court, Beat USC and Former Bears Coach

Leilani McIntosh's 3-pointer in the closing seconds gives Golden Bears their first Pac-12 victory
Jake Curtis|
Cal Women Get Back on Court, Beat USC and Former Bears Coach
Cal Women Get Back on Court, Beat USC and Former Bears Coach

Leilani McIntosh made Cal's return to the court a successful one by sinking a 3-point shot with 4.3 seconds left to break a tie and give the Bears a 62-59 victory over USC in Los Angeles Friday night.

Cal's women's basketball team had not played a game since Jan. 21 and had played only twice since Dec. 31 because of postponements caused by COVID protocols. But the Bears did not show any rust as they led for most of the game while handing former Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb a loss in the Trojans' home building.

It was the Bears' first win since December 21 and their first conference road victory since Cal upset No. 13 Arizona 55-54 on March 1, 2020.

Cal freshman Jayda Curry scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half to help the Golden Bears improve to 10-5 overall and 1-3 in the Pac-12 conference.  But it was McIntosh who made the big shot, spelling defeat for USC (9-10, 2-7 Pac-12) and Gottlieb, who was Cal's head coach from 2011 to 2019.

The Bears led by seven points early in the fourth quarter and by six with 3:52 to go. But the Trojans rallied to take a 59-57 lead with 41 seconds left on a bucket by Jordyn Jenkins, who finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds.

Curry was just 5-of-19 from the field, but she was 9-for-10 from the foul line and hit two free throws with 38 seconds left to tie the game.

After USC failed to score on its ensuing possession, Cal took over with nine seconds left, advancing the ball to the frontcourt with a timeout. With 4.3 seconds left, McIntosh nailed a 3-pointer from the right baseline, giving her 15 points.

USC committed a turnover before getting a look at a 3-point shot that might have tied it.

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Cover photo of Leilani McIntosh by Rob Edwards, KLC Fotos

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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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