Cal Women Give No. 19 USC a Scare

The Cal women gave 19th-ranked USC a scare, but the Trojans prevailed 61-57 Sunday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

Cal (8-5) led by nine points with three minutes left in the third quarter and held a three-point lead with 3:33 remaining in the game. But the Bears could hold off the Trojans, who improved to 9-3 under head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, who was Cal's head coach seven years ago.

USC is playing this season without All-America standout Juju Watkins, who suffered a torn ACL in last season’s NCAA tournament. But freshman Jazzy Davison scored 24 points to lead the Trojans.

Cal made only one of 10 field goal attempts in the fourth quarter, but the Bears were able to stay in the game from the foul line. Cal attempted 30 foul shots, and although they missed 10 of them, those free throws accounted for 10 of Cal's 12 fourth-quarter points.

USC was 8-for-12 from the foul line with most of those attempts coming in the closing seconds when Cal was trying to catch up.

The game came down to the final minute. USC had a 56-54 lead when Cal called a timeout with possession with 43.8 seconds left. The Bears got the all into Sakima Walker, but she threw the ball away for turnover.

Two free throws by Kara Smith with 33 seconds remaining gave the Trojans a four-point lead, and after Walker cut the deficit to 58-55 with one free throw, Smith hit one of two foul shots to make it a 59-55 USC advantage with 23.9 seconds to go.

When Cal's Lulu Twidale had her three-point attempt blocked by Davidson with 13 seconds to go, Cal's chance for the upset disappeared.

Walker led the Bears with 13 points and 10 rebounds, but Cal committed 18 turnovers and was just 1-for-11 from beyond the three-point line.

Davison scored 14 points in the first half and her offense late in the second quarter helped the Trojans take a 31-28 lead at halftime.

The Bears held a 23-21 lead with four minutes remaining in the half before Davison hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions to put the Trojans ahead by four.

After Cal’s Lulu Twidale made Cal’s only three-point bucket of the half, Davison scored again with 41 seconds remaining to set the halftime score.

Cal committed 11 turnovers in the first half.

USC made just four of its first 18 shots but still held a 13-10 lead after one quarter. Cal’s seven turnovers in that quarter helped the Trojans forge ahead.