Cal Women's Basketball: Turnovers Torpedo Bears' Comeback in Loss at ASU

Unable to overcome 21 turnovers and an early 15-point deficit, the Cal women’s basketball team lost 76-71 at Arizona State, the Pac-12’s last-place team, on Sunday afternoon.

The Bears (13-8, 3-6) were within 73-71 after Cal's McKayla Williams rebounded the second of two straight missed free throws by ASU’s Isadora Sousa with 1:05 left.

The game’s final minute featured six timeouts — three by each team — and three turnovers, but no field goals. Cal twice turned the ball over while trailing by just two points, and ASU (10-11, 1-7) locked up the victory when Jaddan Simmons converted three of four free throws in the final 18 seconds.

Cal did not score again after Michelle Onyiah scored off a pass from Ioanna Krimili with 1:36 left, pulling the Bears within 73-71.

The Bears’ 21 giveaways led to 21 points for the Sun Devils, who shot 55 percent from the field and made 8 of 10 from 3-point range. The Sun Devils won despite not making a field goal over the final 5 minutes, 27 seconds.

“I didn't think we came out ready to play and had far too many turnovers to start the game," Cal coach Charmin Smith said. "We let them get hot and get comfortable. And you can't do that in this conference.

"You can't spot people a (15-point) lead on the road. I think we showed fight in the second half and we got to within one at one point. We had opportunities at the end to try to extend the game and we couldn't capitalize.”

Sophomore Jayln Brown, who has had recent games of 35 points against Colorado and 34 vs. Washington, led ASU with 21 points.

Cal made 12 of 22 shots from 3-point distance, including six by Krimili — her 23rd career game with at least five 3-pointers, second-most among active players in the country. The senior transfer from San Francisco finished with 20 points and six assists.

Onyiah had 13 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 1:05 to play. Leilani McIntosh added 13 points, including three 3’s, and Mia Mastrov came off the bench to score 12 points, with a pair of 3-pointers and two steals.

But the Bears could not escape their own mistakes.

Cal trailed by as many as nine points in the first quarter after surrendering 10 turnovers in the opening 10 minutes.

The Bears went scoreless on six straight possessions where they managed just one shot attempt and had each sequence end with a giveaway.

ASU led 17-8 after a jumper by Trayanna Crisp with 2:20 to play in the quarter.

Amazingly, the Bears pulled within 19-15 by the end of the period, getting a layup by Onyiah with 2 seconds left.

The second quarter began with two more Cal turnovers, giving the Bears 12 in the game’s opening 12 minutes. In the meantime, ASU’s lead grew to 25-15 after consecutive 3-pointers by Sousa and Brown. That lead became 33-18 after a 3-pointer by Crisp with 6:05 left in the half.

Cal hung around thanks to its 3-point success, and after a pair of long-range baskets each by Krimili and Mastrov, the Bears trailed just 36-29 with 3:21 left in the half.

But ASU outscored the Bears 8-2 over the final 3 minutes, extending its lead back to 43-31.

Cal shot 39 percent in the first half and had 13 turnovers that led to a 15-0 ASU edge in points off turnovers. The Bears stayed in it only thanks to 7-for-12 shooting from the 3-point arc, including three made 3s by Krimili.

On shot attempts inside the 3-point line, Cal was 4 for 16 in the first half.

The Bears return to action Friday night at home against No. 2 UCLA (16-3, 5-3), which lost 85-82 at Washington State on Sunday and has dropped three of its past five games after starting the season 14-0.

Cover file photo of Cal's Ioanna Krimili by Kelley L. Cox, KLC fotos

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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