Poor Shooting Dooms Cal Women in Loss to UCLA

Bears were in the game in the closing moments despite some ugly offense by both teams

Cal had to be pleased that it entered the final minute of Sunday's women's basketball game against UCLA with a chance to win, considering its offensive woes.

Ultimately, though the Bears could not pull it off, losing to UCLA 59-54 in a game in which both teams struggled offensively.

Cal (10-6, 1-4 Pac-12) had defeated USC on Friday and was looking for its first road sweep of the L.A. schools since 2019.  But the Bears shot just 28.3 percent from the field and committed 19 turnovers, which helped the Bruins (10-7, 5-5) end a four-game losing streak and beat Cal for the eighth consecutive time.

UCLA was not much of an offensive force either, shooting 30.2 percent and committing 18 turnovers, and the offensive star for each team struggled.

Cal freshman Jayda Curry entered the game leading the Pac-12 in scoring at 20.4 points a game. She would up with 12 points, but was just 4-for-17 from the field. UCLA's Charisma Osborne began the day second in the conference in scoring at 17.5 point per game, but she was 1-for-9 from the field on Sunday. She finished with eight points, but six of them came on free throws in the final minute when Cal was fouling to extend the game.

The only Cal player who could find the basket with any regularity was Jazlen Green. She finished with 17 points and was 5-for-10 on three-point shots. Green's three-point buckets on consecutive possessions late in the third quarter gave the Bears a seven-point lead with 19 second left in the third quarter.

UCLA overtook the Bears in the fourth quarter, but Cal was within two points, at 48-46, when Bears guard Leilani McIntosh hit a three-point shot with 1:21 remaining in the game. But Osborne hit two free throws to give the Bruins a four-point lead, and Cal missed a pair of shots from close range on its ensuing possession. Two more UCLA free throws with 40 second left pushed the margin to six.

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

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