Cal Women's Basketball: Bears' Rally Falls Short in 1-Point Loss
Cal's women's basketball team will probably avoid finishing the regular season in the Pac-12 basement, thanks to a victory gained by forfeit last week, but the Bears will regret the fact that they failed to get a win at home on Thursday against the other team at the bottom of the conference standings.
Cal overcame a 14-point third-quarter deficit to tie the game with 40 seconds left, but Washington's Haley Van Dyke made one of two free throws with 2.6 seconds let to give the Huskies a 61-60 victory.
Dalayah Daniels scored 21 points for Cal, but the Bears were unable to make the plays to win in the closing seconds.
With one regular-season game left for both teams, Cal's overall record slipped to 11-11 overall and 2-9 in the conference, while Washington is 7-14 overall and 2-11 in the Pac-12.
Washington faces Stanford on Saturday, so it is unlikely the Huskies will win that game, while Cal hosts Washington State in its regular-season finale Saturday.
In terms of seeding for the Pac-12 tournament, which begins Wednesday in Las Vegas, Cal will have the 11th seed and Washington will have the 12th seed, assuming Washington loses to Stanford. Seedings are based on winning percentage, and because the Bears played two fewer Pac-12 games than the Huskies, Cal will end up with a better conference winning percentage than Washington.
In games played on the court, Cal has won just one Pac-12 contest, while Washington State has won two. But when Arizona State was unable to make the trip to Berkeley for its Feb. 16 game against the Bears, Cal was awarded a forfeit win.
The Bears used a fullcourt press to get themselves back into Thursday's game after trailing by 14 points with 7:52 left in the third quarter. But thanks in large part to the Bears' pressure defense, Washington made just three more field goals the rest of the game.
Cal's leading scorer, Jayda Curry, left the game with a knee injury at the 6:20 mark of the third quarter with a knee injury, although she would return less than six minutes later. She finished with 16 points.
Cal reduced the deficit in Curry's absence and eventually tied the game at 60-60 on Jazlen Green's three-pointer with 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
After Washington failed to score on its next possession, Cal called timeout with 13.9 seconds left. The 5-foot-6 Curry tried to drive on Washington's 6-foot-9 Nancy Mulkey and got her shot blocked with nine seconds left.
Washington's Missy Peterson, an 86% foul shooter, went to the line for two shots with 5.4 seconds left and missed both free throws. However, Cal failed to pull down the defensive rebound, and the Huskies' Van Dyke was fouled with 2.6 seconds remaining. She missed her first free throw but made the second, and, after a timeout to move the ball to the frontcourt, Cal was unable to get off a good shot in the final seconds.
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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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