Cal Women Upset No. 25 USC in OT After Odd Ruling in Regulation

Cal weathered a controversial finish to the fourth quarter to pull off its best win of the season, an 81-78 overtime victory over 25th-ranked USC at Haas Pavilion Sunday afternoon.

The win, Cal’s first win over a ranked team this season, came on Cal’s final home game, which was Senior Day. It also came on USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s first game on Cal’s home court since she departed as the Golden Bears’ coach following the 2018-19 season. The 10th anniversary of Cal’s 2013 Final Four team, coached by Gottlieb, was commemorated Sunday, with many members of that Golden Bears team on hand.

But on Sunday, Gottlieb, whose Trojans slipped to 19-8 overall and 9-7 in the conference, suffered a bitter defeat at Haas against at a Cal team that rebounded from an officiating ruling that prevented the Bears (13-14, 4-12 Pac-12) from winning in regulation time.

“I’m excited about this being our first win over a ranked opponent,” Cal coach Charmin Smith said. “I’m excited about this win being on Senior Day for these guys. Yeah, I’m just really excited.”

Each of the four quarters ended with the score tied, but Cal thought it was headed for victory at the end of the fourth quarter.

With the score tied in the closing seconds of regulation time, Cal’s Jayda Curry, who finished with 27 points, dribbled at the top of the key trying to get open. She hurried a low-percentage shot from the top of the key as time ran out, but a foul was called on USC’s Destiny Littleton just as the buzzer sounded. Replays seemed to suggest the foul occurred with about 0.5 of a second left, which would have given Curry, a 74% foul shooter, three free throws. But after reviewing the play for a long time, officials ruled the foul came after the time had expired.

“They said that the foul occurred with triple-zeros on the clock,” Smith said of the officials’ explanation. “We showed our growth, we showed our maturity in how we handled this game, and that moment right there, where we thought we were going to have it locked up – if Jayda gets three free throws, I’m confident she’s going to make at least one with point-something on the clock.

“When that was taken away, to still be able to say, ‘OK, doesn’t matter, we still can beat you,’ I think that shows a really, really gritty team.”

Michelle Onyiah scored six of Cal’s eight points in the overtime period, including a three-point play that put the Bears ahead 78-75 with 1:37 left. After Littleton tied it with a three-point shot, Leilani McIntosh made two foul shots to put Cal back in front by two with 44.7 seconds to go. USC then missed four shots on its ensuing possession before Onyiah made one free throw with 8.5 seconds left to make it a three-point game. Littleton’s hurried three-point shot under pressure missed badly with one second remaining.

Cal's Lailani McIntosh and Evelien Lutje Schipholt discuss winning on Senior Day:

Kadi Sissoko scored 30 points in a losing cause for USC, which represented the third of five straight ranked opponents Cal is facing before the Pac-12 tournament.

Cover photo of Jayda Curry by Kelley L Cox of KLC fotos

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