Cal Women's Basketball: Bears Get Their First Pac-12 Road Win
Cal ended a four-game losing streak and got its first Pac-12 road win of the season Friday night, beating Washington State 66-59 in a women's basketball game in Pullman, Washington.
Cal (14-10, 4-8 Pac-12) had lost seven of its previous eight games before Friday's win, which completed a season sweep of WSU (15-9, 4-7 Pac-12) and improved the the Bears' faint hopes of landing an NCAA tournament berth.
The 14 wins are more than Cal had in any of its previous four seasons under coach Charmin Smith, and the four conference victories matches the most in a season under the fifth-year coach. And the Bears still have six regular-season conference games and the Pac-12 tournament remaining.
“I thought it was a really great team effort," Smith said. "I'm really proud of how we played. It's great to get our first Pac-12 road game. I feel really good about the team.”
Cal won even though Marta Suarez, Cal's second-leading scorer, had her worst game of the season, going 0-for-8 from the field and failing to score a point.
However, Michelle Onyiah and McKayla Williams made up for Suarez off night. Onyiah led the Bears with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but Williams was the real difference-maker.
Williams started the Bears' first 22 games, but she has come off the bench in the last two contests. She played 24 minutes on Friday and made a big difference with her long-range shooting. Williams came into the game making just 29% of her three-point shots, but she made her first four attempts from the beyond the arc in this game and scored all 14 of her points in the first three periods, which is when Cal took control of the game.
“Michelle has been doing a really good job and we have to give her breaks and Ila [Lane] just stepped in and continued right where Michelle left off," Smith said. "It was a big difference maker in the game. And KK [McKayla Williams] was just super aggressive. This is what we want for her. This is what we know she's capable of. She took matters into her own hands and got to the basket and made shots and that's what we need.”
Cal held a 14-point lead entering the fourth quarter, and pushed its advantage to 18 points with 7:23 left in the game. WSU made a late push and got the margin down to eight points with 2:24 left, but Cal was able to hang on.
The Cougars have been without all-Pac-12 guard Charlisse Leger-Walker since she suffered a season-ending knee injury on January 28. She scored 20 points when Cal beat Washington State 73-72 in overtime on January 7 in Berkeley. And her absence was noticeable Friday night. The Cougars are 0-3 without Leger-Walker, who is clearly their best player and the main reason WSU won the Pac-12 tournament last season.
Cal trailed 14-10 after one quarter, but took the lead on an Ioanna Krimili three-pointer 41 seconds into the second quarter. The Bears stayed ahead for the rest of the game, pushing its lead to 13 points late in the first half and taking a 14-point lead in the third quarter.
Krimili was 3-for-4 on three-point shots and finished with 11 points.
Cover photo of Charmin Smith
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