Freshman Guard Puff Morris Fuels Cal Win over Saint Mary's

Freshman guard Puff Morris scored or assisted on 14 of Cal’s first 17 points in the fourth quarter and the Bears posted a 70-62 victory over Saint Mary’s in their annual School Haas Rock game on Thursday afternoon.

Morris finished with a season-high 11 assists including four in the fourth quarter when the Bears gradually pulled away after the teams were tied at 49-all entering the final 10 minutes. She became the first Cal player with at least 10 assists in a game since Recee Caldwell had 12 vs. North Carolina on March 23, 2019

Cal (5-1) won its fifth straight game and improved to 24-5 all-time vs. the Gaels. The Bears have won the past eight meetings.

Saint Mary’s (5-1) trailed by 16 in the second quarter but fought back to take a five-point lead midway through the third quarter.

Cal center Sakima Walker, a transfer from South Carolina, scored a career-high 25 points on 11-for-15 shooting to go with nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Junior guard Lulu Twidale added 18 points and continued to climb out of an early-season shooting slump by converted 4 for 8 from the 3-point arc.

The Bears became the first team to score more than 50 points against Saint Mary’s, which entered the game tied for third nationally allowing just 45.0 per game.

Cal limited its turnovers to 12 against a team that was squeeing more than 21 per game out of its opponents.

Emily Foy scored 12 points for the Gaels and Abigail Shoff had 10 points.

The Gaels continued the surge they began late in the second quarter, using an 11-0 run to complete a 26-5 burst that transformed a 36-20 deficit into a 46-41 lead after a jumper by Shoff with 4:43 in the third.

Cal freshman Taylor Barnes ended the drought by making a 3-pointer off a feed from Walker with 3:54 left and Walker tied the score at 46-all by making a layup with 1:45 to play.

The teams entered the fourth quarter knotted at 49-all.

The Bears dominated early, going inside repeatedly to forge a 23-12 lead after the first quarter. Cal shot 71 percent in the period, converting eight layups or putbacks.

Walker scored 10 of the Bears’ first 13 points and Morris had five assists by the end of the quarter.

Cal’s lead grew to 36-20 after a 3-pointer from Twidale with 4:10 left in the half. But the Gaels outscored the Bears 11-3 the rest of the period, shooting 5 for 6 down the stretch and taking advantage of three turnovers to create offense.

Turnovers were a much bigger issue for the Gaels, who had 10 giveaways in the half, leading to 14 Cal points. Walker had 14 first-half points, Twidale contributed nine points and four assists and Morris, while taking just one shot, had six assists.

Follow Jeff Faraudo on Twitter, Facebook and Bluesky

Recent articles:

Big Game just part of a big week in ACC football

Jon Wilner answers our 5 Questions leading into the Big Game

The Big Game survives as a beacon of tradition in a changing college landscape

Cal struggles but gets by Presbyterian in basketball

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele 'pretty sure' he'll return to Cal next season

Who is Cal most likely to face in a bowl game?