Lulu Twidale's Three-Pointers Help Cal Women Win Opener

Cal's Lulu Twidale was hot from long range on Monday, and that usually spells doom for the opponent.

Twidale holds the Cal single-season and career records for three-pointers made, and on Monday she was 6-for-9 from deep while scoring 26 points to help the Bears to an 80-58 victory over Washington State at Haas Pavilion in the season-opening game for both teams.

"I try to go into every game with the midset that I'm feeling good," Twidale said. "I think once I see my first three go through I think it's a good feeling, it gives me a lot of confidence."

Whenever the Cougars made a push, Twidale hit a three-pointer to quell the rally. Shannon Dowell added 17 points off the bench. Eleanora Villa scored 20 points for Washington State. Besides Twidale, the rest of the Cal team was just 2-for-10 from long range.

"We love when she's shooting the threes, and we love it when people leave her open," coach Charmin Smith said. "We had a lot of conversations about really being efficient this year. We know that she's going to shoot the ball and 9-for-16, that's really efficient, and I think that's what we need from her. And I love the defensive rebounding, having eight boards. I think she's going to be challenged defensively to guard some of the strong player in nonconference and in the ACC."

Cal took a 37-24 lead at halftime thanks to Twidale’s three-pointer with two seconds left.

Twidale led the Bears in scoring in the first half with 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting, including 3-for-3 from long range.

Cal limited Washington State to 27.8% shooting in the first half, and the Bears dominated play throughout the first 20 minutes.

The Bears trailed 7-4 early in the game before Cal scored eight straight points to take a lead it held throughout the half.

Dowell came off the bench to score eight first-half for the Bears, while Villa kept the Cougars in the game with 11 points before halftime.

Washington State reduced the 13-point halftime deficit to eight points midway through the third quarter. But four free throws by Gisella Maul and three-pointers by Twidale and freshman Zara Russell on consecutive possessions pushed the Cal lead to 18 points late in the quarter. The Bears held a 60-45 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Notes

---Cal is an experienced team, but three freshmen -- Zara Russell, Jovana Jevtovic and Ruby Perkins -- got significant playing time, and Perkins was in the starting lineup. Russell and Perkins are from Australia, and Jevtovic is from Serbia.

---Washington State went 9-25 last year after winning more than 20 games each of the three seasons before that. The Cougars were picked to finish sixth in the nine-team Pac-12 in this season’s preseason poll.

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