Lulu Twidale Scores 36, Cal Tops BC For First Road Victory

Lulu Twidale dished her first assist just 26 seconds into Cal’s game at Boston College on Sunday.

She made her first basket 35 seconds later, her first 3-pointer less than 3 minutes into the game.

By the time she was done, the junior guard from Australia had a career-high 36 points and delivered nine assists, powering the Bears to a 73-58 victory over the Eagles.

“My teammates and my coaches have a lot of confidence in me. And I have confidence in myself,” Twidale said afterward. “My teammates helped me a lot by finding me and getting me shots.”

The Bears (11-9, 2-5), coming off a 90-87 triple-overtime loss at Syracuse on Thursday, rebounded to secure their first road victory in six tries this season.

They jumped out to a 13-0 lead against the Eagles (4-17, 0-8), who remain winless in their past 13 games, dating back to before Thanksgiving. It didn’t turn out to be as easy as it initially appeared.

The Eagles clawed back within 25-21 midway through the second quarter and trailed by just five points in the opening moments of the fourth period.

But Twidale — with a big assist from teammate Gisella Maul — made sure the Bears didn’t return home empty-handed.

Twidale fed Maul for back-to-back 3-pointers to stretch Cal’s lead to 54-43, then hit a 3-pointer of her own, a mid-range jumper and another 3 for a 62-43 lead with 6:09 left.

Twidale assisted Maul on a 3-pointer for a 65-45 lead with 5:03 left, then made two more of her own to cap a prolific effort. Maul made two final free throws, as the tandem accounted for all of Cal’s 25 points in the quarter — Twidale 14, Maul 11.

Easily eclipsing her own previous career high of 24 points, Twidale became the first Cal player to score 30 points in a game since Jayda Curry put up 30 at Stanford on Jan. 21, 2022.

Twidale’s point total was the highest by a Golden Bear since Kristine Anigwe, the program’s career scoring leader, posted 37 points against Houston on Nov. 6, 2018.

Twidale shot 11 for 18 from the field and connected on a career-best eight 3-pointers in 15 attempts. Including her 16-point, 12-assist effort at Syracuse, Twidale totaled 52 points and 21 assists in two outings this week.

“It's always great when she knocks down shots,” Cal coach Charmin Smith said. “We're really confident in her shooting. We want her to shoot every time she's open. I like the fact that she had nine assists. I think she was looking for people to make plays, to get other people shots, and was really intentional and focused on being a play maker in that way for us, and that's really important.”

She started fast, contributing eight points and five assists to the Bears’ 21-10 lead after the first quarter. By halftime, Twidale had 13 points and eight assists, but BC had trimmed the Bears’ lead to 30-23.

Maul had quite a game herself, totaling 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and a career-best three steals. The junior guard shot 5 for 7 from 3-point distance.

Cal converted 14 of 29 from deep, shot 50 percent from the field and made 11 of 12 free throw attempts. The Bears led by 23 points with barely 4 minutes left.

But they could have made life easier for themselves earlier. Ten first-half turnovers gave life to BC, whose No. 255 NET ranking entering Sunday was the worst of any Power 5 conference team. Cal finished with 16 turnovers, same as BC.

Cal returns to action next Sunday at home against Stanford. Tipoff is 3 p.m. The Cardinal beat the Bears 78-69 at Maples Pavilion on Dec. 14.

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