Naya Ojukwu's Late Burst Fuels Cal Win Over Wake Forest

Sophomore Naya Ojukwu scored or assisted on 10 straight Cal points midway through the fourth quarter and the Golden Bears pulled away for a 61-52 victory over Wake Forest in ACC play at Haas Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.

The victory was Cal’s first in ACC action and snapped a three-game losing streak. The Bears (10-8, 1-4) had dropped five of their previous six games.

Coming off a four-point loss to Duke, Cal improved to 25-2 at home since the start of last season.

“We've been battling, competing and playing really hard, so it's nice to actually have it pay off in the win column,” Cal coach Charmin Smith said. “We just had more of a sense of urgency and we were able to really take advantage of the big lineup. Things were very different for us in terms of our effort and how badly we wanted to win.”

Ojukwu, a transfer from Morgan State, was scoreless through three quarters. But after the Demon Deacons (12-6, 2-4) crept within 49-43 with 5 1/2 minutes left, Ojukwu took matters into her own hands.

She made the first of two free throws, then converted an old-fashioned 3-point play by converting a layup off a pass from Lulu Twidale and the ensuing free throw for a 53-45 lead.

Ojukwu fed Sakima Walker for a basket that made in 55-45 with 4:02 left before making two free throws that gave the Bears a comfortable 57-45 edge with 3:28 to go.

Mary Carter gave Wake one more breath by nailing a 3-pointer with 2:25 to play, but Ojukwu made a layup off a feed from Walker and the margin was back to 59-48 with 2:05 left.

Cal closed out the win despite missing four free throws in the final 1:49 and despite a spate of third-quarter turnovers that helped Wake chisel away at a 12-point hole.

Walker had 17 points and three blocked shots for the Bears, Gisella Maul contributed 13 points and seven rebounds and Twidale had 12 points, five assists and a pair of steals.

Mjracle Sheppard wound up with seven points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

The Bears found some rhythm from the 3-point arc after a stretch of six games where they converted just 25.4 percent from deep. They made 36.4 percent in this one on 8-for-22 accuracy.

Carter scored 14 points to lead Wake, which shot 53 percent in the second half to give itself a chance.

“We were able to feel good tonight and get some more confidence,” Smith said. “We've been getting confidence because we've been playing with NC State, playing with North Carolina, playing with Duke, but the confidence you get from actually winning a game is even more. We need that because Syracuse is playing really well. They're a really good team, and we got to try to win on the road.”

Wake awoke from brutal first-half shooting to trim a 12-point halftime deficit to 40-37 when Milan Brown hit a 3-point with 15 seconds left in the third period.

But Maul answered with a 3-pointer of her own off an assist from Taylor Barnes as time expired, boosting the Bears’ margin back to 43-37.

Cal actually shot 6 for 10 in the quarter but six turnovers helped fuel the Demon Deacons’ rally. Wake, which made just eight baskets in the first half was 10 for 16 — 62.5 percent — in the third quarter.

The Bears never trailed on the way to a 26-14 halftime lead. Cal led by as many as 13 points in the first two periods.

Twidale and Walker each scored nine points in the half and Sheppard had eight rebounds.

The Bears held the Demon Deacons to 22-percent shooting (6 for 27), including 1 for 8 on 3-point tries. Wake was held to 43 points in a loss at Stanford earlier in the week, scoring just 13 first-half points in that one.

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