Bears complete Washington's season

SEATTLE, Wash. The California women's basketball team got off to a fast start, going up by as many as 13 points in the first quarter, but had to battle it out to earn a 59-57 win Sunday afternoon at the Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, Washington. The win gives the Golden Bears (15-10, Pac 5-8) their first regular season victory over Washington (13-10, 3-9) along with Washington State since the 2018-19 season and marks the most conference wins among Cal- head coach Charmin Smith. At 15-10, Cal is on pace to its best 25-game start since the 2018-19 season (started 15-10).

“I'm just really excited for this team,” Smith said. “We hit a rough patch and we talked about just staying the course and really working every day to get better and I think we did that. I think it's clear and we can take a lead on the road in the Pac-12. That is not an easy task. I'm really proud of the team.”

Leilani McIntosh hit a pair of triples to move into 10th place on Cal's all-time three-pointers list. Ioanna Krimili and Marta Suárez each had 14 points to lead all scorers in the match.

Cal opened with a 10-2 lead midway through the first quarter, with Krimili and McIntosh each hitting from beyond the arc. Lulu Twidale made a triple of his own to spark a 7-0 run and extend Cal's lead to 17-4 with less than two minutes left in the quarter before the Huskies answered with five in a row to cut the deficit to eight points entering the second quarter.

In the second quarter, the Huskies used an extended 7-0 run to get within five points earlier McKayla Williams Hit a jumper to end the run. Washington earlier reduced the deficit to three points Ila avenue scored on consecutive possessions to put the Bears ahead, 23-16, with six minutes left in the quarter. The Huskies made three straight field goals to cut the deficit to two points before McIntosh hit her second triple of the game with two minutes left. Cal would take a 31-29 lead at intermission.

Washington scored the first four points of the third quarter to take a 33–31 lead, its first of the game, at the 7:01 mark. McIntosh converted on a three-point play to regain the lead for the Bears with under four minutes left in the quarter. She then stole the Huskies' inbound pass and found Marta Suárez for a layup, who hit a triple on the Bears' next possession to fuel a 10–0 run and take a 41–35 lead after 2:13. Cal would maintain its six-point lead entering the final frame.

After the Huskies pulled within two points in the fourth quarter, Suárez converted a three-point play to put the Bears back up by five points at the 7:21 mark. Krimili hit her third triple of the game and followed with a layup, giving Cal a 58-52 lead with 3:14 to go. Washington hit a triple with 45 seconds left to get within three. Cal turned the ball over after a shot clock violation on its next possession, giving the Huskies a chance to tie the game with 14 seconds left. Washington missed a three-point attempt, but was fouled on the rebound and converted 1 of 2 free throws. Michelle Onyiah missed two free throws, but with no timeout and just three seconds left, the Huskies had to hit a half-court shot but missed to seal the 59-57 victory for the Bears.

“Ilya again [Lane] came in and was huge,” Smith said. “Lulu [Twidale]Mia [Mastrov]KK [McKayla Williams]everyone came in and contributed and then I thought Leilani [McIntosh] was very steady and led our defensive efforts, once again allowing Washington to have a low field goal percentage, our defense was really good this weekend.

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Cal remains on the road to take on No. 6 Stanford on Friday at 7:00 PM PT.

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