No. 13 Cal Overwhelms UC Santa Barbara, 69-45
The No. 13 California Golden Bears shook off a slow start to dominate UC Santa Barbara, winning 69-45. Kristine Anigwe led the way with 18 points and 16 rebounds, her ninth double-double of the year.
Reserves Mo Mosley and Alaysia Styles contributed eight points each, as the Cal bench had its best game of the year, scoring 30 points.
“I thought Mo was terrific spark off the bench,” said Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. “She got our highest plus/minus in terms of efficiency.”
Tal Sahar hit six threes and had a game-high 20 points for UC Santa Barbara. Natalia Bruening had seven, to go with nine rebounds.
The Bears held the Gauchos to 29% shooting and forced 16 turnovers.
Cal is now 9-0, while UCSB is 2-8.
The Bears came out of the gates ice cold, missing seven consecutive shots--five field goals and two free-throws.
Santa Barbara took avantage, edging out to a 5-0 lead.
Kristine Anigwe finally broke the seal for Cal with a three, and then the senior found little-used Mo Mosley down low.
“I felt that we needed someone who could lock up defensively, and go in there and make the other team look uncomfortable,” said Gottlieb of her decision to insert Mosley early in the game.
Mosley played a season-high 21 minutes; she had played 17 minutes total in the previous eight games this season.
Cal held Santa Barbara scoreless in the final six minutes, and CJ West’s basket with 30 seconds to go gave Cal the 8-7 edge.
In addition to poor execution on offense (21% shooting), Cal could not keep Santa Barbara off the glass, as the Gauchos grabbed 13 rebounds in the first period, including five offensive boards.
“I thought we were ready to play the game, I thought our team was locked in,” said Gottlieb, refusing to use exams as the excuse for her team’s poor start. “It’s really not an excuse--everyone’s got finals across the country.”
Four consecutive threes by Sahar got Santa Barbara the lead, 21-19. Kianna Smith knocked down a three in response, but Sahar hit another--her fifth in the period--to force a Cal time out.
“We needed to be more focused on her,” said Gottlieb, who acknowledged that she should have call time earlier to help her team adjust. “Make her put it on the floor. She was also getting looks on the screen, where the person that wasn’t on her should have switched out on her. But kudos to her for hitting those shots--they were not easy looks.”
Anigwe continued to battle inside, and she converted an offensive rebound into a three-point play. After Mo Mosley scored on a baseline drive, Anigwe stole the ball at midcourt and took it in herself.
“We needed to be really aggressive, to attack more,” said Mosley. “We needed a spark, so my focus was to get my teammates the ball and to be that extra boost that we needed.”
The Bears played better defense, closing out on shooters and then moving their feet to cut off drives.
Alaysia Styles scored in the lane. With the Bears holding the final possession in the quarter, Styles found herself left alone at the top of the key. Her jumper missed, but Anigwe grabbed the rebound and quickly got the ball back up, and the ball curled over the front rim just before the buzzer sounded.
Cal closed on an 11-0 run to lead 33-24 at the half. Anigwe had 11 rebounds, with six on the offensive end, to go with 14 points. The Bear bench contributed 10--with Styles and Mosley each scoring four points.
“I just try to be very efficient,” said Anigwe. “But these last two games I’ve had to rebound and play defense and understand that I’m the main focus on the scouting report. So my teammates have been doing a good job being there for me, and collectively, our have been able to really really really thrive off of our second, third, fourth [option], our bench.”
The Bears held Santa Barbara to 29% shooting (nine of 31), but six threes kept the Gauchos in the game.
Asha Thomas opened the third quarter with five straight points--two free throws and a three--to extend Cal’s lead to 38-24.
After Sahar hit another three for UCSB, Anigwe converted inside--after grabbing four offensive rebounds. Another putback--despite being sandwiched inside--gave Anigwe 18 points and 16 rebounds and Cal the 42-27 lead four minutes into the third.
Even when Anigwe went to the bench, the Bears continued to dominate inside, with Styles and CJ West walling off drives and finding space in the paint. West’s three point play earned Cal its biggest lead, 48-29.
Mosley continued to make the most of her minutes, attacking on offense to earn two free throws and another basket down low, as Cal closed the third up 52-34.
Playing deep into the bench, Cal continued to grow its lead, with McKenzie Forbes scoring six points in the fourth. The Bears earned one final highlight when reserve center Chen Yue, playing the high post, found Archer Olson down low with a pinpoint pass. Olson earned the trip to the foul line and hit both, giving Cal its biggest lead 69-44.
Santa Barbara closed the scoring with a free throw.
“I’m really excited about a lot of things from today,” said Gottlieb. “I don’t think people realize what the finals week for Cal athletes is like, and our players had a lot going on. They were able to focus when I asked them to, even if they weren’t physically at their peak all week--when you’re studying and doing other things. They’re really starting to understand that each game gives you a test to learn and figure out different things. I was proud of our effort today, against a team that means a lot to me--the program where I got my start as a head coach. A good win for the team.”
The Bears now turn their attention to No. 1 UCONN, who will visit Haas on December 22, at noon.
“For our program, I want players who want to play UCONN,” said Gottlieb. “For our seniors, to be on a stage where they get to play UCONN at home. For our fans to come, and then they come back when we play USC and UCLA and Oregon State.”
“Last year, we played them a little earlier [in the season],” said Anigwe. “This year, we’ve had time to learn about what we bring individually and as a unit. So now this is the end of our pre-season, and now we’re a whole team, and we understand our weaknesses and our strengths, and we’re going in with more than we did last year. This is the biggest game in Haas this year. I think we’re really ready.”