Cal Defeats Montana 65-44
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Cal women’s basketball team (5-1) had its second straight dominant victory with a 65-44 win over Montana (2-4) to finish 2-0 at the annual LMU Thanksgiving Classic Saturday. In the win, Jayda Curry became the second fastest player in program history to reach the 500-point milestone doing so in 29 games, behind former Bear and WNBA first-round draft pick Kristine Anigwe, who did it in 25 games. Jayda’s 501st point came just a minute into the third quarter.
“Jayda might be the most prolific scorer that we’ve had when you think about guards,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. “Kristine is a different type of player and she was so dominant on the block. Jayda is doing it in a different way and I’m not surprised. I actually think she could have gotten there a bit sooner, but we are happy for her.”
In what was essentially a wire-to-wire win, the Bears jumped out to a 20-9 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Grizzlies didn’t make their second field goal until about two minutes left in the first quarter. In the first half, Cal’s defense held Montana to just 27.6 percent shooting while having a decisive edge inside with a 24-12 advantage in paint points. Kemery Martín paced the Bears with 13 first-half points on her way to a game-high 18 points which included a season-high four 3-pointers. Martín has now had at least three 3-pointers in three of the past four games. In addition to Martín’s 18 points, she added a career and team-high eight rebounds.
“I’m so glad the shots are falling for Kemery,” said Smith. “She’s a really good offensive weapon and it’s great to see her getting into a rhythm. I think that’s one of the best things that came out of this weekend. Kemery getting going offensively.”
The Bears’ most impressive defensive performance of the season came in the third quarter when they held the Grizzlies to just three points on 6.3 percent shooting. The three points were the lowest the Bears held an opponent to in a quarter since they held Cal State LA to four points in the first quarter on Feb. 16, 2022. Cal continued to cruise in the fourth quarter with a 15-0 run to get its biggest lead of the game at 27 points.
The Grizzlies were led by Sammy Fatkin and Libby Stump with 11 points each.
The Bears will return home to host the 2nd annual Raising The B.A.R. Invitational and will host Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Dec. 3 at 11 a.m. and SMU on Dec. 4 at 1 p.m.
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