Cal Grinds Out 64-62 Win Against Oregon State

By Cal Athletics

January 29, 2023

2,345

BERKELEY – Cal (11-10, 2-8) was down eight points in the fourth quarter but was able to put together a strong defensive effort that allowed only nine points to come away with a 64-62 win over Oregon State (11-10, 3-7) at Haas Pavilion Sunday afternoon.

Jayda Curry led all scorers with 21 points, including three 3-pointers, for her fourth 20-point effort of the season. Leilani McIntosh added 11 points and seven assists while Evelien Lutje Schipholt chipped in with 12 points and had the game-saving block with 16 seconds left to help secure the win. It was a total team effort as four Bears grabbed at least five rebounds against an Oregon State team that ranked third in the Pac-12 in rebounding.

“I'm just really happy for our team,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. “They've been sticking with it and working extremely hard and I'm glad that they can be rewarded with the victory. We finally finished the job. We're showing progress and this is a great step heading into February.”

The Beavers jumped out in front in the first quarter with a 7-0 run that was ended with a McIntosh jumper followed by a 3-pointer from Claudia Langarita to cut the deficit to two with about three minutes left. Kemery Martín’s jumper further cut the deficit to just one point before Oregon State hit back-to-back jump shots to end the quarter with a five-point lead.

Oregon State took control in the second quarter once again, hitting four straight field goals to bring their lead to seven points midway through, but the Bears answered with a 6-0 run jump started by a Curry 3-pointer, while holding the Beavers scoreless for three minutes to get back in the game. Cal went into halftime down just three points and was led by Curry’s 10 points in the quarter.

In the third, back-to-back buckets by Curry and McIntosh, followed by a Lutje Schipholt free throw tied the game midway through, but Oregon State hit four straight to end the quarter and build its lead to seven points once again heading into the fourth.

In the fourth, Oregon State hit a 3-pointer to go up eight points with about eight minutes to go, before Cal answered with a Martín 3-pointer and a layup from Peanut Tuitele to cut the margin to three halfway through. With less than a minute to go, Lutje Schipholt made the two biggest plays of the day. She hit a layup on an assist from McIntosh to give the Bears a one-point lead with 45 seconds to go and then made a key block on an Oregon State jump shot attempt with 16 seconds left to keep the lead. The Beavers had one more chance with five seconds left, but missed the shot to seal the victory for Cal.

Cal committed just seven turnovers marking the second time this season with less than 10 and had a significant 20-2 advantage in points off of turnovers. Curry was able to extend her Pac-12 leading streak of consecutive regular-season games with a made 3-pointer to 43 games, just two shy of the all-time record.

Oregon State was led by Bendu Yeaney’s 16 points and Jelena Mitrovic’s 10 rebounds.

UP NEXT

California: The Bears head on the road to take on Washington on Friday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.