Bears Hold off Mustangs, 74-60

HAAS PAVILION - A hot start was enough to lead the Bears to their third straight victory to open the season, holding off Cal Poly 74-60 Monday afternoon in Berkeley.

Point guard Leilani McIntosh led the Bears with 17 points and 4 assists on the night along with Ioanna Krimili with 14 in two quarters of play.

The Bears came out the gate on fire, taking a 29-12 first-quarter lead over Cal Poly, with grad transfer guard Krimili leading the way with 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting and a perfect 3-for-3 from the perimeter. Both teams scorched the nets at 59 and 60% but their Bears forced a stellar 10 turnovers while giving the ball up once while hitting their 3’s.

Senior PG Leilani McIntosh passed WNBA star Layshia Clarendon with her first assist of the game to move into eighth place on Cal’s all-time assist list with 396. Next to fall soon is Meme Fanner’s 404 assists from 1986-89.

The pace cooled significantly in the second quarter as both teams struggled to score but a McIntosh 3 at the buzzer pushed the Bears’ lead to 42-22 at the break. While a bit sloppy with the turnovers in the second stanza with 5, they kept the pressure on the Mustangs, forcing 16 turnovers overall in the half.

Center Michelle Onyiah picked things up in the third quarter with a tough bucket through hard contact and a pair of free throws but the Bears struggled from the field and on the boards with leading scoring Krimili on the bench with an injury as Cal Poly narrowed the Bears’ lead to 10, 52-42 to end the third quarter. After a pair of Marta Suarez free throws, the Bears ended the last 3:37 of the quarter scoreless. 

The Bears righted the ship to start the final stanza, extending their lead to 17 with a pair of buckets by Kemery Martin and layups by Onyiah, McKayla Williams, Mia Mastrov and Suarez with 3 minutes remaining as they played a bit more under control on the offensive end and kept up the defensive pressure. Martin came on late with 10 points and Onyiah had one of her more productive games so far this season with 8 points and 4 rebounds in 21 minutes before fouling out at the end of the game.

“It wasn’t Cal basketball and we weren’t ourselves tonight,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. “Credit to Shanele’s [Stires] team. They were scrappy and they kept fighting. We just didn’t look like we were in a rhythm. I’m glad we could have this type of game and still be 3-0. We still have work to do. We’re not where we want to be in terms of our goals but we’re where we need to be right now in terms of being 3-0.”

The Bears will return to action Friday at 4 pm at Auburn and next play at home the following Friday against San Jose State.