Bears Stuff the Spartans

BERKELEY – Using another strong defensive effort, the California women’s basketball team jumped on San Jose State early and didn’t look back in an 82-53 win at the Provident Credit Union Events Center in San Jose on Saturday afternoon. With the Golden Bears (3-0) enjoying a 23-point lead going into halftime, it was the third quarter in which Cal erased any hope of a Spartans (1-1) comeback as it held them to just six points on 18.2% shooting. The Bears caused seven turnovers and allowed just two field goals in the quarter.

“I think this was the lowest in turnovers for us to only have eight, and they're a really aggressive team, so we made some strides there,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. “We know we need to be better with taking care of the ball, so we're just taking steps to keep moving towards who we want to be ultimately.”

The sharp-shooting duo of Ioanna Krimili and Lulu Twidale, who coming into the game both ranked in the top five in the country in 3-pointers made, added three triples each for 18 and 14 points respectively. Kayla Williams had her best offensive outing as a Bear as she poured in 16 points, which included three triples of her own. Michelle Onyiah set the tone early, grabbing eight rebounds in the first half alone before finishing with 10 boards and eight points. Natalia Ackerman continued to make her presence felt off the bench, adding eight points, seven rebounds and three steals in just 13 minutes played.

“Michelle did a great rebounding early,” Smith Said. “Number 31 [Finau Tonga] is a really powerful force in there and I like the way Michelle challenged her early. It was a good effort from her.”

In the first quarter, Krimili took the ball up the court and pulled up at the top of the key and hit a triple to give the Bears an 11-3 lead with 6:44 to go. Twidale and Williams converted layups on the next two possessions to power a 9-0 run and extend the lead to 15-3. The Spartans were able to get back in the game by hitting a 3-pointer on their last possession to go down 23-13 after the first.

San Jose State hit its third straight triple to open the second quarter to cut the deficit to single digits. Marta Suárez hit a spinning layup followed by a Krimili 3-point play to help power a 7-0 run and regain the momentum with six minutes left in the half. Krimili then found a curling Twidale at the top of the key for her third triple of the game which gave Cal a 40-22 lead with under four minutes to go in the half. Krimili went on an 8-0 run by herself which included a pair of 3-pointers to help the Bears close the half on an 11-2 run to go into the break with a 51-28 lead.

In the third quarter the Bears’ lead got as high as 36 after Ackerman stole a pass and converted a layup on the other end to close the quarter. From there, Cal never let the lead get under 25 points and cruised to the win.

San Jose State was led by Finau Tonga’s 12 points and seven rebounds.

NEXT UP

Cal heads north to take on Gonzaga in Spokane on Thursday at 6 p.m. PT.