Cal Takes Down Arizona
PALM SPRINGS – The California women’s basketball team got down by as many as nine points against Arizona in the first quarter but took control of the game in the second and didn’t look back, using a dominant performance from Michelle Onyiah to help the Golden Bears defeat the Wildcats 74-62 at the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs on Wednesday. Onyiah registered her second consecutive double-double with a career-high 25 points (11-of-14) and a season-high 13 rebounds to help Cal (7-1) snap a seven-game losing streak against Arizona (6-3) and give the Bears their’ third win this season against a team that played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
“Our mentality was definitely to be the tougher team,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. “Arizona is a really aggressive defensive team. They have some really active and athletic players on offense who can get to the basket, but we wanted to be the tougher team on both ends of the floor. And I think we did that, and I think that allowed us to get the win.”
Lulu Twidale continued her hot shooting as she poured in 18 points with four triples (4-of-8) for the Bears while Gisella Maul added a career-high 10 points. Kayla Williams and Ioanna Krimili each dished out six assists and Williams came down with a season-high seven rebounds. The Bears were aggressive all afternoon, getting to the charity stripe 26 times – their sixth game this season with at least 20 attempts.
Onyiah scored the first three buckets for the Bears in the first quarter, but Cal went cold while Arizona went on a 11-0 run, aided by three turnovers to take a 16-8 lead with under four minutes to go. Onyiah stopped the bleeding with her fourth bucket and Twidale hit a triple to get Cal within six points at the 1:50 mark. After Krimili drew an intentional foul and hit both free throws, the Bears drew an offensive foul with five seconds left. Zahra King took the inbounds pass from midcourt and drove to the cup for a layup to beat the buzzer and cut the deficit to just four points heading into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, Maul secured an offensive rebound and found Twidale for her second 3-pointer to cap a 7-0 run to get the Bears within one point with 6:39 to go. Onyiah followed up with a putback layup to put Cal back in front with five minutes to go in the half. Twidale’s third triple pushed the Bears’ lead to 33-29 with under two minutes to go and Cal held Arizona to just two field goals over the last six minutes to take a 37-31 lead into the break.
Arizona used a 9-0 run early in the third quarter to regain the lead before Twidale knocked down her fourth 3-pointer of the game to answer back and put Cal back up two. The Bears held the Wildcats to a scoreless stretch of over three minutes while going 5-of-6 from the field and took a 54-46 lead with a minute to go. Onyiah was a perfect 4-for-4 for 10 points in the quarter.
Arizona cut the deficit to seven points on a triple with 8:54 to go but Maul answered two possessions later with a 3-pointer of her own to extend Bears’ lead to 12 points – their biggest of the game. Arizona’s Jada Williams hit a 3-pointer to cut it back to eight points with 2:10 remaining and the Cats forced a turnover which led to a fast break layup to go down six with 29 seconds left. That was as close as they would get as the Bears knocked down 5-of-7 free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
“I think our biggest strength was getting the ball into Michelle and the way that she finished around the rim,” Smith said. “We didn't have that yesterday (in a loss to Michigan State). I’m really proud to see her get a career-high and do what she needed. I think our bench was really helpful. Zahra [King] gave us some crucial minutes in the first half. Gisella [Maul] played some crucial minutes for us throughout the game, and I’m just really proud of the efforts that we're getting from everyone else.”
Williams led Arizona with 18 points.
NEXT UP
Cal heads home to face No. 23 Alabama as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge at Haas Pavilion on Dec. 5 at 6 p.m. PT.