STOCKTON – It was closer than Cal would have liked it, but Ioanna Krimili and Marta Suárez led the way with 22 and 21 points respectively and the California women’s basketball team used a dominant second quarter to help the Golden Bears earn a 74-66 win over Pacific at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton on Saturday afternoon. The Bears (9-1) held the Tigers (5-5, 1-0 WCC) to just seven points on 16.7 percent shooting while shooting 50.0% themselves in the second quarter to gain separation and come away with the win.
The win extended Cal’s winning streak in the series to eight straight and matches the Bears' best start to a season since they started 9-1 during the 2018-19 campaign. Kayla Williams paced the Bears with six assists marking her fifth game this season with at least five helpers.
Krimili got off to a fast start finding Michelle Onyiah under the rim for a layup and then connecting on her first three 3-pointers to give Cal an early 11-4 lead. The Bears however went scoreless over the next three minutes while the Tigers went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at the 3:30 mark. Back-to-back triples by Pacific powered an 8-0 run to give the Tigers a 21-17 lead with under a minute to go and they took a 21-19 lead into the second quarter.
The Tigers got to within three points late in the second quarter, but the Bears closed on a 5-0 run capped off by a layup from Williams at the buzzer to give the Bears a 36-28 lead going into the break.
After the Tigers got to within five points midway through the third quarter Suárez knifed through the defense for a layup, but Pacific answered with a triple to cut the deficit to four points. Pacific tied the game at 45-45 before Krimili drilled her fourth triple of the game and Suárez knocked down a midrange jumper to spur a 9-2 run to close the quarter and give the Bears a 54-47 lead going into the final quarter.
Both teams went scoreless to start the fourth quarter and Cal didn’t register a point until Pacific was called for a technical foul and Suárez knocked down a pair of free throws at the 6:41 mark. She followed up with a triple on the Bears’ next possession to put Cal up 59-49. Onyiah picked up her fifth foul and received a technical and the Tigers capitalized hitting 3-of-4 free throws and scoring a jump shot to cut the deficit to six points with 50 seconds left. Lulu Twidale then connected on a triple on Cal’s next possession to keep Pacific at bay and help secure the win.
“I thought we were way too sloppy today,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. “I didn't like our performance at all and I thought we were playing with fire. I think this is a good wake up call for us. We got up for the big ones and we tried to really message that this was a really, really big game. Pacific is a really good team and Bradley [Davis] is a really good coach. It took us a couple of quarters to really figure that out, but I'm glad that we could weather the storm and come away with the win. At the end of the day that's all that matters. I think we'll learn from this and be better prepared particularly when we're going on the road.”
NEXT UP
Cal returns to Haas Pavilion to open ACC play and host the Battle of the Bay against Stanford on Friday at 7 p.m. PT.
