Cal Earns Gritty Win At Virginia

CHARLOTTESVILLE – Ioanna Krimili nailed six 3-pointers for an NCAA-leading 27th time in her career and passed 2,500 career points but it was Lulu Twidale’s triple with 15 seconds left in the game that proved to be the biggest bucket of the night as the California women’s basketball team came away with a 76-70 win at Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville on Thursday night. The Golden Bears (22-6, 10-5 ACC) were up three points when Twidale hit the late triple to seal the win against the Cavaliers (13-14, 5-10 ACC).

Krimili became just the sixth player in DI women’s basketball history to pass 400 3-pointers and 2,500 points for a career. Michelle Onyiah posted her career-high eighth double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Twidale and Kayla Williams drained three triples each and the Bears hit 13 total – their most since hitting 16 against Temple on Dec. 22. The team’s 20 assists mark the most since handing out 20 against Stanford on Dec. 13.

The 22 wins mark the most for Cal since the 2014-15 season (24-10) and guarantees the Bears a top-nine finish in the ACC standings.

The Bears were up seven in the fourth before the Cavaliers cut it three with 39 seconds left. Williams was able to take 25 seconds off the clock before finding Twidale in the corner for the dagger 3-pointer. Prior to that series of possessions, with Cal up three points Onyiah connected on a layup with 54 seconds left.

Cal went into the half down 35-30 but opened the third quarter on a 17-0 start ignited by a Williams’ steal and breakaway layup followed by her 3-pointer. Krimili and Williams combined for 12 points of the run.

Cal opened the game on a 10-4 run and Krimili’s first triple with 6:02 left in the first quarter put her over the 2,500-point mark for her career.

“I'm just really proud of the team,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. “You know it's kind of ironic, because this was our worst travel trip here getting in at 3am and not getting quality sleep, but still showing up and being able to perform. I thought Virginia played really well. Kymora [Johnson] gave us some fits, but we adjusted, we responded, we fought through and I’m really proud of the team.”

Virginia was led by Kymora Johnson’s 24 points.

NEXT UP

Cal wraps up its road trip at Virginia Tech on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT.