Cal Runs Away From Georgia Tech

BERKELEY – The California women’s basketball team went up by 14 points after the first quarter and didn’t look back as it earned a wire-to-wire 79-65 victory against Georgia Tech at Haas Pavilion on Thursday night. Ioanna Krimili knocked down five 3-pointers and moved into 10th place on the NCAA’s all-time career list, passing Belmont’s Darby Maggard. Michelle Onyiah was dominant in the paint, finishing just one point shy of her career high with 24 points (11-of-16) along with 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season and fourth in the last seven contests.

Lulu Twidale added 17 points and tied her career high with six assists while Marta Suarez had an effective game with eight points and eight rebounds to go along with four assists.

The win gave the Golden Bears (23-7, 11-6 ACC) their 15th home win of the season – tying a program record – and locked them into the seven seed for next week’s ACC Tournament as the Yellow Jackets (21-8, 9-8) were one game back of Cal in the eighth spot heading into the game. Cal shot 53.6% from the floor and had a 42-28 advantage in the paint. 

Four different Bears scored a bucket in the opening four minutes of the game and Cal used a 12-0 run powered by a Suarez triple and Jayda Noble 3-point play to end the first quarter with a 23-9 lead.

The closest Georgia Tech got in the game was eight points after opening the second quarter on a 7-1 run before Krimili hit her second triple of the game to stem the tide. The Bears regained control of the game by hitting on 7-of-9 from the field to end the half with a 40-26 lead. Twidale’s 12 and Onyiah’s 10 points led the Bears at the break.

Cal never let its lead slip under 10 points in the third quarter and got its biggest lead of the game at 21 points when Krimili hit her fourth 3-pointer with 5:00 left in the game.

Georgia Tech was led by Kara Dunn’s 18 points and six rebounds.

NEXT UP

Cal closes out the ACC regular season hosting Miami on Sunday at 2 p.m. PT.