Bears Pull Away From The Vandals

In a game that was tight the whole way through, the California women’s basketball team found itself down by a point midway through the fourth quarter but used an 8-0 run to take control of the game and didn’t look back to earn the 68-61 win over Idaho at Haas Pavilion on Wednesday night. The Golden Bears (8-3) held the Vandals (8-3) to well below their season scoring average of 84.9 points per game.

Gisella Maul continued to be a factor for the Bears off the bench scoring a game and career-high 15 points while Sakima Walker dished out a game and career-high five assists. Puff Morris and Lulu Twidale added 13 points apiece to round out the Bears in double-figure scoring. Morris and Twidale nailed back-to-back triples late in the game to fuel the 8-0 run that sealed the win.

Cal has now won 18 straight regular season non-conference games at Haas Pavilion dating back to the 2023-24 season and remains undefeated at home (7-0) this year.

Mjracle Sheppard hit her second triple of the game in the first quarter to put Cal up 10-8 with just under four minutes left. Maul put the Bears up three with under a minute left, but the Vandals nailed a triple to tie the game at 16-16 going into the second quarter.

The Bears capitalized off two straight steals and converted off the turnovers to go up 23-18 with under eight minutes to go in the second quarter. Cal held Idaho scoreless for nearly four minutes and was up 28-20 at the 4:00 minute mark. The Vandals responded with a 7-0 run before Maul found Walker in the paint for an easy layup. As time wound down in the quarter, Sheppard drove the baseline and kicked it out to Morris for a triple, but Idaho was able to race down the court on its last possession and hit a jumper in the key as time expired. Cal went into the break ahead 35-31.

Idaho opened the third quarter on a 10-5 run to retake the lead at 41-40 with just under six minutes to go, but Walker found open teammates on back-to-back possessions off a double team and the Bears went back up 44-41 just a minute later. Morris scored a layup on a fastbreak and then found Lola Donez for a transition layup on the Bears’ next possession to cap a 6-0 run and put Cal up 50-43 with just under two minutes left in the quarter. Maul put Cal up by 10 with her second triple at the 1:29 mark and the Bears went into the final frame up 53-45.

Idaho opened the fourth quarter on a 11-2 run to go up by one at the 6:22 mark. Cal was then able to go on the 8-0 run and the closest Idaho came was within four points the rest of the way. The Bears held the Vandals to just 2-of-11 from the field to close the quarter.

“I'll just start with saying I think Idaho is a really good team and they have a unique style in how they play with so much pace,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. “Watching them on film I said we better be ready. I thought our team did a great job, for the most part, in transition, in guarding and trying to keep their guards in front. We really have to be playing great defense in order to have a chance to win. I was encouraged with how intentional we were with guarding them and taking away their strengths. And then I liked how we eventually got moving on offense and were able to get enough points to win the game. This was a very competitive game against a really good team.”

Idaho was led by Ana Pinheiro’s 14 points and Kyra Gardner’s seven rebounds.

NEXT UP

Cal hits the road to face Stanford on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT.