Cal Women's Basketball: Bears Lose to Arizona
What seemed to be set up for a Cal road win turned into a disappointing 66-55 women's basketball loss to Arizona on Friday in Tucson, Arizona.
Arizona (11-9, 3-5 Pac-12) came into the game on a four-game losing streak and had only seven players available. Plus the Wildcats' leading scorer Kailyn Gilbert did not play at all, although no one seemed to know why.
Cal (13-7, 3-5 Pac-12) could not handle Arizona's defensive pressure, as the Bears committed a season-high 23 turnovers and was outplayed in the second half.
“We struggled to handle Arizona’s pressure and they really hurt us," Cal coach Charmin Smith said. "Too many turnovers and when we did get shots in the second half, we were rushed and flustered and not able to convert. It's unfortunate. I think this is a challenging place to play and we just had too many turnovers.”
Arizona shot 50% from the floor for the game, and the Wildcats were well over 50% for most of the game until they launched several wild shots in the closing minutes after the outcome had been decided.
Cal shot well in the first half, which ended with Cal holing a three-point lead. The Bears made just one two-point field goal in the entire first half, but they were 8-for-15 on three-point shots, giving them a 38-35 advantage entering the third quarter.
However, Arizona dominated play from that point.
Cal scored just 17 points in the second half, when it shot 26.1% from the floor, including 2-for-12 from distance.
“I just felt like we couldn't execute anything," Smith said. "We couldn't get in a flow offensively and I don't know how many of our turnovers in the second half were in the third versus the fourth, but it just didn't feel pretty coming out of halftime. They took the momentum and we never got it back. It was a struggle.”
Cal guard Ioanna Krimili had scored in double figures in every game this season and had scored 20 points and 24 points in the past two games against Oregon State and Oregon. However, she managed just six points on Friday and did not score at all after hitting her second three-pointer with 8:43 left in the second quarter.
If Krimili goes scoreless for the second half of a game Cal has little chance to win.
Marta Suarez led Cal in scoring with 11 points, while Leilani McIntosh had 10 points and five rebounds.
Ezmery Martinez lead Arizona with 20 points to make up for the absence of Gilbert, who is averaging 16.7 points.
Cal was still in the game midway through the third quarter, when it trailed 50-47. But the Wildcats then scored eight straight points to take an 11-point lead. Cal were as close as six points in the fourth quarter, but the Bears' offense disappeared. Cal made just one basket in the fourth quarter, going 1-for-10 in the final 10 minutes.
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