Cal Women's Basketball: Bears Top UW 59-57 to Complete Weekend Road Sweep
Ioanna Krimili scored Cal’s final eight points and the Bears overcame seven fourth-quarter turnovers to beat Washington 59-57, completing their first road sweep of the Washington schools in five years.
The Bears (15-10, 5-8 Pac-12), just 1-8 in conference road games a year ago, secured this victory two days after beating Washington State 66-59.
Cal’s most recent win in Seattle was an 81-74 overtime victory on Feb. 2, 2020.
“Just really excited for this team. We hit a rough patch and we talked about just staying the course and really working on getting better every day and I think we did that," Cal coach Charmin Smith said. "I think it's evident and being able to pull off the sweep on the road in the Pac-12, that's not an easy feat. I’m really proud of the team."
The Bears led 17-4 to open this one but the game did not remain that one-sided. Cal led 31-29 at halftime, fell behind early in the third quarter then opened up a six-point lead headed into the final period.
Washington (13-10, 3-9) knotted the score at 50-all after a 3-pointer by Jayda Noble with 6:31 to play.
Leila McIntosh made the second of two free throws with 5:54 left to put Cal in front to stay before Krimili scored the final eight of her 14 points Her 3-pointer with 5:05 left stretched Cal’s lead to 54-50 and she made back-to-back baskets for a 58-52 advantage with 3:14 to play.
The Bears scored just one more point — a free throw by Krimili with 1:40 to go — while turning the ball over three times in the final 1:36.
UW’s Dalayah Daniels, who played the first two seasons of her college career with the Bears, made a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left, pulling the Huskies within 59-56. After a shot-clock violation by Cal, Washington’s Hannah Stines missed a potential game-tying 3-point try with 6 seconds left.
The Huskies got a dead-ball offensive rebound and Krimili smartly fouled Elle Ladine with 4 seconds left, sending her to the line for two attempts while they trailed by three. Ladine made the first free throw and missed the second, with Cal’s Michelle Onyiah grabbing the rebound.
Onyiah was fouled and missed both free throws with 3 seconds to play but time expired before the Huskies could muster another shot.
Krimili and Marta Suarez shared scoring honors for Cal with 14 points apiece, and McIntosh added 12 points and three steals.
The Bears didn’t make a field goal in the final 3:14 but shot 5 for 7 in the fourth quarter. They wound up at 46 percent for the game, including 7 for 17 from 3-point range.
But Cal’s 19 turnovers led to 28 points for the Huskies, virtually half of their output. UW scored 10 points off giveaways in the fourth quarter alone.
The Bears won the rebounding battle 34-28 and turned 13 offensive boards into 14 second-chance points.
“We'll take it. t wasn't pretty, but any win in the Pac is a quality win," Smith said. "It just gives us more confidence and you just feel better when you're winning. So we'll take this momentum as we head in and prepare for Stanford.”
The Bears return to action Friday on the road against the Pac-12-leading Cardinal (23-2, 11-2).
UW, which had taken Stanford to overtime before losing on Friday night, lost its fourth straight game. Daniels led the Huskies with 13 points, giving her 28 in the two games this weekend.
Cover photo of Cal guard Ioanna Krimili by Kelley L. Cox, KLC fotos
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
