Cal Women's Basketball: Bears Upset Another Top-25 Team, This Time in Pac-12 Tournament

Cal knocks off fifth-seeded Arizona State in opening round

The Cal women's basketball team finished the regular season in last place in the conference, but suddenly the Bears are one of the hottest teams in the Pac-12.

In their final regular-season game last week, Cal knocked off 13th-ranked Arizona in Tucson.

And on Thursday, 12th-seeded Cal took out 24th-ranked and fifth-seeded Arizona State 71-67 in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

"We just wanted to be the tougher team, and that was really the theme," Cal coach Charmin Smith said. "We can't let them want it more than us. We can't let them be tougher than us. And I think we showed up in that department, and it allowed us to be able to get the win."

The Bears (12-18) avenged a 77-54 loss to Arizona State (20-11) during the regular season.

Cal is just the second No. 12 seed in Pac 12 history to win a tournament game. The Bears will face Arizona in a quarterfinal showdown on Friday.

Cal used a full-court press midway through the second quarter to help erase a 15-point deficit. The Bears then used a 20-0 run that spanned 3:35 at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth to take control of the game.

Senior Jaelyn Brown led the Bears with 22 points, but it was a pair of freshmen who added the offensive punch Cal needed: Cailyn Crocker added 20 points and Jazlen Green poured in 14 points.

The Bears made half of their 12 three-point attempts and shot 44.4 percent from the floor, including 53.9 percent in the third quarter.