Cal Women's Basketball: Bears 3-0 After Beating Cal Poly

Bears' biggest concern is the right knee of Ioanna Krimili, who sat out the second half

The Cal women used a strong first quarter to pave the way for a 74-60 victory over Cal Poly on Monday, improving the Bears' record to 3-0.

Cal made its first four 3-points shots and was 7-for-9 from long range in the first quarter, which ended with the Bears holding 29-12 lead.  However, the Bears could not maintain that pace, making just 3-of-17 long-distance shots the rest of the game, allowing the Mustangs (1-3) to get back in the game.

"It was a great first quarter; that's about it," Cal coach Charmin Smith said. "I'm glad we can have this and still be 3-0."

Cal will need to play a more complete game when it faces Auburn on the road in its next game on Friday. The Bears will need to improve to make any headway in the Pac-12 since five Pac-12 teams are ranked in the AP top 10 this week.

Cal's struggles seemed to start when Ioanna Krimili left the game. She was 4-for-4 on 3-points shots, and finished with 14 points.  But her final points came just 1:35 into the second quarter. Krimili left the game a few seconds after that, returned later in the period, but left again 36 seconds after that.  Krimili did not play at all in the second half because of pain in her right knee.

"I think she'll be fine," Smith said. "She says it doesn't hurt when she shoots."

Cal led by 22 points early in the third quarter, but Cal Poly reduced the margin to 10 points entering the final quarter as Cal went 1-for-14 on 3-pointers in the third quarter. That was as close as the Mustangs could get.

Cal forced Cal Poly into 33 turnovers, a mistakes total that makes it almost impossible to make a serious comeback.

Leilani McIntosh led the Bears in scoring with 17 points, and she added four assists, which enabled her to move into eighth place on Cal's career assists list.

She also nearly got into a tussle with a Cal Poly player after wrestling for a loose ball.

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