Cal Sports Report

Cal Women Blow 16-Point, Third-Quarter Lead, Suffer First Loss

Michigan State stays unbeaten by dominating the fourth quarter against the Golden Bears

Jake Curtis

Cal's Lulu Twidale
Cal's Lulu Twidale / Photo by Kelley L Cox, KLC fotos
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The Cal women seemed on their way to a win that would keep them unbeaten when they held a 16-point lead late in the third quarter.  But instead it was Michigan State that remained undefeated as the Spartans dominated the final 12 minutes for a 78-72 victory over Cal on Tuesday in the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs, California.

The Golden Bears (6-1) will try to regroup for Wednesday’s game against the loser of Tuesday’s second game between Vanderbilt and Arizona.

Michigan State improved to 7-0 but, Tuesday’s game was its first against a power conference team.

Cal used a dominating second quarter, when it outscored Michigan State 22-5, to take a 40-31 lead at halftime.  Cal extended its lead to 16 points at 58-42 when Lola Donez scored on a layup with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter.

Cal still led by 12 entering the fourth quarter, at which point the Golden Bears’ offense disappeared. Cal scored just six points over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, and when Michigan State’s Nyla Hampton hit a three-pointer with 3:59 remaining, the Spartans at their first lead since early in the second quarter.

Michigan State stretched its lead to 75-68 with 34.2 seconds left, effectively sealing the victory.

Over the final 12 minutes Michigan State outscored Cal 36-14, including 30-12 in the fourth quarter. Cal shot 26.7% (4-for-15) in the fourth quarter. Michigan State made 11 free throws in the final 10 minutes; Cal made three.

Turnovers were again a problem for the Bears, who committed 20 turnovers after committing 29 turnovers in Friday four-point victory over Auburn. Michigan State had 11 turnovers.

Lulu Twidale had another big game for Cal with 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting, including 3-for-8 on three-pointers.

Marta Suarez finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Michelle Onyiah had 13 points and 10 boards, but Onyiah fouled out with 6:51 left in the game.

Julia Ayrault led the Spartans with 22 points.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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