Cal Women End Gonzaga's 37-Game Home Win Streak

Kayla Williams stars as the Bears improve their basketball record to 4-0 with a dominating 21-point win over the team favored to win the WCC

Cal guard Kayla Williams / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Cal's women's basketball team faced its first legitimate test of the season on Thursday in Spokane, Washington, and the Golden Bears passed with flying colors.

Cal ended Gonzaga's 37-game home winning streak with a dominating 86-65 victory over the Zags.

Gonzaga, the preseason pick to win the West Coast Conference title, had not lost at home since a defeat to BYU on February 5, 2022. But the Zags were never in Thursday's game, as the Bears scored the first nine points of the game and controlled play throughout.

Cal has won its four games by a combined margin of 135 points, an average margin of 33.7 points. The 21-point victory over Gonzaga was the Bears' closest game so far.

Cal point guard Kayla Williams had the game of her life, collecting 24 points on 9-for-12 shooting, including 4-for-6 on three-pointers. She also dished out six assists and collected four steals and three rebounds with just two turnovers in 36 minutes of court time.

“Kayla sets the tone for us defensively,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. “We forced 24 turnovers and I'm sure her ball pressure had a ton to do with that. Just the way she performed, offensively, nine for 12, shot the lights out and had big shots when we needed them. Every time Gonzaga went to make a run, she came back with a dagger and really proud of how she played.”

Cal (4-0) was expected to have some problems at the point guard spot with the departure of Leilani McIntosh, who had been the Bears starting point guard each of the past five seasons. But Williams apparently has solved that issue.

Cal had an outstanding shooting night, making 58.2% of its shots from the field, including 44% (11-for-25) from long range. And that was after Cal cooled off a bit in the fourth quarter. Through three quarters the Bears were shooting 60% from the field and 50% (9-for-18) from beyond the three-point arc. That enabled the Bears to take a comfortable 19-point lead into the fourth quarter.

Last season, Gonzaga went 32-4, including 16-0 in the conference, while reaching the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. However, there were indications the Zags are not as good as last season when they lost to 24th-ranked Stanford 89-58 on Sunday.

But that game was at Stanford, where the Cardinal is difficult to beat. Thurday's game was at Gonzaga's McCarthey Center, where the Bulldogs almost never lose. They were 16-0 at home last season and 15-0 at home the season before that.

Three other Cal players scored in double figures. Lulu Twidale scored 18 points, Ioanna Krimili added 17 points and Marta Suarez collected 14 points.

Cal committed just 12 turnovers while forcing Gonzaga into 24 turnovers.

“I think we did a great job taking care of the ball, which has really been our Achilles heel, so I'm proud of that,” Smith said. “I think we made an effort to rebound better. Still we could have been better there, but taking care of the ball and the way that we can shoot and score the ball definitely were strengths of ours. On the defensive end, to force them into 24 turnovers is huge and bodes well for where we're trying to head defensively and thinking about defending ACC teams.”

Cal returns home to face Grambling State on Wednesday, then two days later, on Friday, November 22, the Golden Bears host Auburn, which is 3-0 and has won each game by at least 34 points.

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