Cal Women's Basketball: Bears Fall Short in 2-Point Loss to No. 14 Kentucky

Bears tie it with 9.7 seconds left, but cannot complete the comeback

The Cal women's basketball team nearly pulled off another upset of a ranked team as the Bears rallied from an 11-point deficit to tie the score with 9.7 seconds left.

But 14-ranked Kentucky prevailed 63-61 when Rhyne Howard hit a jump shot with three seconds to go at Haas Pavilion.

The Golden Bears (7-3) had their seven-game win streak halted as they suffered their first loss since November 10. It was also Cal’s first home loss of the season.

The Bears had knocked off 20th-ranked Arkansas earlier this season, but could not quite do it against the Wildcats (11-1).

Jaelyn Brown led the Bears with 18 points, her seventh game this season scoring in double-figures. Howard led all players with 29 points.

Cal trailed by 11 points with 4:57 left in the game and were still behind by six points with 1:18 to go. But a three-pointer by freshman Jazlen Green got the rally started, and CJ West eventually tied it with a bucket with 9.7 seconds left.

Cold shooting and turnovers plagued the Bears in the early stages of the first quarter, shooting just 18 percent (3-for-17) from the floor in the first quarter and committing seven turnovers. The Wildcats capitalized with a 10-2 run, but the Bears responded with six unanswered points of their own and trailed 12-10 after the first quarter of action.

Cal closed the second quarter on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 22-22 at the half.

The Bears will play their final game of the non-conference slate on Saturday, December 29, hosting Grand Canyon University (3-5) at 7 p.m. PT.