Cal Women's Basketball: Freshman Powers Bears to Road Victory vs. Utah

Cailyn Crocker scores a career-high 26 points in her starting debut

Photo by Al Sermeno, KLC fotos

Freshman guard Cailyn Crocker made the most of her first career start, scoring a career-best 26 points to help the Cal women’s basketball team to an 88-74 road win over Utah on Sunday.

The Bears (10-15 2-12 Pac-12) led 48-36 at halftime before the Utes (12-13, 5-9) used a 24-point third quarter to close the gap to four points. But Cal closed strong, outscoring Utah 24-14 in the final 10 minutes to secure their second road win of the conference season.

Cal won at Salt Lake City for the first time since 2014.

Junior forward Alaysia Styles added 19 points and six rebounds, freshman Jaylen Green had 17 points and eight rebounds, and senior Jaelyn Brown scored 10 points.

Crocker, who turned 19 on Saturday, shot 8 for 10 from the field, made both of her 3-point attempts and was 8 for 9 from the free throw line. She also contributed six rebounds and five assists.

The Bears shot just under 48 percent from the field, made 7 of 14 from the 3-point arc and were 23 for 29 from the foul line. Cal had just nine turnovers

Dry Gluten scored 21 points and dished nine assists and Brynna Maxwell scored 19 points for Utah, which

Cal led 18-13 after the first quarter then used a 13-0 second-quarter run to seemingly take charge. Styles, who shot 5 for 5 in the first half, had nine of the 13 points during their charge.

The Bears return to Berkeley next weekend for their final homestand of the season. Cal hosts No. 3 Oregon (23-2, 12-1 Pac-12) on Friday at 6 p.m.