Michelle Onyiah's Big Game Helps Cal Women Beat Arizona

Golden Bears improve to 7-1, thanks in large part to Onyiah's career-high 25 points

Michelle Onyiah / Photo by Greg Fiore, KLC fotos

Michelle Onyiah poured in a career-high 25 points and added 13 rebounds to lead Cal to a 74-62 women's basketball victory over Arizona on Wednesday morning at the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs, California.

Onyiah, a grad student, shot 11-for-14 from he field, and perhaps most important was that she committed just two personal fouls. Foul problems have limited Onyiah's playing time throughout her Cal career, and she fouled out of Tuesday's game when the Bears let a 16-point, third-quarter lead slip away in a loss to Michigan State.

"I think our biggest strength was getting the ball into Michelle and the way that she finished around the rim," Cal coach Charmin Smith said . "We didn't have that yesterday [in a loss to Michigan State]. I'm really proud to see her get a career high and do what she needed. I think our bench was really helpful. Zahra [King] gave us some crucial minutes in the first half. Gisella [Maul] played some crucial minutes for us throughout the game, and I'm just really proud of the efforts that we're getting from everyone else."

The Bears improved thei record to 7-1, matching last season's 7-1 start through eight games. Arizona slipped to 6-3.

Cal continues to have turnover problems. The Bears committed 21 turnovers on Wednesday, the third straight game in which they committed 20 turnovers or more. But they made up for that by shooting 49% from the floor and getting to the foul line. Cal attempts 26 free throws and made 20 of them, while Arizona was 10-for-15 from the line.

Lulu Twidale was 4-for-8 on three-point shots, and she finished with 18 for Cal, She leads the team in scoring, averaging 18.3 points while shooting 48.3% for the season from long range.

Cal sophomore Gisella Maul scored her first 10 points of the season in Wednesday's game. She also had four rebounds as Cal dominated the boards 40-24

Cal took the lead for good when Onyiah scored from close range with 4:08 left in the third quarter. Cal pushed its lead to 12 points midway through the fourth quarter and stayed in control the rest of the way.

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