No. 19 Cal Women Take Apart Pitt Early, Cruise to 84-53 Victory

The Bears outscore the Panthers 23-2 to close the first half with a 26-point advantage

Kayla Williams (4) brings the ball up the floor / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Once the 19th-ranked Cal women quit turning the ball over, it was no contest.

The Bears peeled off a 23-2 run over the final 6:14 of the second quarter, forging a 46-20 halftime lead on the way to a 84-53 rout of Pitt at Haas Pavilion on Sunday.

Cal (19-4, 7-3 ACC) matched its win total of all of last season, when the Bears had their best season under coach Charmin Smith. The Bears’ seven conference victories also is a high-water in Smith’s six seasons.

Coming off a 65-52 loss to No. 15 North Carolina — the Bears’ only home defeat in 13 games — Cal was a bit sloppy at the start Sunday. The Bears turned the ball over seven times in the opening 6 minutes and trailed 8-7.

But they had just one more giveaway the rest of the half and their firepower overwhelmed the Panthers (9-14, 1-9), who reside in 17th place in the 18-team ACC.

Lulu Twidale led the Bears with 17 points, Ioanna Krimili scored 16 with four assists and Marta Suarez and Michelle Onyiah each had 12. Onyiah also collected 10 rebounds.

The Bears used a 9-0 run late in the first quarter to forge an 18-11 lead. Then, after Pitt got within 23-18, everything changed.

Khadija Faye, Pitt’s 6-foot-4 senior from Senegal and the team’s top scorer at 17.7 points per game, picked up her third foul with 5:53 left in the half and went to the bench.

That came on a made 3-pointer from Krimili, who then converted the four-point play. Krimili followed with another 3-pointer at 5:25 and when she made a lap with 3:59 left, she had scored nine points in a span of 1:54 and the Bears opened a 36-18 advantage.

Marley Washenitz made two free throws with 3:39 to play, but those were Pitt’s final points of the half. The Bears closed with a 10-0 run, fueled by a 3-pointer and two free throws by Twidale. 

Pitt missed its final 11 shots of the half and made just 26 percent (7 for 27) over those 20 minutes. Cal converted 54.5 percent and outrebounded the visitors 26-11 to create 15-0 edge in second-chance points.

Cal returns to action Thursday at Louisville (15-7, 8-3), which lost 89-71 to No. 3 Notre Dame on Sunday.