No. 24 Cal Women Do Enough to Beat Fordham

Bears commit 21 turnovers, but manage to improve to 12-1 despite the absence of Marta Suarez

Michelle Onyiah / Photo by Robert Edwards, KLC fotos

The Cal women's basketball team played a game as a ranked team for the first time in six seasons on Saturday, but the 24th-ranked Bears did not look like a top-25 team for much of its 69-53 victory over Fordham at Haas Pavilion.

The Bears (12-1) showed they may have problems when they're not hitting their three-point shots and when they face a team that applies defensive pressure.

Cal finished with 21 turnovers, including 10 in a sloppy second quarter, and after making its first three three-point shots, the Bears shot just 5-for-28 from long range the rest of the way. Cal entered the game ranked 11th in the country in three-point shooting percentage (39.1%)., but the Bear sot just 25.8% from distance on Saturday, and that included a long three-pointer by Ioanna Krimili with 1:10 remaining in the game and Cal well ahead.

Cal played without Marta Suarez, the team's third-leading scorer at 12.7 points a game, and her absence due to injury was noticeable.

Krimili led Cal with 19 points, while shooting 5-for-12 from three-point range, and Michelle Onyiah added 15 points on 6-for-6 shooting despite playing just 22 minutes because of foul trouble.

Lulu Twidale entered the game as Cal's leading scorer, averaging 15.6 points per game while hitting 44.3% of her three-point shots. But after making her first three-point attempt 33 seconds into the first quarter, she went 0-for-8 from behind the arc the rest of the game. She still finished with 10 points.

Fordham (6-4) came into the game as a heavy underdog, having been picked to finish tied for ninth in the 15-team Atlantic 10 in the preseason poll.

Taylor Donaldson kept Fordham in the game by scoring 24 points.

On Sunday, Cal will play the winner of the Xavier-Temple game.

Cal burst out to an early 13-2 lead and led by 14 points late in the first quarter. But a sloppy second period, when the Bears committed 10 turnovers, allowed Fordham to get within three points midway through the period.

Cal took control late in the third quarter, and led by as many as 18 points with 3:53 left in the fourth quarter.