On Heels of Big Win Over Alabama, Cal Women Survive Trip to Pacific

Host Tigers lead and hand around but Bears improve to 9-1 after a 74-66 win at Stockton

Marta Suarez against Alabama / Photo by CK Edwards, Cal Athletics

Ioanna Krimili scored 22 points and Marta Suarez added 21 as the Cal women’s basketball team avoided a stumble two days after one of its most significant wins in years, claiming a 74-66 victory over host Pacific at the Spanos Center in Stockton.

On the heels of their 69-65 win over unbeaten and 19th-ranked Alabama, the Bears improved to 9-1 in their best start in five seasons under coach Charmin Smith.

The Bears are now 27-2 all-time vs. Pacific, including wins in their past seven matchups. The Tigers (5-5) are regarded as a solid opponent, a middle-of-the-pack team from the West Coast Conference.

Cal is off until Friday, when it opens play in its inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference season against rival Stanford. The game will be played at Haas Pavilion, tipping off at 7 p.m.

Pacific came ready to play on Saturday. The Tigers led 21-19 after the first quarter before the Bears outscored them 17-7 in the second period to forge a 36-28 halftime advantage.

Cal held the hosts at arm’s length throughout the second half but never could take complete control. And when Pacific’s Elizabeth Elliott converted a layup off a pass from Anaya James, the Bears’ lead was down to 67-61 with 1:06 to play.

Lulu Twidale nailed a 3-pointer off a feed from Kayla Williams, pushing the Bears back into a nine-point advantage with 43 seconds to go.

Pacific’s Liz Smith responded with a 3 off an assist from James and the Tigers clawed within 70-64 with 36 seconds left. But the game got no closer  and Cal shot 4-for-4 from the free throw line over the final 25 seconds to ice the win.

Michelle Onyiah added 15 points for Cal and combined with Krimili and Suarez to shoot 18 for 37. But the rest of the Bears converted just 4 of 21 attempts, including 1 for 15 on 3’s. Williams contributed five points, six assists and three steals.

The Bears surrendered 20 turnovers but forced 27 from the Tigers, including six each from starting guards Anaya and Smith.

“I thought we were way too sloppy today,” Smith said. “I didn't like our performance at all and I thought we were playing with fire. I think this is a good wake up call for us. We got up for the big ones and we tried to really message that this was a really, really big game.

Pacific is a really good team and Bradley [Davis] is a really good coach. It took us a couple of quarters to really figure that out, but I'm glad that we could weather the storm and come away with the win. At the end of the day that's all that matters. I think we'll learn from this and be better prepared particularly when we're going on the road.”

Smith scored 21 points and Elliott had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the hosts.