Cal dominates Washington 82-58, wins fourth straight
BEARS WIN! California coasts to an 82-58 win against Washington! Next Up: WSU at 5pm Monday. #DoOneMore pic.twitter.com/Aru34Ur512
— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) February 1, 2015
BERKELEY, Calif. – Cal (15-5, 7-2 Pac-12) continued a win streak started two weeks ago by defeating Washington 82-58 in front of a Saturday afternoon crowd at Haas Pavilion that included Seattle Storm president Alisha Valavanis and new head coach Jenny Boucek. Cal took control early in the game with an 8-0 run after two three-point daggers from sophomore guard Mercedes Jefflo and a layup from senior point guard Brittany Boyd.
Cal coach Gottlieb on Mercedes Jefflo's play: "Jefflo's been really putting the work in…understanding when to attack & when to shoot"
— Hoopfeed.com (@hoopfeed) February 1, 2015
Jefflo was among three Golden Bears scoring in double digits. She finished with 19 points, four rebounds and six assists. Senior Reshanda Gray tallied a double-double with 27 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore forward Courtney Range, who returned to action on Jan. 16 after missing seven games due to a knee injury, had 10 points plus three rebounds.
The last time the two teams met, a Jan. 11 game in Seattle, Washington edged Cal 79-77.
“I’m really, really proud of them but not surprised,” said Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb about Cal’s dominant win. Saturday “And that’s not in any way a knock on Washington. Washington is really good, they score the ball as well as anybody in the country. But it’s more of a statement of where we can be. We’re really locked in on what we’re trying to do. It was a great week of preparation.”
Cal’s fast start prevented Washington (16-5, 5-4) from gaining any significant momentum throughout the contest. Washington enjoyed a few spurts of offensive success but was stifled by Cal’s defense and simply outmuscled and outhustled by the Bears.
After a layup by Gray at 9:51 in the 1st half to give Cal a 19-8 lead, Washington never got closer than 10 for the duration of the game.
At the half Cal led 36-26 and Jefflo had already scored 10 points while Gray finished the period with eight points plus seven rebounds. Washington senior point guard Jazmine Davis had 10 points at the break.
Davis was her team’s high scorer, finishing with 19. Sophomore guard Kelsey Plum had 17 points plus three assists and redshirt junior forward Talia Walton contributed 13 points plus six rebounds.
Cal came out of the break giving Washington more of the same, widening their lead to as much 34 twice with under five minutes to go.
Overall, Cal outrebounded Washington 42-30 and scored 40 points in the paint to 22 by the Huskies. The Bears also shot 51 percent from the floor while Washington shot 34 percent.
The victory was the fourth-straight win for the Bears after a successful road trip to the Los Angeles area beating USC (67-53) and UCLA (72-57). They host Washington State Monday at 5 p.m. PT while the Huskies head across the Bay to face No. 12 Stanford on the same day at 7 p.m. PT. The Cardinal defeated the Cougars, 75-56 Saturday afternoon in Palo Alto. Both of Monday’s games will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
Other Pac-12 Scores from Saturday
- Oregon 67, UCLA 65
- #7 Oregon State 68, USC 35
