Cal hopes to get regain its mojo, get payback against Arizona

https://twitter.com/CoachButts/status/698908948733136896

Arizona (11-14, 2-11 Pac-12) at Cal (11-13, 2-11)

• 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m ET
• Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, Calif.
• TV/Streaming: Pac-12 Bay Area, Pac-12 Arizona, Pac-12.com
• Radio: KALX 90.7 FM/KTUC AM 1400 (Both stations available via the TuneIn apps)
• Series record: Cal leads, 31-30

BERKELEY, Calif. – While Cal lost Friday 64-49 to No. 9 Arizona State and fell to No. 13 Stanford earlier this month in the annual Battle of the Bay series, the Bears have not been a team ranked squads can take for granted.

Even without star freshman forward/center Kristine Anigwe in the lineup against the Sun Devils two days ago, Cal never trailed in double digits until the last few minutes of the third quarter. Furthermore, with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter, the Bears managed to get within eight points of ASU before the Sun Devils ended regulation with a 7-0 run.

“It always hurts to lose, but I thought our effort was tremendous,” said Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb postgame. “I’m certain that if our effort was that way over the conference season, our record would not be where it is. That’s a hard thing to hear, but I also think it’s an important lesson. And we still need to get sharper and grow. Forty-nine points is not going to win you a lot of games.”

Mo Mosley matched her career-high 10 points against Arizona State on Friday. Cal’s defense held the Sun Devils to five second-quarter points.

Today, the Bears face Arizona, just one place below the Bears in the Pac-12 standings at No. 11. After missing the last game due to Gottlieb’s decision to sit her out, Anigwe is expected to be back in action on Sunday. She leads the Bears in scoring and rebounding with 19.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

Junior forward Courtney Range is also averaging double digits for the Bears with 14.4 points per game along with 6.1 rebounds per contest. Sophomore guard Makayla Cowling adds 11.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

Arizona comes into Haas after losing to Stanford 82-58 on Friday across the Bay at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal shot over 50 percent from the field and outrebounded the visitors 38-26.

The Wildcats defeated Cal Jan. 4 in Tucson, 57-52. Taryn Griffey led Arizona in that contest with 11 points in 20 minutes. However, the redshirt freshman guard took a leave of absence from the team that month. While she returned to her squad recently, she has not seen any action yet. Arizona has gone 0-7 without Griffey.

Junior forward LaBrittney Jones leads the Wildcats with 11.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Junior guard Malena Washington averages 10.6 points and 2.8 assists per game.

Cal hopes to break a four-game losing streak. The last victory for the Bears was a 75-65 victory at home on Jan. 29 against then-No. 25 Washington.

Probable Starters

• Arizona: JaLea Bennett, Malena Washington, Keyahndra Cannon, Breanna Workman, LaBrittney Jones
• Cal: Asha Thomas, Gabby Green, Makayla Cowling, Courtney Range, Kristine Anigwe