BERKELEY, Calif. – The No. 17 Arizona State women's basketball team had its five-game winning streak snapped on Friday night, falling to Cal 69-60.
Reili Richardson (12 points) and Courtney Ekmark (10 points) combined for 22 points for the Sun Devils (18-7, 8-5 Pac-12), who were outscored by Cal 44-28 in the second half.
Ekmark also led ASU in rebounds (nine) while Richardson had a team-high four assists.
As a team, the Sun Devils had only eight turnovers for the game. They also outrebounded Cal 33-31, had a 14-9 advantage in second-chance points and outscored the Bears' bench 24-0 (Kiara Russell – eight points, Iris Mbulito – six points, Sophia Elenga – six points, Jamie Ruden – four points).
Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, they simply could not get their shots to go in the second half as they made only 36 percent of their attempts over the final 20 minutes after connecting on 45 percent of their field goals in the first half.
Cal (15-11, 6-9) was led by Kristine Anigwe (20 points, 15 rebounds), Receé Caldwell (20 points, five assists) and Asha Thomas (18 points), who combined for 58 of Cal's 69 points.
At the same point the Sun Devils were unable to sustain any offensive continuity, the Bears found their groove as they shot 60 percent in the second half.
A 15-3 run by the Bears to start the second half enabled Cal to turn a seven-point halftime deficit into a 40-35 advantage after Jaelyn Brown's layup with 4:48 remaining in the third quarter.
Richardson came back with a bucket to get ASU back within three, but Cal came back with five straight points to extend their lead to eight, 45-37.
A 3-pointer by Thomas 23 seconds into the fourth quarter put the Bears up by nine, 50-41.
The Sun Devils would continue to fight, eventually getting within three after a free throw by Richardson cut Cal's lead to 56-53 with 4:12 remaining.
ASU could not draw any closer as the Bears reeled off seven straight points to take a double-digit lead, 63-53 with 2:01 remaining.
ASU had defeated the Bears in seven of eight meetings, including the previous five in succession coming into Friday's game.
Eight different Sun Devils scored in the first half to help lead ASU to a 32-25 halftime advantage.
The Sun Devils scored the first four points of the game and did not allow Cal to get on the board until 3:44 had elapsed. Robbi Ryan and Ekmark scored five points each in the initial frame to help the Sun Devils to an 18-12 lead after the first 10 minutes.
A 6-0 run by the Sun Devils in the second quarter gave them their largest lead of the game after Russell's field goal put ASU up 30-18 with 3:19 left in the frame. Cal would go on to score seven of last nine points of the half, including a 3-pointer by Caldwell at the buzzer, to get within seven points, 32-25, at the intermission.
The Sun Devils conclude their road trip to the Bay Area on Sunday (1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT) when they play at No. 7 Stanford. The game can be seen on Pac-12 Network and heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060.
Reili Richardson (12 points) and Courtney Ekmark (10 points) combined for 22 points for the Sun Devils (18-7, 8-5 Pac-12), who were outscored by Cal 44-28 in the second half.
Ekmark also led ASU in rebounds (nine) while Richardson had a team-high four assists.
As a team, the Sun Devils had only eight turnovers for the game. They also outrebounded Cal 33-31, had a 14-9 advantage in second-chance points and outscored the Bears' bench 24-0 (Kiara Russell – eight points, Iris Mbulito – six points, Sophia Elenga – six points, Jamie Ruden – four points).
Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, they simply could not get their shots to go in the second half as they made only 36 percent of their attempts over the final 20 minutes after connecting on 45 percent of their field goals in the first half.
Cal (15-11, 6-9) was led by Kristine Anigwe (20 points, 15 rebounds), Receé Caldwell (20 points, five assists) and Asha Thomas (18 points), who combined for 58 of Cal's 69 points.
At the same point the Sun Devils were unable to sustain any offensive continuity, the Bears found their groove as they shot 60 percent in the second half.
A 15-3 run by the Bears to start the second half enabled Cal to turn a seven-point halftime deficit into a 40-35 advantage after Jaelyn Brown's layup with 4:48 remaining in the third quarter.
Richardson came back with a bucket to get ASU back within three, but Cal came back with five straight points to extend their lead to eight, 45-37.
A 3-pointer by Thomas 23 seconds into the fourth quarter put the Bears up by nine, 50-41.
The Sun Devils would continue to fight, eventually getting within three after a free throw by Richardson cut Cal's lead to 56-53 with 4:12 remaining.
ASU could not draw any closer as the Bears reeled off seven straight points to take a double-digit lead, 63-53 with 2:01 remaining.
ASU had defeated the Bears in seven of eight meetings, including the previous five in succession coming into Friday's game.
Eight different Sun Devils scored in the first half to help lead ASU to a 32-25 halftime advantage.
The Sun Devils scored the first four points of the game and did not allow Cal to get on the board until 3:44 had elapsed. Robbi Ryan and Ekmark scored five points each in the initial frame to help the Sun Devils to an 18-12 lead after the first 10 minutes.
A 6-0 run by the Sun Devils in the second quarter gave them their largest lead of the game after Russell's field goal put ASU up 30-18 with 3:19 left in the frame. Cal would go on to score seven of last nine points of the half, including a 3-pointer by Caldwell at the buzzer, to get within seven points, 32-25, at the intermission.
The Sun Devils conclude their road trip to the Bay Area on Sunday (1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT) when they play at No. 7 Stanford. The game can be seen on Pac-12 Network and heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060.