GOLDEN BEARS ROUT TAR HEELS, 92-72
Cal Wins First Round, Moves On to Battle #1 Baylor
WACO, Texas – There have been plenty of games this season in which Kristine Anigwe has shouldered most of the load for the Cal women's basketball team. Saturday afternoon in the biggest game of the season, Anigwe and the Bears reaped the reverse benefits. Anigwe had a sometimes uneven performance, but a handful of her teammates turned in some of their best efforts of the season and the Golden Bears overcame a sloppy start to rout North Carolina 92-72 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Cal, the No. 8 seed in the Greensboro Region, advances to Monday's second round against top-seeded and host Baylor. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. PT on ESPN2. Anigwe ultimately was productive with 18 points and 22 rebounds – her 33rd consecutive double-double. She also became the Pac-12's all-time single-season rebounding leader with 528. But she had only two points at halftime when the Bears (20-12) fought back from a 12-point second-quarter deficit to trail just 40-37 at the intermission. Anigwe's 22 rebounds are the most ever by a Pac-12 player in an NCAA Tournament game and the sixth-highest single-game total in women's NCAA Tournament history. Senior guard Asha Thomas led Cal with 19 points while junior Jaelyn Brown added 16 points on 6-for-7 floor shooting, including 4-for-5 from 3-point range. Junior CJ West had a season-high 13 points to go along with eight rebounds. Graduate transfer Recee Caldwell matched her career-high with 12 assists. "I was really grateful that my teammates had my back," Anigwe said. "It's not a one-player team. I felt like I wasn't doing enough in the first half and I just had to change my mindset and just focus on defense. I have to trust that my teammates are going to have my back. I don't know if I could have performed in the second half like I did without them." In a game that was full of individual and team superlatives for the Bears, it's hard to believe they were down 22-11 at the end of the first quarter after shooting just 31 percent from the field and allowing the Tar Heels to convert 53 percent of their shots. But Cal shot 60 percent during the final three quarters while holding North Carolina to a 40 percent clip after the first. The Bears ended up with a season-high in points (92) and assists with 23. "I'm proud of this group because they figuratively punched first and we had to find a way," Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "We needed everyone to step in and that's what happened. I thought we really locked in after the first quarter and I'm really proud of our entire team and various people stepping up individually and as a group." Brown tied a season-high in 3-pointers made and had her second-highest scoring output of the season. West finished in double-digits for just the fourth time this year. "CJ and Jaelyn have been great for us all year," Cal guard Kianna Smith said. "I think people pay attention to Kristine, (Thomas) and (Caldwell) because they've been scoring for us all year, but CJ and Jaeyln are great offensive weapons for us, and they showed up big-time today." Anigwe didn't score her first points until three minutes had elapsed in the second quarter. Moments earlier, the Tar Heels had built a 25-13 lead with 8:48 remaining in the first half. But Cal whittled the deficit away and took its first lead on a steal and layup by Thomas to make it 41-40 just 51 seconds into the third quarter. The Bears wore down UNC's morale as well after going nearly the length of the court in 3.1 seconds on a beautifully designed play that culminated with a 3-pointer that was banked home by Brown as the third quarter clock expired. That extended Cal's lead to 63-56, and the Bears began the fourth quarter with a 14-2 run to put the game away. "Things like that are huge momentum shifts," Gottlieb said. "The three points on the board is really important. Four to seven (point lead) is a big difference, but it also gave us a fun, emotional lift that felt like the magic of March." The Bears are hoping for more magic Monday night.
