Top-ranked UConn passes tight test with No. 14 Cal
Uconn’s Katie Lou Samuelson makes a nice drive to the paint and pump fakes the pass to get an easy bucket. (0:21)
Top-ranked UConn improved to 11-0 on Saturday after a 76-66 victory over previously unbeaten and 14th-ranked Cal.
BERKELEY, Calif. — The Cal women’s basketball team had plenty to celebrate entering the weekend: An undefeated record. The biggest home crowd in program history. A successful fundraising event on Friday night with UConn coach Geno Auriemma and Warriors coach Steve Kerr. And senior Kristine Anigwe’s latest ascent in the program record books.
The one celebration that eluded the Bears, however, was the one they wanted most.
Top-ranked UConn came to Berkeley for the first time in 26 years and kept its unbeaten season intact. But it wasn’t easy. And for the Bears, that might just be something to celebrate, as well.
The Huskies (11-0) ran their win streak of regular-season victories to 126 games with a 76-66 victory over No. 14 Cal on Saturday at Haas Pavilion.
UConn senior Katie Lou Samuelson, the California native with a large contingent of family and friends sitting in the front row behind her team’s bench, led the Huskies with 20 points, one of five players who finished with double-digit scoring as UConn hit Cal from every offensive angle but couldn’t quite put away the Bears. Samuelson added 11 rebounds for her third consecutive double-double. Prior to this stretch, Samuelson had one double-double in her first 114 career games.
Cal can find solace in its closest loss in its six-game history with UConn. The Bears staged an impressive rally late in the game, closing to within 72-66 on a layup by Kianna Smith with 1:19 to play after going on a 9-0 run and holding the Huskies without a score for more than 2½ minutes.
Anigwe blocked Napheesa Collier underneath after a Cal miss, but the Bears couldn’t convert the 3-pointer at the other end and the Huskies maintained control.
“We wanted to win this game. This is not about moral victories, but I’m proud of what I saw out there,” Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “UConn had to beat us today. They had to beat us. I loved our fight. This only raises our expectations for what we can be going forward.”
Saturday’s performance was a solid bounce-back win for UConn, which traveled to the Bay Area after a too-close-for-comfort win against Oklahoma on Wednesday. The Huskies trailed by 12 points in the third quarter before rallying and closing the game with a 13-1 run to salvage a 72-63 victory against the unranked Sooners.
It’s the first time UConn has won back-to-back games by 10 or fewer points in a season since 2008.
Steve Kerr and Geno Auriemma discussed women coaches in the NBA, athlete activism and more in a conversation moderated by Cal’s Lindsay Gottlieb.
The Huskies’ last regular-season loss came across the Bay at Stanford in 2014. But they are also having to learn to embrace the reality of playing more close games more frequently, particularly with a size-challenged team.
“Our margin for error has changed over the years,” Auriemma said. “This is one of those years where we have to be prepared to grind it out and that’s what we had to do. That’s our thing now: Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”
The Huskies were hardly at their worst, shooting 57.4 percent from the field and winning the rebounding margin 33-32. But Auriemma said he is frustrated by his team’s lack of ability to contest shots — something that showed itself in both games this week — while also being satisfied with the Huskies’ resilience and the way they built a solid lead that they held until the end.
“This is the real world, going on the road and playing ranked teams and winning a tough game. We haven’t experienced that all the time,” said Auriemma, who was whistled for a technical late in the game. “I don’t mind the real world. Though I wasn’t that happy about it with about a minute a half to go.”
Led by Anigwe, the only player in Division I to have a double-double in every game she has played this season, Cal (9-1) was looking for a barometer performance heading into what is sure to be a bruising Pac-12 schedule.
The Huskies provided one in front of a crowd of 10,818 — the largest home crowd in program history — that included WNBA champion and UConn alum Breanna Stewart, WNBA All-Star and Cal product Layshia Clarendon and the newly named coach of the Los Angeles Sparks, Derek Fisher.
Cal’s hot start — hitting 5 of 7 3-point attempts to jump to a quick 15-9 lead — was swallowed up by the Huskies’ balanced offense.
Anigwe, who is poised to be Cal’s all-time leading scorer before season’s end, pulled down the 1,000th rebound of her career in the second quarter as the Bears weathered a UConn run that provided the Huskies the lead. But the Huskies bottled her up offensively, doubling her down low and making other players hit shots. Anigwe finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds on 5-for-16 shooting from the floor. Guard Asha Thomas led Cal with 22 points, including six 3-pointers.
“I really wanted to win this game,” Anigwe said. “And I’m happy it’s not March. This is just a different team than it’s ever been and it’s disappointing to lose, because I really, really believed we were going to win.”
UConn and Cal entered the game as two of only 12 Division I teams with unbeaten records. The Bears now have their first blemish — and an 0-5 record against top-ranked teams in program history. But there is much to build on here, including the resilience Cal showed to get back into the game after a 17-point deficit against a team known for putting away opponents.
“I am proud that we put ourselves in this situation,” Gottlieb said. “We are experiencing the sting of losing, but the positive is getting a chance to see where we go from here.”