Anigwe pours in 34 to help Bears advance
SEATTLE — Kristine Anigwe made sure that the Cal women’s basketball team wasn’t packing its bags for an early trip back to Berkeley.
The sophomore center scored 23 of her 34 points in the second half and eighth-seeded Cal overcame a sloppy start to hold off USC 71-58 in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament on Thursday afternoon.
“Everything just started clicking in the third quarter and we just got that push,” Anigwe said. “I feel like we had control most of the game, even though it didn’t look like it on the scoreboard. Within our team, within ourselves, we knew we weren’t going to go home and we were going to do whatever it took to stay here.”
The Bears (19-12) advanced to the quarterfinals on Friday at 11:30 a.m. against top-seeded Oregon State (27-3) which won the Pac-12 regular-season title and is ranked sixth nationally. Cal lost twice to Oregon State in conference play, including 71-56 in the regular-season finale Sunday in Corvallis.
USC’s Valerie Higgins tied it 52-52 with a three-pointer from the right corner, but Anigwe scored inside and then hit Cal’s lone three-pointer from the top of the key to fuel a 9-2 spurt that put the Bears up 61-54.
Anigwe, who was 12-for-19 from the field and 9-for-10 from the free-throw line, also had a game-high 13 rebounds.
“I just thought our players understood at halftime what we had to do,” Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “They came out in the second half and did it under a lot of duress. Kristine played like, I think, the best post player in the country.”
Kristen Simon had 17 points for the Trojans (14-16) who were the ninth seed after finishing in a four-way tie at the bottom of the Pac-12. Mi’Cole Clayton and Mikayla Cowling each added 12 for the Bears.
“Kristine was tough to stop,” said USC coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke. “I thought Cal made crucial baskets in the important moments of the game and we couldn’t necessarily get those stops we needed. But, I’m very proud of the effort that we gave for 40 minutes.”
Anigwe’s dominance was in stark contrast to her performance in Cal’s 63-56 regularseason win over USC in early February, when she was held to two field goals and 10 points.
Cal scored the final 10 points of the first half and seven straight after the break to turn an eight-point deficit into a 37-28 lead.
After Anigwe scored the first seven points of the third quarter, USC responded with seven points to cut Cal’s lead to 37-35. Anigwe then scored on an inside spin move and followed with a three-point play to make it 42-35. USC scored the final six points of the quarter to pull to 48-45.
The Bears erased their eightpoint deficit by holding USC scoreless over the final 3:25 of the first half to take a 30-28 lead at the break.
USC, which led 14-13 after one quarter, used an 8-2 run to extend its lead to 28-20 on Dani Milisic’s jumper. But, the Trojans missed their final four shots of the half and committed three turnovers over that span.
Cal was its own worst enemy early with seven first-quarter turnovers, but trailed by just one point entering the second period as the Trojans were just 6-for-20 from the field.
With a second meeting within a week, Cal knows exactly the challenge presented by Oregon State.
“I think the benefit of having just played them, is that we have a really competitive group,” Gottlieb said. “Anytime we lose a game, I think if I said five minutes later, let’s go run it back, I they would want do that. So, we’re looking forward to that opportunity. We know that we have a lot to prove in this tournament and no better chance to do that than against the No. 1 team in the conference.”