On Thursday, Cal women’s basketball defeated Washington State 77-58 in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. Kristine Anigwe led the way for the Golden Bears with 27 points and 16 rebounds while Chanelle Molina was the top performer for the Cougars with 24 points.
Cal got off to an early 12-11 lead with 4:21 to go in the 1st quarter. Kianna Smith (5 points) and Jaelyn Brown (4 points) had the hot hand early for the Golden Bears while Borislava Hristova (4 points) and Maria Kostourkova (4 points) were the ones pacing the Cougars. Washington State was shooting 5-10 from the field while Cal was shooting 5-13.
Washington State would close out the first quarter on 10-6 run to go up 21-18. Chanelle Molina really caught fire for the Cougars, finishing the quarter with 9 points shooting 3-6 from the field, 1-2 from 3-point range, and 2-2 from the foul line. Kianna Smith (5 points) and Receé Caldwell (5 points) were the ones leading Cal as Kristine Anigwe remained relatively quiet with 4 points. Cal had to get her going.
After having a quiet first quarter, Anigwe really came alive to start the second quarter, scoring 10 points within the first five minutes. With 14 points and 6 rebounds, Anigwe had Cal up 30-22 with 4:40 to go until halftime. As for Molina, after having 9 points in the first quarter, she hadn’t yet scored in the second quarter, failing to build on her strong start. With things on the verge of slipping away early, the Cougars called for time, hoping to get back on the right track.
The timeout by the Cougars worked as they would close out the half on a 12-6 run as Molina found her groove again, finishing the half with 14 points on 5-11 shooting from the field. As a result, Cal led by just two points (36-34) at halftime behind 17 points and 6 rebounds from Anigwe on 8-16 shooting from the field.
At the half, Cal had 12 assists and just 4 turnovers, doing a good job of getting different people involved. They also had a 23-16 advantage on the boards, doing a good job of pummeling the Cougars inside. Where they were struggling was perimeter shooting and defending the perimeter. Cal was shooting just 3-12 from 3-point range while Washington State was shooting 4-10. As a result, Washington State was able to keep the game much closer than it should have been considering Anigwe’s breakout performance in the second quarter.
With 6:09 to go in the third quarter, it was still a tight game as Cal led 44-40. Kianna Smith was up to 13 points for the Golden Bears on 5-7 shooting from the field and 3-5 shooting from 3-point range. As for the Cougars, it continued to be the Chanelle Molina show, who was up to 20 points on 8-14 shooting from the field. Without her stellar performance, this game wouldn’t have been close.
With 3:17 to go in the third quarter, Cal led 52-45 as Anigwe was up to 21 points and 8 rebounds. Molina got another bucket for the Cougars, putting her at 22 points. Cal was hoping to close out the quarter strong and give themselves a bit of a cushion going into the fourth quarter.
Cal would finish the quarter relatively strong, leading 58-51 going into the fourth quarter. Kristine Anigwe (23 points & 12 rebounds) and Chanelle Molina (24 points) were leading their respective teams well. The difference was Anigwe was getting more help from her friends, namely Receé Caldwell (14 points) and Kianna Smith (13 points). No one else for Washington State was in double figures as Borislava Hristova (9 points) was their second leading scorer. It was clear that if Washington State was going to pull off the upset, Molina was going to need more support in the fourth quarter.
Cal started off the fourth quarter strong on a 6-1 run, leading 64-52 with 7:24 to go. Anigwe (25 points), Smith (15 points), and Caldwell (14 points) continued to lead the charge while McKenzie Forbes finally got on the board with a bucket. Cal was starting to put the game away as Washington State continued to fail to give Molina the help that she deserved.
Cal would go on to close out the game strong, as Anigwe would finish with 27 points and 16 rebounds while Smith (15 points), Caldwell (14 points), and Brown (12 points) finished in double figures. After a close first half and relatively close third quarter, Cal dominated the Cougars in a similar fashion to what they did on Sunday.
Up next for Cal is a rematch with Stanford in the quarterfinals. That game will tipoff on Friday at 6:00 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks.
Note: C.J. West returned for Cal after previously being in concussion protocol.
