On Friday, Cal women’s basketball lost at USC by a final score of 86-76. Aliyah Mazyck (28 points) and Minyon Moore (27 points) led the way for the Trojans while Kristine Anigwe (30 points, 14 rebounds, and 2 blocks) was the top performer for the Golden Bears, keeping her double-double streak going. USC improves to 15-9 overall and 5-8 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 14-10 overall and 5-8 in the Pac-12.

USC got out to a 14-12 lead with 4:37 to go in the 1st quarter. Anigwe had 4 points and 3 rebounds, but had already picked up a foul. Foul trouble was something Cal needed to avoid in this game, so her getting a foul so early was definitely not a good thing for them. USC would expand their lead 26-19 at the end of the 1st quarter as they were shooting 10-17 (58.8%) from the field. Cal was not doing a good job defensively, giving USC too many easy looks. Mazyck was up to 8 points for the Trojans while Anigwe also had 8 points for Cal to go along with 5 rebounds.

During the 2nd quarter, things continued to go USC’s way, who opened the quarter on a 6-0 run to go up 32-19 with 8:26 to go in the quarter. Cal called an early time out, hoping to get things back on track. The timeout by Lindsay Gottlieb worked as Cal snapped out of their funk, cutting USC’s lead to one point (34-33) with 4:26 to go in the half. Anigwe was up to 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks, really stepping things up on the defensive end.

As a result of their improved play, Cal trailed by just 4 points (43-39) at halftime. Mazyck was leading USC with 15 points while Anigwe was leading Cal with 18 points to go along with her 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. The 1st half didn’t go the way Cal wanted it to, but at least they got themselves back in the game.

Cal started off strong in the 2nd half, leading 54-53 with 4:09 to go in the 3rd quarter. Anigwe was up to 22 points and 8 rebounds for Cal, doing her part to lead her team back. The only concern for her was foul trouble as she now had 3 fouls under her belt. Asha Thomas (9 points), Receé Caldwell (8 points), and Jaelyn Brown (7 points) were doing their part to give Anigwe the support she needed. Especially when she was sitting on the bench.

Cal would then proceed to go on a 10-1 run to go up 61-54 with 2:03 to go in the 3rd quarter, forcing USC to call for time. Thomas was up to 11 points as Cal was shooting 24-47 from the field. At this point, it looked like Cal was going to cruise to a victory.

USC saw things differently, finishing the quarter on a 6-0 run. Minyon Moore scored 4 of those 6 points at the foul line, starting to really heat up for the Trojans. As a result of that burst, USC was back in the game, trailing 61-60 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Anigwe was up to 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks for Cal while Mazyck was right behind her for the Trojans with 23 points.

The 4th quarter started off as a very back and forth affair with neither team able to gain control. Cal led 72-71 with 4:34 to go as Caldwell was up to 15 points for Cal, getting things going a bit from beyond the arc. Moore in turn was up to 20 points for USC, catching fire in a similar fashion to the way she did in Berkeley last month. Moore and the Trojans would finally start to gain some separation during the next couple of minutes, going up 82-76 with 40.8 to go. Cal was unable to execute on their next possession, failing to shave the Trojans’ lead. After getting a few more points in garbage time, USC walked out with an 86-76 win, getting their revenge.

For Cal, this loss is really frustrating. The hope was that after playing the Oregon schools, they would at least be toughened up to beat weaker competition, but instead they continue to slide as they are now on a four game losing streak. Cal will get a chance to right the ship on Sunday at UCLA, but that will be no easy task. UCLA is playing pretty well and will look to get a bounce back win after losing to Stanford earlier today. That game will tipoff at 4:00 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks.