BERKELEY – Senior standout Kristine
Anigwe kept her double-double streak alive and helped the Cal women's basketball team remain unblemished on the season, leading the Bears to a 69-45 win over UC Santa Barbara on Sunday afternoon at Haas Pavilion. The Golden Bears (9-0, 0-0 Pac-12) extended their winning streak to nine games in a row as Anigwe recorded her ninth double-double in as many games this season, finishing with 18 points and 16 rebounds in 21 minutes of action.
A three-time All-American honorable mention, Anigwe grabbed 11 offensive rebounds against the Gauchos, one shy of her career best and tied for the second-most by any player in Division I basketball this season. The 6'4" senior now has 994 career rebounds and is on the cusp of becoming fifth player in program history with 1,000 rebounds and just the third with both 2,000 career points and 1,000 career boards.
Tal Sahar scored a game-high 20 points of the Gauchos (2-8, 0-0 Big West) on 6-10 shooting from three-point range.
The Bears extended their home winning streak to six in a row behind strong team effort on both sides of the ball. Ten different players scored for the Bears in the win, while Cal held UCSB to just 45 points on 27.9 percent (17-61) shooting from the field. Cal also finished with a season-high nine blocked shots and held the Gauchos to just 21 points in the second half.
After a slow offensive start and a second quarter which saw Sahar go 5-5 from beyond the arc, the Bears went on a 23-3 run from late in the second quarter to midway through the third to put the game away. Anigwe played just four minutes in the second half and secured her nation-leading ninth double-double of the year with 2:10 remaining in the second quarter.
Senior guard
Mo Mosley scored a season-high eight points in 22 minutes of action as Cal got a season-high 30 points of production from the bench. Sophomore forward
Alaysia Styles added eight points of her own to go with eight rebounds and two assists. Â Eight different Bears recording at least five points in the win, including sophomore
Archer Olson, who tallied the first points of her collegiate career by knocking down a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter.
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The 13
th-ranked Bears return to Haas Pavilion for one of the most highly-anticipated matchups of the season, hosting the top-ranked Connecticut Huskies at Noon PT on Saturday, Dec. 22. The matchup will be televised on Pac-12 Networks and marks the first time in program history that the Cal women will host an AP No. 1 opponent. Cal and UCONN met last season in Storrs, the start of a four-year home-and-home series between the schools.
"We've played our way into this being a very important game, which is fantastic," said Cal head coach
Lindsay Gottlieb. "I think we're deserving of the big crowd that's going to be here at Haas as we play the number one team in the country. I think everything we've done all year is so that we're ready to challenge ourselves."
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