Late Run By Colorado Too Much For Bears To Overcome

BERKELEY – A 16-3 run to end the third quarter was the difference as Colorado defeated the Cal women's basketball team 73-56 on Friday evening at Haas Pavilion.

Cal (10-7, 1-5 Pac-12) once again struggled from the field, but their Achilles heel tonight was the inability to take advantage of Colorado's miscues. The Buffaloes turned the ball over 12 times, with Cal scoring just one point off those turnovers. The Buffalo responded by scoring 25 points off 23 Bear turnovers.

Offensively, the Bears finished with three in double figures. Jayda Curry led all scorers with a game-high 16 points. She was stellar at the line going 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. Leilani McIntosh finished with 12 points in an all-around strong outing. The Bears' point guard was 4-for-6 from the floor while dishing out five assists. Jazlen Green joined them in double figures, she finished with 10 points.

For the evening, Cal shot 38.6 percent as a team, going 17-for-44 from the field. From beyond the arc, they were 5-for-22.

Colorado (16-6, 5-6 Pac-12) also finished with three in double figures. Peanut Tuitele had 15 points. Mya Hollingshed had 14 and Lesila Finau had 11. The Buffalo took advantage of their physicality inside, scoring 40 of their 73 points in the paint. Colorado shot 49.1 percent from the field on Friday evening, going 28-for-57.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After falling behind early thanks to an 11-2 run by Colorado in the games' opening minutes. The Bears battled their way back thanks to a tremendous second quarter. After being outscored 20-11 in the first period, the Bears outscored the Buffalo 18-13 to go into the locker trailing 33-29.

Early in the third, the Bears cut the deficit to one following a triple in transition by Curry.  Immediately after the scoring possession by the Bears, Cal got a steal from McIntosh but could not get the go-ahead bucket.

A layup by Colorado's Tameiya Sadler and Hollingshed increased the Buffalo lead to five. The Bears responded to the visitor's run and went on a run of their own. Trailing by eight with 5:10 to play in the third, Cal whittled the deficit to three following a triple by Green. That was as close as Cal would get as Colorado outscored the Bears 25-13 in the third.

NEXT UP
Cal returns to action on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. when Utah comes to Haas Pavilion. Sunday's contest will be the Bear's annual Play4Kay game. In the lobby, all fans will be able to fill out cards with the reason for why they fight in our collective efforts against cancer. During the designated time at halftime, fans should raise their cards to honor female cancer survivors and thrivers. Sunday's game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.