Box Score Berkeley, CA—Réjane Vérin scored 18 points, and Lauren Holt added 17 Friday afternoon, but the UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team went cold late, dropping a 71-56 decision at Cal.
The Golden Bears got on the board on their first possession of the game, courtesy of a Kristine Anigwe free throw, but Holt drained a three-pointer on the Highlanders' next trip down the floor, sparking a 10-0 UCR run. Holt scored five points in the run, while Clémence Lefebvre added three and Skyler Lewis chipped in with two.
Cal missed three shots and turned the ball over once during the run, but got back on track with 6:51 to go in the first quarter on a lay up by Jaelyn Brown.
Back-to-back Golden Bears three-pointers sliced the UCR advantage to three, 12-9, and Cal regained the lead with 3:57 remaining on a lay up by Courtney Range.
Both teams struggled offensive for the rest of the quarter, but Simone DeCoud's jumper with 13 seconds to go sent the Highlanders to the bench with a 21-19 lead at the end of one.
After being outshot in the first quarter 56.3% to 41.2%, the Golden Bears flipped the script in the second, scoring 19 of the first 24 points after the break to lead, 38-25 with 1:59 to go before intermission. Cal made 60.0 percent of its shots in the second, while UC Riverside made just 21.4 percent en route to a 41-29 halftime deficit.
Vérin and Holt each played all 20 minutes in the first half, and both scored 10 points. The Highlanders were without Michelle Curry for most of the half, and the game, as she picked up four fouls in just five first half minutes.
The Golden Bears bennefited greatly from their height advantage in the post, outrebounding UCR 21-14 in the first half, and 47-31 for the game. Cal scored 30 of its 71 points in the paint compared to 16 of 56 for UC Riverside.
The Golden Bears maintained a double digit lead throughout the entirety of the third quarter, but the Highlanders scored the last five points of the period to trail by 10, 55-45.
Holt sandwiched a pair of buckets around a Marina Ewodo three-pointer to start the fourth quarter, as UC Riverside took advantage of two of the Golden Bears' 16 turnovers on the day to make it a six-point game, 58-52. A Lefebvre jumper with 7:31 on the clock dropped the lead to four, 58-54, but Cal scored 13 of the final 15 points as the Highlanders could mange just a single Vérin jumper over the final seven-plus minutes.
Cal's Anigwe led all scorers with 28 points on 12 of 23 shooting, while Cowling added 16.
UC Riverside returns to the Inland Empire for Thanksgiving Week where they will start a three-game home stand by taking on South Dakota on Friday, November 25 at 5 pm PT.
