All season long, the Cal women’s basketball team’s post tandem of center Talia Caldwell and forward Gennifer Brandon created headaches for opponents on the glass. On Sunday afternoon, the two rebounding juggernauts simply overwhelmed Arizona.
“If I can tip (the ball), (Brandon) can get it,” Caldwell said. “If she can tip it, I can get it,” Caldwell said. “One of us is going to get it.”
Cal prevailed at home by a 91-86 score behind Caldwell’s 20 points — a career high — and 12 rebounds and Brandon’s 22 points and 13 rebounds.
But in the beginning of the game, the Wildcats (11-12, 3-9 in Pac-12) were red-hot from the field, knocking down all field goals until the 15-minute mark in the first half.
“They hit their first five, but it felt like their first 25 to me,” Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “They are a streaky team, and and they put all their offensive abilities on display today.”
However, Cal (21-2, 11-1) began to make a run by forcing three straight turnovers. Behind heightened defensive intensity in which the Cal defenders were all over the Arizona offenders, the Bears cashed in a 7-0 run to take a 23-17 lead by the 11:49 mark.
The Cal lead ballooned thanks to Brandon and Caldwell dominating the point and finishing high-percentage shots. With 4:42 left in the first half, guard Layshia Clarendon missed a baseline jumper, but Caldwell was waiting under the basket. One moment, there were defenders draped all over Caldwell; the next, she was completely free, using her superior size and strength to rip down the rebound and execute the putback.
A scary moment occurred around the 1:40 mark, when Clarendon limped to the locker room with a hip pointer and would not return before the end of the half. With the tension mounting, Boyd was able to find guard Afure Jemerigbe for a 3-pointer at the buzzer, pushing the Cal lead to nine at 46-37.
After halftime, Arizona began to claw back into contention. At 13:54, the Wildcats pulled within four following a flagrant foul by Reshanda Gray. Clarendon, who had remained in the locker room to nurse the injury, finally returned and nailed a corner 3-pointer following Gray’s foul — the most important three of her 20 points. The Wildcats fought back, initiating a 19-9 run to pull within seven at 82-75 with only 2:39 remaining in the game.
“Credit Arizona — it would have been easy for them to come in here and lay down once we got a lead,” Gottlieb said. “They certainly did not do that.”
When Cal was in need of a big play, the paint tandem was able to get the job done.
Caldwell came up with an offensive rebound with 2:18 remaining and was fouled, making one shot. Caldwell’s missed second shot was collected by
Brandon, who earned and made two free throws to finally put the game out of reach with at 85-75.
“(Caldwell) has come to work every day, but there aren’t a lot of twenty-point games,” Gottlieb said. “Of course she came out tonight and got 20 to make sure I knew she could do that too.”
Austin Crochetiere covers women’s basketball. Contact him at [email protected].