No. 24 Cal Rolls In Raising The B.A.R. Championship Game – California Golden Bears Athletics

BERKELEY – Even after the No. 24 California women’s basketball team nailed 10 3-pointers in the first half, the Golden Bears only led by five at the break against Temple, but they turned up the defense in the second half limiting the Owls to just 32.4% from the field to come away with an 89-63 win and the Raising The B.A.R. Invitational title at Haas Pavilion on Sunday evening. Ioanna Krimili and Lulu Twidale had six triples each to help Cal (13-1, 1-0 ACC) knock down 16 (on 45.7% shooting) for the game, while holding Temple (6-5) to just six from downtown. Krimil totaled 11 triples over the tournament and was named the MVP while Twidale was named to the all-tournament team.
 
The top 3-point shooting duo in the country, Twidale now has three games with five or more 3-pointers, while Krimili has two. Krimili was ranked sixth in the country in made 3-pointers and Twidale was ranked eighth coming into tonight’s contest and were the only duo in the top 20. They finished with 20 points each with Kayla Williams adding 17 and Michelle Onyiah chipping in with 12.
 
With the win, Cal is now off to its best start of the season since 2016-17 when it opened the season at 13-1.
 
After falling 4-0 in the first quarter, Twidale hit a 3-pointer to get the Bears on the board which sparked a 10-0 run aided by a Krimili triple and a Williams layup. Twidale connected on her second 3-pointer followed up by another Williams layup put Cal up 20-12 with under two minutes to go. Temple responded with a 9-0 run to go down 20-19 going into the second quarter.
 
Twidale connected on three consecutive 3-pointers to open the second quarter to power a 9-2 run and put Cal up 29-21 at the 7:03 mark.  The Bears however committed four turnovers to help the Owls get within three points before Krimili nailed her third triple of the game at the 3:36 mark. She followed up with another one from nearly 30 feet as time expired to give Cal a 40-35 lead going into the break.
 
Onyiah scored the first six points of the third quarter for the Bears and Williams knocked in a triple to put Cal up 10 points at the 6:14 mark. Cal broke the game open using an 11-0 run powered by 3-pointers from Krimili and Williams to go up 60-41 with under three minutes left in the quarter. The Bears got up by as many as 28 points in the fourth quarter to coast to the win.
 
“I’m just really proud of where we are as we wrap up non-conference play at 13-1,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. “This is a good spot to be in as we get to go home and get some rest. I thought this Temple team was really good and shot the ball well in the first half. We just had to keep pushing and pushing and we were finally able to bust through. This is a good game for us being a little shorthanded and having people step up to do a really good job to get a great win.”
 
Temple was led by Tristen Taylor’s 17 points.
 
All-Tournament Team
Ioanna Krimili (MVP)
Lulu Twidale
Taylor Donaldson (Fordham)
Tiarra East (Temple)
Meri Kanerva (Xavier)
 
UP NEXT
Cal has next week off before hitting the road for ACC play and taking on Clemson on Jan. 2 at 4 p.m. PT.
 
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