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PULLMAN, Wash. – A five minute stretch early and a historic day out of California's Kristine Anigwe proved too much for Washington State (9-20, 4-14) to overcome Sunday in the regular season finale at Beasley Coliseum as the Golden Bears (18-11, 9-9) closed out the Cougs, 80-58. A see-saw first quarter quickly went sour for the Cougars in the afternoon matinee as Cal used a 15-3 run in the final five minutes of the period to break open the game early and put WSU in a hole it would not recover from. Despite their best efforts, the Cougars' big three of Borislava Hristova, Alexys Swedlund, and Chanelle Molina could not match the record output of the Bears' all-american as Anigwe dominated the paint and the game. Just as the Cougs appeared to fight their way back into the contest, cutting a double-digit lead to just six late in the second quarter, Anigwe led a surge by the Bears over the final four minutes of the half that grew the lead to double-digits once again where it would stay for the remainder of the day. After a stalemate in the third, the Cougs would close the gap to 10 early in the fourth, but would be unable to claw their way into single digits as Anigwe kept WSU at arms length both literally and figuratively. She would score the Bears' first seven points of the final frame while kickstarting an 8-0 run that finished off any hopes of a fourth-quarter comeback for the Cougars. Anigwe would finish the fourth with nine points to close out the contest with 32 points and a Pac-12 record 30 rebounds.
Coach Ethridge Quote of the Game
"Well what do you say. I've not seen a player that can get a 30/30 day and (Anigwe) just creates a lot of problems. It's not just her because she's so good you have to double and they've just got really timely three-point shooters and people who can space the floor and make you pay when you do double and are late on closeouts. Again, a hard team for us to match up with, probably a hard team for a lot of teams to matchup with."
Moments of the Game
PULLMAN, Wash. – A five minute stretch early and a historic day out of California's Kristine Anigwe proved too much for Washington State (9-20, 4-14) to overcome Sunday in the regular season finale at Beasley Coliseum as the Golden Bears (18-11, 9-9) closed out the Cougs, 80-58. A see-saw first quarter quickly went sour for the Cougars in the afternoon matinee as Cal used a 15-3 run in the final five minutes of the period to break open the game early and put WSU in a hole it would not recover from. Despite their best efforts, the Cougars' big three of Borislava Hristova, Alexys Swedlund, and Chanelle Molina could not match the record output of the Bears' all-american as Anigwe dominated the paint and the game. Just as the Cougs appeared to fight their way back into the contest, cutting a double-digit lead to just six late in the second quarter, Anigwe led a surge by the Bears over the final four minutes of the half that grew the lead to double-digits once again where it would stay for the remainder of the day. After a stalemate in the third, the Cougs would close the gap to 10 early in the fourth, but would be unable to claw their way into single digits as Anigwe kept WSU at arms length both literally and figuratively. She would score the Bears' first seven points of the final frame while kickstarting an 8-0 run that finished off any hopes of a fourth-quarter comeback for the Cougars. Anigwe would finish the fourth with nine points to close out the contest with 32 points and a Pac-12 record 30 rebounds.
Coach Ethridge Quote of the Game
"Well what do you say. I've not seen a player that can get a 30/30 day and (Anigwe) just creates a lot of problems. It's not just her because she's so good you have to double and they've just got really timely three-point shooters and people who can space the floor and make you pay when you do double and are late on closeouts. Again, a hard team for us to match up with, probably a hard team for a lot of teams to matchup with."
Moments of the Game
HIGHLIGHT | Bobi Buckets from the corner, Cougs on a 7-0 run early#GoCougs pic.twitter.com/LbNljtvqDY
— WSU Women's Hoops (@WSUWomensHoops) March 3, 2019
HIGHLIGHT | Now you see her, now you don't#GoCougs pic.twitter.com/mhZ5g1410j
— WSU Women's Hoops (@WSUWomensHoops) March 3, 2019
HIGHLIGHT | Slick passing leads to the corner 3 by Swedlund#GoCougs pic.twitter.com/xU0Pxn7zDP
— WSU Women's Hoops (@WSUWomensHoops) March 3, 2019
Things You Need To KnowHIGHLIGHT | Help defense leads to the big time transition 3#GoCougs pic.twitter.com/17p6hlNrV4
— WSU Women's Hoops (@WSUWomensHoops) March 3, 2019
- The loss closed out the regular season for the Cougars. Cal picked up their fourth-straight victory over WSU, sweeping the season series for the second-straight year.
- Borislava Hristova led the way with 21 points marking her 14th 20-point game of the year. In addition, Hristova surpassed the 1,000 minute mark on the year finishing the game with 1,029 minutes played, second most in a single season only to Chanelle Molina who pushed her record total to 1,095 minutes played on the year.
- Senior Alexys Swedlund, playing in her final game at Beasley Coliseum, scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while adding two rebounds and four steals. Molina ended the day with 11 points to go with five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Swedlund moved into 13th place on the Cougs' all-time scoring list with 1,151 career points.
- WSU committed a season-low six turnovers in the game while forcing 14 Cal miscues.
- Cal was led by Kristine Anigwe's 32 points on 14-of-22 shooting. The all-american center also grabbed a Pac-12 record 30 rebounds, tying Chantel Osahor's record set against the Cougs two seasons prior at Beasley Coliseum. Anigwe's 30/30 game was the first in NCAA Women's Basketball since Jennifer Butler accomplished the feat for UMass in 2002.
- Anigwe recorded her 30th-consecutive double-double in the game, setting the Pac-12 record for consecutive double-doubles.
- Behind Anigwe, Kianna Smith added 12 points while Recee' Caldwell chipped in 11.
- Cal posted a 50-to-22 advantage on the glass in the game while owning a 29-to-7 advantage in second chance points.
- The Cougars and Bears will meet again Thursday, March 7, in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas as the 7/10 matchup. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The winner of Thursday's game will take on two-seed Stanford Friday in the Quarterfinals.