BERKELEY, Calif. – The Cal Bears jumped out to double-digit lead against the Gaels on Saturday afternoon, and kept the Saint Mary's Women's Basketball team from getting any closer than five points in a 74-69 loss at Haas Pavilion.
 
A couple of scoring droughts led to the Gaels trailing the Bears the entire way, though they would make a game of it at multiple points in the contest. Cal finished the first quarter on a 7-0 run to go up 29-17 after the first frame.
 
Saint Mary's would trail by as many as 13 early in the second quarter, but would chip away at the deficit and cut it to five on a Tayla Dalton layup. The Bears would get their lead back to eight, but a Maia Jones three pointer with 20 seconds to go in the half made it a 38-33 game at the break, as SMC won the quarter 16-9.
 
But a scoring drought of 2:39 would hit the Gaels early in the third quarter, and the Bears would push their lead back up to 13 with 4:52 to go in the third at 50-37. The lead would remain at 13 points for the Bears with under a minute to go in the third, but Zeryhia Aokuso would hit a layup and then a turn-around jumper at the buzzer to make it a 10-point game.
 
Another Aokuso jumper to start the fourth cut the deficit to eight points, but Cal would go on a run again. The Bears would lead by as many as 15 with just over four minutes left to play, before SMC could trim it to eight points on a pair of Nadia Bernard free throws with 1:46 to go, as the Gaels ran out of time to pull off the comeback.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Dalton finished with a game, and season-high 19 points, and a team-leading six assists. Aokuso was right behind her with a career-high 18 points, and tied for the team lead in rebounds with Leia Hanafin at five.
 
Though Saint Mary's was 8 of 14 in that first quarter, Cal was 13 of 16 when they built their double-digit lead.
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels return home to face Montana State on Friday, December 8 at 6:30 p.m.
 
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