Arizona women’s basketball continued its slide over the weekend when it traveled to the Bay Area to take on Stanford and California. The Wildcats lost both matchups, falling to 7-10 on the year and 0-6 in conference play.
On Sunday, the UA put up a tough fight against Cal before eventually losing 68-56 at Haas Pavilion.
Down by as much as 17 points, Arizona rallied all the way back in the second half to claim a two-point lead with 5:47 to go. However, Cal took command from there, outscoring the Wildcats 19-8 in the final five minutes.
The game followed an all too familiar pattern for Arizona this season. The UA has continuously fallen behind early before making a valiant comeback, only to see it fall short.
This time, the rally was sparked by the Wildcats’ ability to get to the charity stripe. As a team, they knocked down 19 of 23 free-throw attempts.
Arizona played with a more aggressive attitude in all areas, whether it was attacking the Bears on the offensive end or going after rebounds and loose balls.
The UA crashed the glass better than it had all season, winning the rebounding margin 45-42, including 18 offensive boards that translated into a number of second-chance opportunities.
Point guard Candice Warthen led the Wildcats with 14 points but only made 5-20 field goal attempts. UA guard Charise Holloway and forward Breanna Workman also reached double digits, each scoring 12 points.
In the final minutes, with the game in the balance, Arizona just couldn’t come up with enough baskets to keep pace with the Bears.
As well as the UA played in some areas, Cal was still able to dominate inside, led by 28 points from forward Reshanda Gray.
The Bears also had a prolific day at the free-throw line as they made 21-27 attempts. For the Wildcats, it was a close loss in what has already been a grueling conference season.
On Friday night, Arizona fell 77-47 to No. 13 Stanford at Maples Pavilion.
Workman recorded a season-high 12 points on 6-8 shots, but it was not enough, as the Cardinal cruised offensively.
Led by a balanced scoring attack with five players in double-digits, Stanford shot 51 percent from the field, including nine makes from outside. The Cardinal also won the rebounding battle 37-30.
Down low, Arizona held its own as each team scored 34 points in the paint. However, the Wildcats could not get enough good looks to stay in the game, shooting 36 percent overall.
Holloway, who grew up in Northern California, had a nice homecoming as she scored 10 points and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. Those were the team’s only makes from behind the arc.
Once again, the Wildcats plagued themselves by committing 18 turnovers, which led to 25 Stanford points. The Cardinal also capitalized off of 12 second-chance points.
Stanford has now won 25 consecutive meetings against Arizona.
Now, Arizona must regroup before it takes on nationally ranked Oregon State at home on Friday.
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