Last-place Cal upsets No. 13 Arizona women on road, 55-54
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Jaelyn Brown’s putback with 13.7 seconds remaining lifted last-place California to a 55-54 win over No. 13 Arizona on Sunday in a regular-season finale.
CJ West went to the line for Cal (11-18, 3-15 Pac-12) and missed both free throws but Brown was there for the go-ahead basket before Aari McDonald missed a 3-pointer on the other end.
Arizona (23-6, 12-6), coming off an overtime victory over No. 4 Stanford, led 52-49 when Brown was fouled on a 3-pointer and made all three free throws with 1:11 to go. She added another free throw with a half-minute left for a lead. McDonald made two at the line to grab the lead back with before Brown’s winner.
The Wildcats didn’t get their first lead until a McDonald bucket early in the third quarter after Cal led by as many as 14 in the second quarter. Arizona made only one of its first 15 shots, a drought that lasted through the first 14 minutes.
Jazlen Green led Cal with 17 points, making three 3-pointers. Brown had 10 points.
Cal shot only 30% but Arizona was only at 36% and made only 1 of 16 from the arc.
McDonald scored 17 points, Cate Reese had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Dominique McBryde had 12 points.
Cal will open play in the conference tournament in Las Vegas on Thursday against the No. 5 seed. The fourth-seeded Wildcats have a bye into Friday’s quarterfinals.