California
1-0,0-0ACC
Washington State University
0-1,0-0Pac-12
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington St. | 11 | 13 | 21 | 13 | 58 |
| California | 16 | 21 | 23 | 20 | 80 |
11/2/2026 10:45 PM | Women's Basketball
Twidale Posts Game High 26 Points, 8 Rebounds, 6 3-Pointers
BERKELEY – The California women's basketball team opened the 2026-27 season with a resounding 80-58 win over Washington State at Haas Pavilion on Monday evening. Lulu Twidale finished with 26 points (9-of-16), 6 3-pointers (6-of-9) and eight rebounds – all of which were game highs to give the Golden Bears (1-0) their third straight win over the Cougars (0-1).
It marked Twidale's 17th 20+ point game and the seventh game with at least six 3-pointers in her career. Shannon Dowell impressed in her debut for the Bears as she finished with 17 points along with seven rebounds. Ruby Perkins also grabbed seven rebounds along with Albina Syla who had six to round out the four players who brought down at least six boards in the game as Cal outrebounded Washington State 48-34.
The Bears were aggressive in the paint all night long going to the line 21 times (18-of-21), led by Gisella Maul who went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe.
Taylor Barnes and Twidale hit back-to-back 3-pointers to power an 8-0 run and give Cal a 12-9 lead with just under four minutes to play in the first quarter. Dowell then grabbed a rebound and took it coast to coast to extend the Bears' lead 16-9 at the 1:49 mark and Cal would end up taking a 16-11 into the second quarter.
With 7:32 left in the second quarter, Naya Ojukwu came off a down screen and Maul tossed it up to her for an alley-oop layup to extend Cal's lead to 24-15. The Bears held the Cougars to a stretch of 1-of-8 until they made a layup at the 4:00 mark. The Bears went cold themselves until Twidale drilled a free-throw jumper at the 2:00 mark to keep Cal ahead 32-24. She then followed up with her third triple of the game with just two seconds left to give Cal a 37-24 lead going into the break.
The Cougars got back into the game with consecutive 3-pointers to cut the lead to 42-34 with just under six minutes left to power an 8-0 run, but Dowell responded and converted a spinning layup to end it. Maul followed up with back-to-back steals on Washington State's next two possessions which led to four points. The Bears' biggest lead to that point came at 18 when Twidale and Zara Russell nailed consecutive triples to put Cal up 54-26 at the 1:48 mark.
Cal never let the lead slip below 12 in the fourth quarter and coasted to the win.Washington State was led by Eleonara Villa's 20 points.
"I'm glad to get off to a decent start with a win at home and it was kind of cool to see Washington State again," Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. "We knew [Eleonara] Villa was really good. I just really wanted to challenge the team after Vanguard to be better defensively. I think we were holding them to 35% from the field which is a good start for us, but we still have a lot of work to do to be where we want to be. So, just got to keep working hard in practice to continue to improve."
NEXT UP
Cal stays home to face Long Beach State on Thursday at 6 p.m. PT.
STAY POSTED
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