Defense and Walker lead the Bears beyond the first round

March 21, 10:45 PMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

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The Bears will rely on unity to get to the Final Four
(AP Photo/Francis Specker)

For the third week in a month, the Lady Bears (26-6) took a trip down south to play at the home of the USC Trojans - the Galen Center.  Even though the Galen Center isn't their home, the Bears played as if they owned it, beating the Fresno State Bulldogs (24-9) 70-47.

Ashley Walker scored 13 of the Bears' first 16 points as she led the way with 21 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and three blocked shots.  The Cal defense took care of the rest, holding the Bulldogs to 32.1% from the field and 22.2% from beyond the arc.

Cal, clad in new, matching Nike Huarache's did much to prove that it wasn't just the shoes.  Fresno State came into the game successful on 10 three-point shots a game 31 times dating back to last season and led the nation by averaging 9.5 three-point field goals per game.

Fresno State's three-point stat-line?  4-18, with the last successful attempt coming with 6:04 remaining in the game and the Bulldogs down by 16, 38-54.

Prior to the game, in Natasha Vital's NCAA Tournament Blog Entry, she mentioned Cal's commitment to playing as a team.

Everyone's wearing our team shirts. We came up with the idea for the t-shirts at a team meeting a couple weeks ago. We thought we weren't playing as a unit as well as we could be so we came up with the phrase "The game is simple...with unity." We can do anything together.

Playing together is important when you need to play great defense and defense was exactly what the game-plan was for the Bears coming into the game.  Head coach Joanne Boyle spoke on the game-plan after the game.

The game-plan was to take away the three more so than anything and I think we did a really good job.

Next up for the Bears will be Virginia (24-9), who defeated Marist (29-4) 68-61.  The game will be Monday night at 6:30pm PST at the Galen Center.

Technicals: None
Officials: Wanda Szeremeta, Peter Contreras, Bryan Enterline
Attendance: N/A

For more on the Cal Bears, check out their 2009 NCAA Tournament Blog!

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