Golden Bears make history in rout of Virginia Cavaliers

March 23, 11:53 PMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

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California's Natasha Vital, left, Devanei
Hampton (20) Ashley Walker (44) and Alexis
Gray-Lawson celebrate their 99-73 victory over
Virginia in a second round game in the NCAA
women's college basketball tournament in
Los Angeles on Monday, March 23, 2009.
(AP Photo/Francis Specker)

For the second-straight game, the California Golden Bears (27-6) played as good as they had earlier in the season when they were the #3 team in the country.  Considering their next opponent could be 34-0 Connecticut, that's probably very fortunate for Cal.

The Golden Bears overpowered the Virginia Cavaliers (24-10) Monday night at the Galen Center, in Los Angeles, Ca., beating them easily 99-73.  The win gave the Bears their first Sweet 16 experience in the history of the program.  They await the winner of the UConn -vs- Florida (24-7) game on Tuesday afternoon.

Future WNBA pro, Ashley Walker, once again was the engine that moved the Bears forward as she secured a double-double on a career-scoring night.  Walker went 14-20 from the field and 4-6 from the line to tie her career-best 32 points on the game.

That wasn't all that Walker did, as usual.  Along with the game-high in point totals, she pulled down 10 rebounds, dished two assists, and had a highlight-worthy block.

Devanei Hampton wasn't far behind Walker in her contributions, if she was behind at all.  Hampton scored 22 points, cleaned the glass for a game-high 11 rebounds, had five steals, and a block of her own.

It takes good play by an entire team to score 99 points against an opponent as good as Virginia.  Four players scored in double-digits for Cal, but everyone on the team continued to play by their tournament mantra - UNITY.

I would call us the big 11 because it took all 11 players to come out here and to get 99 points.
- Alexis Gray-Lawson

Gray-Lawson shot 7-15 from the field, 4-10 from the three (where she had been one for her last eighteen previously), and 4-4 from the line for 22 points, one rebound, and one assist.

Much of the scoring was attributed to Cal's unselfish passing.  Lauren Greif had nine assists and five rebounds to go with her 10 points, while Natasha Vital recorded four assists, two rebounds, and a steal with her five points.

It was a tough loss for the Cavaliers who were attempting to get win number 700 for head coach Debbie Ryan (699-298).  Monica Wright did her best to carry the Cav's who were without two starters for most of the first half.  Aisha Mohammed was called for two quick fouls by the 17:10 mark of the first half and sat out until their was only 5:44 left in the half with the Cavaliers down 32-22.  Mohammed was able to get 10 points, eight rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block in her limited time on the floor.

Brittnee Millner, who was suspended for the first game of the tournament due to a team violation, sat out until there was less than two minutes to go in the first half.  In her 19 minutes, she scored five points, had two steals, two assists, and a rebound.

For Virginia, Monica Wright led the way with 26 points on 12-24 shooting, had one assist, and five rebounds.  Lyndra Littles, who averages 20.2 ppg, was held to only 13 points and six rebounds for the night.

We faced a really tough Virginia team. A lot of athleticism and their quickness you saw in transition. (I am) just really excited about how we are playing basketball right now. The composure we had, our defense, rebounding, free throws, everything; I just thought it was one of those great games. I am excited to be going on to the next step.
- Cal head coach Joanne Boyle after the win

Cal will travel to Trenton, New Jersey where they'll play on March 29, 2009.

Technicals: None
Officials: Brian Enterline, Lisa Jones, Scotty Hermann
Attendance: 686

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