Tucson, Ariz. – Thanks to a strong effort in the second half, the Arizona Wildcats came back to top No. 21 Cal 57-52 at McKale Center on Monday night.

The win evened up Arizona's Pac-12 record at 1-1 and improved the team to 10-4 overall and 7-1 on its home court. Taryn Griffey led the way with 11 points in 20 minutes. Malena Washington added 10 points and six rebounds and LaBrittney Jones had nine points and 10 rebounds in 33 minutes. 

“It's special,” Coach Niya Butts said after the win. “Anytime you get a conference win, especially against a good team like Cal, a ranked opponent, it's sweet. We have to continue to watch film, fix some mistakes and play hard and compete. Tonight, I thought we competed hard on both ends of the court and made enough good plays to offset the bad ones.”

The Cats (10-4, 1-1 Pac-12) trailed by five at half, 27-22, but held Cal to 32 percent shooting in the second half and held the Bears to just 3 of 16 shooting from 3-point range. Arizona shot 42 percent in the second half to propel itself to a victory. 

“We executed better in the second half; ran our offense better,” Butts said. “We used the shot clock better, too. We were able to knock down some free throws as well. We shared the ball, had some really good ball movement. And we believed in each other, and I think that showed at the end.”

Arizona trailed by as many as seven in the third quarter. The Golden Bears took a 37-30 lead with 4:17 to play in the third on a layup from Courtney Range. The Wildcats got back-to-back buckets from Farrin Bell and Malena Washington to cut it to three. After a Cal bucket to go up 39-34, A'Shanti Coleman hit a layup and then Bell connected again with 51 seconds left in the quarter to pull the Cats within one.

The Golden Bears (9-4, 0-2) quickly extended their lead to five with four straight points to open the final quarter. But Griffey scored with 7:46 left to cut it to three. Forty seconds later, Dejza James pulled down an offensive rebound and put the ball back up in for a layup to cut it to one. She was fouled on the play and hit her free throw to tie the game at 43.

Cal again took the lead on a Range bucket, but Jones hit a layup off an assist from Washington and was also fouled in the process. She hit her free throw to give the Cats a 46-45 lead with 6:20 to play. Cal got a layup from Kristine Anigwe on the next possession to go up one, but JaLea Bennett connected on a jumper and then Griffey hit one with 3:59 left to put the Cats up three.

However, Range, who finished with 18, hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 50 with 3:36 to play. The Cats flexed their muscles from there.

James hit a layup off an assist from Bennett to go up two. Washington then hit one free throw with 31 seconds left to go up 53-50. Anigwe scored with 18 seconds left on a layup, forcing Cal to foul. Jones hit both of her free throws to put Arizona up 55-52 with 15 seconds left. Asha Thomas then missed a 3-pointer and Washington came down with the rebound. She was fouled and hit both of her free throws to lock down the game and secure a victory for Arizona.

Arizona shot 13 of 14 from the free throw line in the win, with Jones going a perfect 5 of 5, including two clutch ones late in the win.

“I just went to the line and said 'I'm gonna knock them down,'” Jones said. “I didn't think about it. I got up there, took my time and just handled them like normal free throws.”

It's Arizona's first win over Cal since Jan. 22, 2006. The win breaks a string of 17 straight victories by Cal in the series. It also marks the Cats' first win over a ranked team since beating No. 12 Stanford 60-57 last season.

Arizona will now head out on the road to face Washington State on Friday.

“The main thing is we have to focus; we know going on the road we aren't going to have a lot of fans cheering for us, so we have to stay together,” Jones said. “We have to create our own energy, and I think that will help us get going.”