University of Washington
California
Washington Pulls Past Cal In Final Minutes, 69-68
January 28, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2001
BERKELEY, Calif. A second half surge and a five point lead with 7:51 remaining in the game were not enough to beat the Huskies Saturday night as Washington regained the lead with 1:18 to play, defeating California 69-68 inside Haas Pavilion. Junior center Ami Forney erupted with a huge double-double for the Bears, throwing down a career-high 27 points while pulling down 14 rebounds, also a career-high, in 36 minutes of work.
"Ami Forney was all over the court tonight," said California head coach Caren Horstmeyer. "From an offensive perspective, she made a difference. She was aggressive and wanted the ball."
With just 1:37 left on the clock, senior guard Courtney Johnson scored on a fast-break lay-up to hand California (6-11 overall, 2-5 in the Pac-10) a two point, 68-66, lead. The Huskies came right back down the floor, missing on their first shot but grabbing the rebound and kicking the ball out to sophomore guard Loree Payne who promptly hit a three-pointer, the final points of the game, giving Washington (12-6 overall, 5-3 in the Pac-10) the 69-68 win.
California put up two shots with 12 and six seconds remaining respectively, both failing to drop, before Forney committed a foul with five seconds on the clock. Senior forward LeAnn Sheets missed both resulting free throws for Washington, giving the Bears a glimmer of hope, but the Bears final shot with a second remaining again would not fall.
Senior guard Kenya Corley recorded 20 points for the Bears while Johnson tallied 11 points, six assists and six steals.
"To lose a game this close is hard, but we're building and playing hard as a team," said Horstmeyer. "We made the game close tonight. A year ago we wouldn't have made it so close."
Washington went into halftime with a comfortable 39-30 lead thanks to a strong first half start that never saw the Huskies trailing. Senior guard Megan Franza recorded a game-high 30 points for the Huskies, with 22 of her points coming in the first half, shooting 11-for-17 from the field and 6-of-10 from behind the arch. Freshman center Andrea Lalum finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Washington shot 42 percent as a team over the course of the night, besting Cal's 35 percent showing.
California hits the road next week, traveling to USC Friday for a 7:00 p.m. match-up with the Trojans before heading across town to take on UCLA Sunday at 3:00 p.m.
