SOUTH BEND – The Bears of California held off several second half challenges from Iowa Sunday afternoon to advance to the second round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Purcell Pavilion at Notre Dame.
California, the No. 8 seed, held on to defeat the Hawkeyes, the No. 9 seed, 84-74.
The Bears’ quickness seem to bother the Hawkeyes throughout the contest, but particularly in the opening half when they turned four-point deficit into an 11-point advantage.California got scoring from all over the floor in the opening 20 minutes.
Guard Layshia Claredon led the way with eight pionts and a pair of assists.
Iowa got back in the game late in the first half, cutting the Bears’ advantage to 38-33 on a bucket by Samantha Logic with two minutes showing on the clock.
California was able to up the lead to nine points, 42-33, as Claredon scored the final two baskets of the first half.
In the final 20 minutes, the Bears were able to keep a comfortable advantage, but never really put Iowa away.
After trailing by 16 points with just under 12 minutes to play, the Hawkeyes chipped away at the California lead, but could never get the deficit under eight points.
Claredon led a balanced Bears attack with 16 points. Brittany Boyd finished with 15 and Reshanda Gray finished with 14 off the bench.Kamile Wahlin led Iowa with 15 points, Kelly Krei, Morgan Johnson and Theairra Taylor all finished with 14.
The Bears (25-9) will face either Notre Dame or Liberty in the second round Tuesday night.