Nov 17, 2008 1:18 am US/Pacific
Walker Leads No. 9 Cal Women Past Nevada
BERKELEY (AP) ―
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Cal basketball coach Joanne Boyle had publicly criticized her players prior to Sunday night's win.
AP
Ashley Walker scored 27 points to surpass the 1,500 mark for her career and also grabbed 17 rebounds, leading No. 9 California past Nevada 67-53 on Sunday in its final tuneup before a showdown with fifth-ranked Rutgers on Friday.
Walker scored seven straight points for her team during one second-half stretch and hit 9 of 13 free throws. Alexis Gray-Lawson added 15 points, freshman Casey Morris came off the bench to score 12 and Lauren Greif had eight points and eight rebounds for Cal.
Despite a cold performance on offense, the Golden Bears bounced back two days after coach Joanne Boyle publicly criticized her players and challenged them to do more on the heels of a subpar 24-point season-opening victory against Albany. She went as far as to say: ''I did not see one good thing that we did in this game. I cannot tell you one good thing about my team.''
Cal came out with more energy, established its transition game, pressured the ball to get steals and hit the boards to limit Nevada's chances on offense. But the scrappy Wolf Pack kept pushing until the end, briefly pulling back within 10 on Megan Cherry's baseline 3-pointer with 4:04 left. Cal shot 34 percent.
The game with Rutgers in Haas Pavilion will be the Bears' last home game until Dec. 6. Boyle isn't sure whether Devanei Hampton, the 2007 Pac-10 Player of the Year, will be ready by Friday as she recovers from right knee surgery. Rama N'diaye, Cal's other injured post, isn't expected back until later in the month or even early December following surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. She was hurt in the team's first-round NCAA victory over San Diego in March.
Johnna Ward scored 14 points with four 3-pointers as Nevada's lone player in double figures.
The Wolf Pack, who beat Eastern Washington 64-49 in their opener Friday night, faced a nationally ranked opponent in non-conference play for the first time since joining the Western Athletic Conference in 2000. Nevada is picked to finish fourth in the WAC this season.
When Walker scored at the 12:18 mark of the first half, it put her over 1,500 career points. She received a warm ovation from the crowd when the milestone was announced during a timeout moments later. Walker's two free throws at 11:29 started a 12-2 Cal run that helped the Bears to a 31-17 halftime lead. Ward hit consecutive 3s for Nevada late in the half.
Cal has won the last five meetings between the schools and is 8-3 all-time in the series.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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