No. 24 Cal women use balance to down Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Asha Thomas led a balanced attack with 17 points and the No. 24 Cal women won their sixth straight, defeating cold-shooting Kentucky 62-52 on Thursday.

Mikayla Cowling added 15 points, including 10 in the second quarter that was critical for the Bears (9-2). Kianna Smith, who matched Thomas’ three three-pointers, added 14 points and Penina Davidson had 13.

“I’m very intentional with scheduling and we wanted to get an SEC team on the road to give our players that challenge,” Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “I hoped we would be ready for it and I think we proved that today we were.