By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Wet spots on the floor, silver shoes, experienced players showing their nerves were part of an unusual night of basketball with Auburn and California Friday night at Haas Pavilion.

That describes the first 38 minutes of action. Then, in the final two minutes of close game, things really became unsettled with missed defensive assignments that led to missed layups by Auburn, followed by missed free throws by Cal.

A water-logged, rain-weary crowd was made to pause and likely ask, “Who wants this?”

The answer was Cal, who overcame a couple of two-possession deficits in the final quarter to prevail, 63-59, and improve to 6-0 on the season.

“I wasn’t proud of how we played, but I’m proud of how we fought,” coach Charmin Smith said.

After falling behind 57-51 with 5:11 remaining, the Bears responded with back-to-back 3-pointers from Lulu Twidale to tie, the start of a 12-2 finishing run that left the visiting Tigers empty handed.

“We missed a couple of layups there when we’re up, and we became impatient toward the end,” Auburn coach Johnnie Harris admitted.

What was frustrating for Harris was invigorating for Smith, who found the silver lining to match her silver shoes in what was a grit over substance-type ballgame.

“I think we really locked in at the end when we needed to and made some crucial plays, and got some crucial stops in order to get the win.”

Twidale led Cal with 22 points, and Ioanna Krimili added 14. The pair combined to make seven threes, all of which seemed to come at critical times with Auburn bearing down.

The Tigers and Bears currently project to qualify for the NCAA Tournament with the only previous loss by either team belonging to Auburn at Oregon on Wednesday. But the fast season starts by both have come without late, close game experience. That was apparent as the mistakes arose in the final two minutes with the game on the line.

“You learn from it. You learn from these losses, and you get better,” Harris said.

Deyona Gaston (16 points) and Taylen Collins (13) were the leading scorers for Auburn. Tahlia Scott, who scored 28 points against the Ducks, and 26 against Arkansas-Little Rock, was held to 7 points on 3 of 9 shooting.

The Bears next take the court in Palm Springs at the Acrisure Arena, meeting Michigan State on Monday morning at 11:00am.