Dynah Jones scores 22 in Tulane loss vs. No. 18 Cal

Tulane was within 3 points of the Bears late before falling

SAN DIEGO – Freshman Dynah Jones erupted for a career-high 22 points and Krystal Freeman added 16, but it was not enough for Tulane to overcome a top-25 foe on Friday evening.

Tulane had the game tied at 33-33 in the third quarter, but Cal’s offense started heating up from downtown and the No. 18 Bears held on for a 65-67 victory over the Green Wave at Jenny Craig Pavilion in the University of San Diego Thanksgiving Tournament.

The loss was the first of the season for Tulane (3-1) while Cal (5-0) stayed undefeated on the year.

With Cal leading by 11 early in the fourth quarter, Jones started heating up. Already with 10 points in the first three quarters, the freshman tallied 9 straight Tulane points as part of a 9-2 Green Wave run, bringing the Bears’ lead down to 53-49 with just under five minutes remaining.

Then, after a Cal jumper went down, Freeman banked in her first career 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock to bring Tulane within 3.

From there, though, Cal scored 6 consecutive points on two jumpers and two free throws to make it a 9-point game once again with under two minutes to play. Sophomore Sierra Cheatham made one jumper and Jones added a 3-pointer late, but the Bears’ lead was too much to overcome with so little time remaining on the clock.

To get her career-best 22 points, Jones shot 4 of 5 from the 3-point line and 9 of 16 overall. Freeman scored Tulane’s only 8 points of the first quarter and also led Tulane with six rebounds. Senior Harlyn Wyatt had a team-high two blocks and totaled five rebounds, and Erin Gutierrez dished out five assists.

The Green Wave defense was very strong for much of the night, holding Cal to 10 points below its season average. And the team seemed to frustrate Kristine Anigwe, who entered the night averaging 25 points and 15 rebounds per game. She finished with four fouls and was well below her averages with 17 points and 10 boards.

The first half saw Cal jump out to an 11-point lead early in the second quarter with the Green Wave struggling on offense.

Freeman was the Green Wave’s only scorer in the first quarter with 8 points, but Jones started getting hot in the second. The New Orleans native knocked down 5 consecutive points for Tulane to cut Cal’s lead to just 6, and a Freeman and-1 play made it only a 4-point lead for the Bears. Jones had another layup moments later to bring Cal’s lead down to 21-19, and the Bears would eventually go into halftime leading just 26-23.

In the third quarter, Cal scored 7 of the first 10 points to take a 33-26 lead. But Tulane went on a 7-0 run from there with Freeman hitting two free throws, Wyatt knocking down a jumper, Cheatham nailing a layup and Lofton sinking a free throw to tie it at 33-33.

But the Bears got hot from the 3-point line after that, making three of their next four attempts from downtown to take an 8-point lead into the fourth quarter at 46-38.

During the game, Cheatham scored her 200th career point.

After taking on the Golden Bears, Tulane will challenge a different foe in San Diego on Saturday. The Green Wave are set for a test against Cleveland State on Saturday at 4 p.m. central at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.