By Chris Walsh | FOR THE A-J

ST. THOMAS – The California Bears held off a second-half comeback by Texas Tech on Friday to win their fifth straight game, 68-54.

It is only the second time in the Bears’ history that they have begun the season 5-0.

Third-ranked Cal came out of the gates in control, and led by Ashley Walker, was able to start the game with a 14-4 run. Walker scored the first four points of the game and then got the assist on a Kelsey Adrian 3-pointer to make the score 7-0.

Walker had 15 points and two blocks in the first half.

Texas Tech was able to cut into the lead thanks to four points by Dominic Seals, the Lady Raiders got a little momentum back when Seals blocked two straight shots by Cal’s two All-Americans.

Seals had six points and two blocks in the first half. She finished the game with 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.

Everything the Lady Raiders did, though, Cal had an answer for as it continued to build on its lead.

Texas Tech got into foul trouble at the end of the first half and Cal’s Alexis Gray-Lawson took advantage. She converted 9-of-10 free throws and helped the Bears open up a 13-point lead with a minute left.

Gray-Lawson finished the first half with 16 points.

Then the Lady Raiders’ scored four unanswered points, the last a field goal by Keisha Walker, to go into the half down by nine, 38-29. Walker had a team-high seven points at the half.

Texas Tech continued its run to start the second half, outscoring Cal 5-0 and cutting the lead to four points. The Lady Raiders held the Bears without a point for nearly five minutes.

That run finally ended when All American Devanei Hampton hit her first 3-pointer of the season in her second game back from offseason knee surgery.

The two squads continued to go basket-for-basket with Cal keeping a 10-point lead with less than seven minutes to play.

Then the Paradise Jam experienced it’s first ejection of the tournament, coming in the way of Texas Tech head coach Kristy Curry. Curry was ejected following an argument with a referee regarding a timeout that was not called.

Instead of the Lady Raiders responding to the loss of their coach, it was the Bears who began to run away with the game.

Ashley Walker made all four technical-foul free throws, then went on to score four more unanswered points to give Cal a 63-43 lead with 4:40 to play.

Walker finished with a game-high 30 points and three steals.

Texas Tech tried to make a late comeback, but the Bears were able to hold on to the 14-point win.

For Texas Tech, Keisha Walker had nine points and Maria Moore had four assists and two steals.

For Cal, Gray-Lawson had 19 points and seven rebounds.

Story used with permission from The Virgin Islands Daily News.

No. 3 CALIFORNIA 68, TEXAS TECH 54

CALIFORNIA (5-0): Adrian 1-7 0-3 3, Walker 9-14 11-11 30, Vital 1-4 0-2 2, Greif 1-4 0-0 2, Gray-Lawson 4-9 10-11 19, Federico 0-0 0-0 0, Morris 1-3 3-4 5, Hampton 1-7 2-2 5, Sneed 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 19-51 26-33 68.

TEXAS TECH (4-2): Barncastle 1-1 1-1 3, Roberson 3-9 2-2 8, Seals 4-10 2-6 10, Moore 1-8 2-2 5, Henderson 0-3 0-0 0, Walker 3-7 2-2 9, Martin 0-2 6-6 6, Mallard 1-4 2-2 4, Brown 1-5 0-0 3, Rumph 2-4 0-0 6. Totals 16-53 17-21 54.

Halftime-California 38-29. 3-Point Goals-California 4-12 (Hampton 1-1, Walker 1-1, Gray-Lawson 1-2, Adrian 1-4, Morris 0-1, Greif 0-1, Vital 0-2), Texas Tech 5-21 (Rumph 2-2, Moore 1-3, Walker 1-5, Brown 1-5, Martin 0-2, Roberson 0-2, Henderson 0-2). Fouled Out-Walker. Rebounds-California 37 (Greif 8), Texas Tech 35 (Roberson, Seals 7). Assists-California 8 (Greif 4), Texas Tech 10 (Moore 4). Total Fouls-California 21, Texas Tech 26. Technicals-Texas Tech Bench 2. A-1,510.