Chris Coduto/Arizona Daily Wildcat Wildcats junior guard Joy Hollingsworth makes her way to the basket in a game earlier this season. Hollingsworth dropped 23 points, while getting eight rebounds, six assists and four steals in the Wildcats' 80-76 upset of the Golden Bears.

When her teammates needed her most, Jessica Arnold stepped up.

The sophomore guard scored a season-high 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-6 from behind the arc, in leading the Wildcats (7-12, 3-6 Pacific 10 Conference) to an 80-76 win over California (13-6, 5-4) in Berkeley yesterday, their first road win this season.

"We've been waiting all year," Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "This is the Jessica Arnold we saw last year. It was just great for her, and the team needed it. It was just great."

Up three, 79-76, with sophomore guard Ashley Whisonant on the line looking at her second free-throw attempt, Bonvicini called Arnold over to the bench. Playing with only two fouls, she had a foul to give.

After Whisonant, who finished with 15 points, missed the shot, Cal freshman guard Alexis Gray-Lawson grabbed the rebound with seven seconds left, heading up court to look for the game-tying 3-point attempt.

Before Gray-Lawson could get there, Arnold fouled her, putting the freshman at the line. Gray-Lawson, who scored 16 points, missed both shots.

"I told Jess Arnold to foul," Bonvicini said. "It's sort of a controversial call, but I felt, you know, we're up three, and I didn't want the game to go into overtime, and I knew they weren't shooting well from the free-throw line.

"I knew it was going to be a gutsy call, but we were fortunate that it worked out for us," she added.

Perhaps it was fitting that after the second of Gray-Lawson's attempts missed, it was Arnold who pulled down the rebound and was fouled, putting her on the line to seal the victory.

She hit one of those crucial free throws, all but ending the chances at a Cal comeback with two seconds left.

"We played a lot better (than Thursday's 82-51 loss to Stanford)," Bonvicini said. "We played with heart and with courage and with great character."

In what might have been the team's best half of basketball all season, the Wildcats outscored the Golden Bears 51-38, shooting 59 percent from the field, and hitting 7-of-11 3-point shots.

Junior guard Joy Hollingsworth led all scorers with 23 points and also pulled down eight boards, dished out six assists and collected four steals for the Wildcats, who had a season-high five players in double figures scoring.

Freshman center Devanei Hampton led Cal with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Playing without starting forwards sophomore Ché Oh (concussion) and freshman Amina Njonkou (injured foot), Arizona got help from freshman guard Kelsey Burns, who netted career-highs in points (10) and rebounds (3). Senior guard Natalie Jones also finished with 10 points for Arizona.

"We just felt it would have been really easy to make excuses here," Bonvicini said. "You had to find something inside today and put that energy and heart and that courage on the line today."

Arizona continues its longest road trip of the season Thursday when it faces a tough Washington team that split with the Oregon schools this weekend and beat the Wildcats 66-54 Dec. 31 in Tucson.

"Normally for an Arizona team, 3-6 (in the Pac-10) is horrible," Bonvicini said, "but considering the adversity we've had this season, I'm very, very proud."

Notes

The loss snapped a nine-game home winning streak for the Bears. ... Bonvicini said that she hopes to have Oh back in time for the road trip to Washington and that Njonkou is a day-to-day decision. ... Arizona started four guards: Whisonant, Jones, Hollingsworth and freshman Malia O'Neal. They were joined by forward Anna Chappell. ... Both Hollingsworth and Jones fouled out, Hollingsworth at the 2:31 mark, and Jones with 28.2 seconds to play.