The Cal women’s basketball team dominated in the paint and used a 20-2 first-half run to take charge in a 100-46 victory over Long Beach State on Thursday night at Haas Pavilion.

The Bears (2-0) transformed an early 11-7 lead into a 31-9 advantage with a surge that spanned the first and second quarters and featured seven layups or putbacks following offensive rebounds.

On a night where preseason All-ACC senior guard Lulu Twidale started slowly, her teammates more than picked up the slack. All nine Cal players who took the court in the first half scored as the Bears sprinted to a 44-20 lead at the break.

The Bears outscored the 49ers 19-2 to start the second half, using a 17-0 run to make it 63-22 with 4 1/2 minutes to play in the period. A 30-5 edge in the third period pushed Cal’s lead to 74-25 entering the final 10 minutes.

Twidale scored 26 points and made six 3-pointers in the Bears’ 80-58 win over Washington State on Monday. She had just two points and shot 1 for 6 in the first half against the 49ers, who were making their season debut.

But Cal reserves outscored their Long Beach counterparts 17-0 in the half on the way to the Bears getting 49 points from their bench.

The Bears, who won their 21st consecutive non-conference home game, return to action Sunday, when they take on San Francisco (1-0) at the Lake Tahoe Classic at Stateline, Nevada. Tipoff is 11 a.m.

Twidale scored 13 points in the third quarter and wound up with a game-high 15 before sitting out the fourth quarter. She made three 3-pointers, giving her nine in two games and extending her career program record to 245.

Sophomore forward Taylor Barnes scored 14 points, as did Jovana Jevtovic, a 6-foot-4 freshman center from Serbia, who posted a season high in 18 minutes off the bench. 

Missouri transfer Shannon Dowell flirted with a triple-double by assembling 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Senior guard Gisella Maul also scored 12 points.

Cal outrebounded Long Beach 27-13 in the opening half and 48-31 for the night.

The Bears, coming off back-to-back seasons of 20-plus victories, wound up producing 50 points in the paint while still converting 44 percent (11-for-25) from 3-point range.

Cal shot 53.3 percent overall and held the visitors to 29.5 percent.

Long Beach is starting over under new coach Minyon Moore, a former TCU assistant. The 49ers were 5-24 a year ago, without a non-conference victory over a Division I opponent.

This is the first of five straight road games opening the season for Long Beach, which was picked to finish in a tie for 10th in the 12-team Big West Conference.

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