Turnovers figured to be a major factor in Friday night’s women’s basketball game between undefeated Cal and visiting Auburn.

As it turned out, they ultimately weren’t decisive, though the Bears did commit a season-high 29 of them.

Somehow, the Bears outlasted the Tigers and themselves, improving to 6-0 on the season with a 63-59 victory at Haas Pavilion.

Cal led by 10 after the first quarter but turned the ball over 10 times in the second period and 12 more in the third.

They trailed 57-51 with 5 minutes left but got back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore Lulu Twidale to shut out the Tigers (3-2) until just 16 seconds remained.

“I don’t love the way we played, but I love the way we battled,” coach Charmin Smith said. “I love the way we fought and I love the way we finished.

“It shows what we’re made of to be able to play that ugly and have that many mistakes against a good team and still come away with a win. We talk about being resilient and I think that’s exactly what it was.

ESPN predicted earlier this week that the Bears would land a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament next March. This will definitely not hurt that endeavor. Auburn was listed as a no. 9 seed in the early season bracketology report.

The Bears had given up a season-worst 26 turnovers in their 23-point win over Grambling State two nights earlier and the Tigers make their living by pressuring the defense. They entered the game ranked seventh nationally in turnovers at 28.25 per game.

In a ridiculous 128-36 win over Virginia-Lynchburg, Auburn had 25 steals, forced 41 turnovers and created a 65-2 scoring advantage off those takeaways.

“They’re not easy to play,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said after his Ducks beat Auburn 70-68 on Wednesday night.

Down 49-45 at the end of three quarters, Cal trailed 53-47 after a giveaway allowed the Tigers to score their 27th point off turnovers. The margin remained six points until Twidale, who had 22 points, hit a 3-pointer with 5:02 left and then another at 4:16 to tie the score at 57-all.

A layup by center Michelle Onyiah off a feed from Ioanna Krimili gave Cal the lead for good with 3:16 to play. The Bears closed out the win, in part because they had just four turnovers in the fourth quarter.

“We’re talking about pressure bursting tubes or making diamonds,” Smith said. “The pipes leaked a little, but at the end of the day we became diamonds.”

Krimili, the NCAA’s current active leader in career 3-pointers, made three of them in the first half en route to scoring 14 points. She also had six assists for the second straight game.

Onyiah survived foul trouble and contributed 11 points, eight rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals. A year ago, she collected 19 rebounds in the Bears’ win at Auburn.

Marta Suarez had eight points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots and Kayla Williams chipped in seven points and three steals.

Cal prevailed despite 29 of its 71 possessions ending in a turnover. The Bears’ defense held Auburn to 37 percent shooting, including 1 for 5 on 3-pointers, and squeezed 18 turnovers from the visitors.

Cal shot 50 percent in the first half, but its 22 field goal attempts were 14 fewer than the Tigers managed. It was the result of 13 lost possessions on turnovers that yielded 10 Auburn points and the visitors’ 11-1 edge in offensive rebounds in the half.

Cal finished the game with a 39-34 rebounding advantage.