California Golden Bears Athletics

BERKELEY -- With a 3-0 start for the third time in head coach Lindsay Gottlieb's tenure, No. 21 California wraps up the second week of the season against Cal Poly. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. Sunday in Haas Pavilion.

Sunday's promotion is “Thanks for Being a Golden Bear” Day, and the first 500 fans in the door will receive a free three-point foam finger.

Gottlieb's young Bears surged into the nation's top 25 following a big opening weekend with wins at Austin Peay State and No. 8 Louisville, and look to start 4-0 for the second consecutive year.

A live stream as well as live stats for Sunday's game against the Mustangs are available via CalBears.com, and follow the @CalWBball twitter and Instagram accounts for score updates along with behind-the-scenes photos and information.

FAST FACTS

• Courtney Range has scored 19 points or more in each of Cal's three games and is averaging 20.7 points per game.
• The Bears are averaging 46.3 rebounds per game, more than 10 over their opponents' 35.7 rpg.

A CALIFORNIA WIN WOULD

• Give Cal a 4-0 start for the third time in head coach Lindsay Gottlieb's career, and the sixth time in the last 10 seasons.
• Would give Cal a perfect record over the Mustangs, 6-0, in a series dating back to 1997-98
• Give Cal a 39-10 record over non-conference opponents under Gottlieb, and a 25-2 record at home in non-conference play under Gottlieb
• Give Cal a 27-2 record over California -based non-conference opponents in the last 10 seasons

RANKINGS ROUNDUP

After a 2-0 start in opening weekend, Cal cracked both polls this week, checking in at No. 21 in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls.`

A LOOK AT CAL POLY

Series Record: Cal leads, 5-0
Previous Meeting: Cal won, 87-61, on Nov. 19, 2012
Cal Poly's Last Outing: The Mustangs handed San Francisco its first loss of the season with a back-and-forth thriller, escaping 62-61 at the buzzer. Lisa Marie Sanchez paced the Mustangs with 16 points and five rebounds, added to 10 points from Beth Balbierz and nine apiece from Amanda Lovely and Lynn Leaupepe. The Cal Poly defense forced 19 turnovers, including 11 in the first half.
• Four players are averaging above 10 points per gane -- Lisa Marie Sanchez (13.3 ppg), Lynn Leaupepe (11.3), Hannah Gilbert (11) and Beth Balbierz (10.3).
• Sanchez, Leaupepe, Gilbert, Balbierz and Amanda Lovely have started all three games for the Mustangs.
• Gilbert has a team-best 38 rebounds.
• The Mustangs are shooting .362 (64-177) as a team.

LAST TIME OUT

A well played-third quarter gave the No. 21 Cal women's basketball team the lead and the Bears never gave it back as they overcame a halftime deficit to defeat UC Riverside 64-58 in their home opener and second-annual School Haas Rock matinee at Haas Pavilion.

As she has done in every game this season, Courtney Range led Cal with 20 points. Asha Thomas notched her second consecutive 16-point game, which included four crucial three-pointers.

Cal needed to work well into the fourth quarter Friday to come away with the win. A 3-pointer by Riverside's Brittany Crain cut the Bears' lead to 60-58 with 4:25 to play, but a jumper by Mikayla Cowling on Cal's next possession provided a little more breathing room and gave the Bears a four-point advantage. With under a minute to play, Range scored over her shoulder to make it 64-58 before Cal dribbled out the clock and walked out with the hard-fought victory.

NEXT UP

The Bears will join their men's basketball counterparts in Las Vegas, Nev. for a Thanksgiving feast of Cal basketball. The women will play in the South Point Shootout at the South Point Hotel and Casino, beginning Friday against Texas A&M at noon in the South Point Arena.

BEARS SWEEP PAC-12 WEEKLY HONORS

Golden Bear players swept the weekly Pac-12 women's basketball honors as junior Courtney Range was voted Player of the Week and rookie Kristine Anigwe earned a Freshman of the Week nod. Range averaged a near double-double in the opening weekend of play with 21 points and 9 rebounds per game, including a team-high 19 points in Cal's upset of No. 8 Louisville. Anigwe racked up 19 points of her own against the Cardinals on top of eight rebounds, added to 11 points and another eight boards against Austin Peay State. Against Louisville, Anigwe was nearly unstoppable, shooting at a near-perfect 8-10 clip from the floor. She currently averages 15 ppg, good for second on the team.

FRESHMEN FABULOUS IN DEBUTS

California's freshmen starters, Kristine Anigwe and Asha Thomas, have readily embraced their big roles for the Bears, beginning their Cal careers with dazzling debuts. Through the first three games of the season, Thomas is averaging 14 ppg and Anigwe is averaging 13.3 points per game, good for second and third on the team, respectively. Anigwe is also third on the squad for rebounds with 7.3 rpg, while Thomas has been exceptional from the free-throw line with an 8-10 conversion rate.

2015-16 TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Season, group and single-game tickets for the 2015-16 women's basketball season are now on sale. Season tickets start as low as $27 ($1.59 per game, 17 games) for youth and seniors and $84 ($4.94 per game, 17 games) for adult general admission tickets, while single-game tickets are available starting at $3 for youth and seniors and $8 for adults. For more information, call the Gold Standard Sales and Service line at (800) GO BEARS (462-3277) or visit the CalBears.com ticket page.

JOIN THE BEARS ON THISISCALBASKETBALL.COM

Cal's one-of-a-kind multimedia fan site, ThisIsCalBasketball.com, is back for its fifth season and once again features an unprecedented look into the inner workings of the personalities behind the Cal women's basketball's roster. Visitors to ThisIsCalBasketball.com can get an in-depth look at the people behind the jerseys, from action and portrait photos to bio videos told in their teammates' own words. New to the site this year is The Challenge, a six-part reality show-style miniseries based on the Bears' Amazing Race-esque hunt around campus.

KEEP POSTED

Stay up-to-date on the latest Cal women's basketball news by following the Bears on social media. View behind-the-scenes photos and videos and learn more about Cal and its student-athletes on Twitter (@CalWBball), Instagram (@CalWBball) and Facebook (Facebook.com/CalWBball).