California Golden Bears Athletics

BERKELEY -- No. 22/21 California women's basketball and Nebraska initiate the inaugural contest of an exciting home-and-home matchup this Saturday when the Golden Bears welcome the Huskers to Berkeley for the first time in program history. The action tips off at 5 p.m. in Haas Pavilion, live on Pac-12 Bay Area.Mary Murphy and Krista Blunk are on the call.

Saturday's game is the nightcap of a “doubleheader” with Cal men's basketball, which features the men taking on Saint Mary's at 12:30 p.m. in Haas. The women's game is Cal's annual #PackTheHaas game and promotions include free t-shirts to the first 1,000 fans, a halftime unicycle performance, post-game autographs and $1 tickets for fans who show proof of admission to the earlier men's game.

Live stats can be accessed at CalBears.com, and follow the @CalWBball twitter and Instagram accounts for updates along with behind-the-scenes photos and information.

FAST FACTS

• Cal is 3rd in the Pac-12 for field goal percentage, shooting 47 percent (235-499), and assists, averaging 16.9 apg.
• Gabby Green leads the conference in steals, averaging 3.1 per game.
• Kristine Anigwe is the conference's leading freshman rebounder at No. 5 overall with 9.3 rpg.
• Asha Thomas ranks in the Top 10 for three-point field goal percentage (no. 9, .444) and three's made (16, 2.0 per game)
• Cal and Nebraska have never played each other in Cal's 43-season history.

A CALIFORNIA WIN WOULD

• Give Cal a 42-12 record over non-conference opponents under Gottlieb, and a 27-3 record at home in non-conference play under Gottlieb
• Give the Bears seven wins in their nonconference slate every year under Gottlieb's leadership
• Give the Bears a 1-0 series lead over the Huskers after the first all-time meeting between the two teams

RANKINGS ROUNDUP

Cal checks in at No. 21 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 22 in the Associated Press poll this week following a 1-1 weekend in the Cal Classic tournament.

A LOOK AT THE HUSKERS

Series Record: Teams have not met.
Nebraska's Last Outing: The Huskers cruised to an 85-40 win over Evansville on double-digit scoring nights from four Nebraska players. Jessica Shepard led the charge with 18 points and Allie Havers notched a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards coming off the bench for Nebraska. Kyndal Clark tallied 17 points and Rachel Blackburn had 14 while the team notched 30 assists and 11 steals while shooting 52.2 percent. Nebraska's bench contributed 29 points.
• Shepard is averaging 19.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
• Theriot and Natalie Romeo are also averaging points in the double figures. Romeo averages 14.8 ppg and is 10-11 from the line. Theriot averages 10.5 points with 51 assists.
• The Huskers are averaging 81 points per game, with a season high of 96 in their home opener against Arkansas Pine Bluff.
• Nebraska's lone loss was an 88-46 defeat at UConn.

LAST TIME OUT

The Bears went 1-1 in their home tournament, the Cal Classic presented by Four Points Sheraton. For the first time since 1983, Cal failed to advance to the championship game after suffering a 64-63 loss to Saint Mary's. SMC's Sydney Raggio hit a jumper with seven seconds remaining to give the Gaels the go-ahead basket and Cal, who shot 36.1 percent for the game, could not recover. The Bears responded with a record-shattering performance, scoring an all-time best 117 points to defeat the Hornets. Cal shot a program-high 69.3 percent, while Kristine Anigwe put up an NCAA-best 43 points.

RANGE NAMED TO NAISMITH WATCH LIST

Junior Courtney Range is among the 50 women's basketball players earning early recognition on the Naismith Trophy Women's Watch List, which recognizes the top men's and women's basketball players of the year. Range's breakout junior campaign has seen her average 13.3 ppg and 6.4 rebounds per game, including leading Cal to an upset of then-No. 8 Louisville with a double-double (19 points, 13 rebounds) in opening weekend on her way to her first career Pac-12 Player of the Week honor. The Manteca, Calif. product has scored in double figures in four of Cal's eight games this season. She is among the conference's top 20 for field goal percentage (No. 12) scoring (16) and rebounding (16).

ANIGWE AT IT AGAIN

Kristine Anigwe became the only Golden Bear to earn three Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards after picking up her second consecutive FOTW honor for her stellar play in the Cal Classic. Her week was highlighted by a 43-point performance – the most of any player in the NCAA this season -- in the Cal Classic consolation game against Sacramento State. Anigwe was just four points shy of the Cal all-time record of 47. She also notched 12 rebounds in the game, marking her second consecutive double-double and third in five games after putting up a then-career-high 27 points and 12 boards against Saint Mary's on Saturday. The rookie was voted to the Cal Classic All-Tournament Team, finishing the weekend by averaging 35 points per game and 12 rebounds per game. She shot 64 percent for the weekend (29-45).

FOR THE RECORD

Cal's win against Sacramento State shattered numerous program records. Among the highlights:
• Cal's 117 points is a new all-time record for the Golden Bears. The program's previous high was 115, scored against USC in March 1989.
•The Bears shot a program-record 69.3 percent (previous best was 68.7 (44-64) vs. Weber State in December 1979.
• Cal's 52 field goals made (52-75) is also a program record, besting the record against Biola (49 made of 87) in January 1980.
• Cal's 37 assists were a new single-game record. The previous best was 34 vs. San Jose State on Nov. 28, 2014.
• With 43 points, Kristine Anigwe was the first player to score 40 or more points since Reshanda Gray's 43 against Washington State on Feb. 27, 2014. She was also the first Cal player to score 30 or more since Gray did it against USC in Feb. 2015.

NEXT UP

Game No. 4 of Cal's five-game homestand features a rare nonconference contest with UCLA, airing live on the Pac-12 Network on Dec. 21 at 6 p.m.

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).