Bears Look to Bounce Back vs Wildcats

BERKELEY- Coming off a narrow loss to No. 18 Arizona State on Friday night, the Cal women's basketball team looks to get back to its winning ways on Sunday, hosting Arizona at 1 pm at Haas Pavilion. This will be the second meeting of the season between the Golden Bears (14-5, 2-5 Pac-12) and Wildcats (11-7, 2-5 Pac-12). Cal kicked off Pac-12 play in victorious fashion, beating Arizona 74-64, on December 29 in Tucson to improve to 13-0 on the season. Senior Courtney Range led the Bears with 17 points while junior Penina Davidson registered her first career double-double with 12 points and a personal-best 14 rebounds.

Since the victory over the Wildcats, the Bears have lost five of their last six, including a narrow defeat to No. 18 Arizona State on Friday night at Haas Pavilion. Cal carried a one-point lead into halftime, but was outscored 34-21 in the second half as the Sun Devils handed the Bears their third consecutive home loss. Sophomore point guard Asha Thomas scored in double-figures for the second consecutive game and classmate Kristine Anigwe grabbed 15 rebounds, but it was not enough as Cal was held to fewer than 50 points for the first time all season.

Arizona is 11-7 on the season, coming off a 73-46 loss to No. 10 Stanford on Friday night at Maples Pavilion. Senior forward LaBrittney Jones led the Wildcats with 11 points while Malena Washington added 10 points of her own for the visitors. Jones had a season-high 24 points against the Bears earlier this season, going 9-22 form the floor and adding six rebounds. The Wildcats have lost 19 of their last 20 meetings with the Bears, including nine consecutive losses at Haas Pavilion.

More than 30 former members of the Cal women's basketball team will be in attendance for Sunday's Alumnae Day and will be recognized in a special halftime ceremony.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Sunday's game will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks, with Krista Blunk and Julianne Viani on the call. Fans can also keep up with the action by listening to KALX 90.7FM Berkeley or following online with live stats and @CalWBBall on Twitter for updates throughout the game.

A LOOK AT THE WILDCATS
Arizona is 11-7 on the year and 2-5 in Pac-12 play, coming off a 73-46 loss to No. 10 Stanford on Friday evening. The Cardinal jumped out to an early lead, outscoring the Wildcats 28-6 in the first period. LaBrittney Jones and Malena Washington scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, as Arizona was held to a season-low 46 points. The Wildcats have lost three of their last four road games, the lone win coming at Utah on January 8.

Jones, a 6'1" senior from Cedar Hill, Texas, leads Arizona in both scoring (15.4 PPG) and rebounding (7.4 RPG), while Washington is second on the team in scoring (13.2 PPG) and has one of the best free-throw percentages in the conference this season, shooting 81.8 percent from the charity stripe.

Head Coach Adia Barnes is in her first season with the Wildcats. A 1998 graduate of Arizona, Barnes is still the all-time leading scorer in program history with 2,237 career points and won a WNBA Championship with the Seattle Storm. Barnes spent the last five seasons at Washington as an assistant coach, helping the Huskies to the Final Four last season.

Arizona finished 11th in the Pac-12 last season, going 3-15 in conference play . The Wildcats were picked to finish 12th this season in both the preseason media and coaches polls. Both polls had Cal finishing sixth.

LAST TIME OUT
Despite a staunch effort on the defensive end, the Bears came up short on Friday night, falling to No. 18 Arizona State, 54-45, at Haas Pavilion.

Sophomore point guard Asha Thomas paced the Bears with 13 points on 3-7 shooting from three-point range while classmate Kristine Angiwe added 15 rebounds and three blocked shots, despite being held to a career-low eight points. Anigwe was flagged for her fifth foul with 3:47 left in the game and the score tied 42-42. The Sun Devils took advantage of Anigwe's absence, closing the game on a 13-3 run to secure the victory.

With the loss, Cal falls to 1-3 on the season against ranked teams, two of those losses coming the Arizona State. The Sun Devils defeated the Bears 72-62 in double-overtime on January 1, snapping Cal's 13-game winning streak. The Bears have lost three straight at home and five of their last six overall.

NEXT UP
The Bears will take to the road next weekend, visiting No. 8 Washington on Friday, January 27 at 6 p.m. PT before facing Washington State on Sunday, January 29 at Noon PT. Both games will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks. The Huskies are currently tied atop the conference standings with a 6-1 record and are 18-2 overall on the season. Washington is led by senior guard Kelsey Plum, the leading scorer in the nation at 31.2 points per game and the only player, man or woman, in Pac-12 history with 3,000 career points.

2016-17 TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW
Season, group and single-game tickets for the 2016-17 women's basketball season are now on sale. Season tickets start as low as $25 ($1.47 per game, 17 games) for youth and seniors and $75 ($4.41 per game, 17 games) for adult general admission tickets. Single-game tickets are available starting at $5 for youth and seniors and $8 for adults, while flex and partial plans are also available purchase. For more information, call the Gold Standard Sales and Service line at (800) GO BEARS (462-3277) or visit the CalBears.com ticket page.

REBOUNDS FOR RAMA
Rama N'diaye, a member of the Cal Women's Basketball team from 2006-2011, was diagnosed with Stage 2 Breast Cancer this past July at the young age of 29. As a result of the side effects of her treatments, Rama has not been able to consistently work and therefore has sustained significant financial hardship.

It is our goal as a Cal Family to help support Rama in her fight against Breast Cancer emotionally, spiritually and financially. We've introduced Rebound for Rama to allow our extended Cal Family to participate in that end goal, once again proving that our support extends well beyond the hardwood. Donations may be made based on the number of total rebounds that the current Cal team secures over the course of this season or as a flat rate.

Visit www.pledgeit.org/ReboundsForRama to learn about Rama's fight and please consider joining us in this effort.

JOIN THE JOURNEY: THE RETURN OF THISISCALBASKETBALL.COM
Cal's one-of-a-kind multimedia fan site, ThisIsCalBasketball.com, is back for its sixth 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 personalities behind the jerseys, from action and portrait photos to bio videos and conversations between current players and alumnae.

STAY POSTED
Keep 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).