Cal Continues Road Trip vs Washington State

PULLMAN, Wash. – Coming off a loss to No. 7 Washington on Friday night, the Cal women's basketball team looks to bounce back on Sunday, visiting Washington State at Noon PT. The Golden Bears (15-6, 3-6 Pac-12) have won eight of the last nine meetings with the Cougars (8-12, 3-6 Pac-12), including a 74-71 victory last season at Haas Pavilion. Kristine Anigwe led the Bears with 27 points while classmate Asha Thomas dished out 10 assists in the victory on January 29, 2016.

Facing their first top-10 opponent of the season on Friday night, the Bears ran into a Washington offense that was firing on all cylinders. The 7^th-ranked Huskies connected on 18 three-pointers, led by a 10-19 performance from beyond the arc by junior Natalie Romeo. Anigwe paced the Bears with 23 points and nine rebounds as Cal held Washington's Kelsey Plum, the nation's leading scorer at 31 points per game, to 24 points. However, the Huskies' offense was too much to handle as the Bears dropped back-to-back road games for the first time this season.

Washington State has lost four straight and is coming off a 76-54 loss to No. 10 Stanford on Friday night. The Cardinal jumped out to a 41-24 lead at halftime and shot 51.9 percent (27-52 FG-FGA) from the floor, compared to 29.0 percent (20-69) from the host Cougars. Guards Alexys Swedlund and Pinelopi Pavlopoulou led Washington State with 13 points apiece. The Cougars started the season 5-2 before suffering a rash of injuries to key players, and have since lost 10 of their last 13 games.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Sunday's game will be available via livestream or by tuning in to the Cougars radio call. Fans can also follow the action online with live stats and @CalWBBall on Twitter for updates throughout the game.

A LOOK AT THE COUGARS
Washington State has dropped four straight and 10 of its last 13 overall, including a 76-54 loss to No. 10 Stanford at home on Friday night. Alexys Swedlund and Pinelopi Pavlopoulou scored 13 points apiece for the Cougars, but it was not enough the overcome a 27-52 (51.9 percent) shooting performance from the Cardinal. Washington State forced Stanford into a season-high 23 turnovers.

Washington State has been hampered by injuries all season, losing three of its top players in sophomore Borislava Hristova, junior Louise Brown, and most recently freshman sensation Chanelle Molina. Molina was leading the team in scoring and had a career-high 33 points in the Cougars' upset over No. 9 UCLA before tearing her ACL on January 13 against Arizona State. With Molina sidelined, Swedlund, a sophomore guard from South Dakota, is leading the team in scoring, averaging 9.4 points per game. Forward Nike McClure leads the team in rebounding, averaging 5.6 rebounds per game.

Head coach June Daugherty is in her 10^th season as head coach of the Cougars, leading Washington State to back-to-back WNIT appearances in 2014 and 2015. Washington State currently leads the conference in offensive rebounding, averaging 15.5 offensive rebounds per game.

Washington State finished ninth in the Pac-12 last season, going 5-13 in conference and 14-16 overall. The Cougars were picked to finish 10^th in both the Pac-12 Coaches and Media polls.

LAST TIME OUT
The 7^th-ranked Washington Huskies connected on 18 three-pointers to beat Cal, 90-67, Friday night in Seattle. The Bears held Washington guard Kelsey Plum - the nation's leading scorer at 31 points per game - to 24 points, but teammate Natalie Romeo stole the spotlight, going 10-19 from beyond the arc for a season-high 32 points. Romeo's 10 treys were tied for the most by any player in the country this season and her 19 three-point attempts set a new program record. Washington's 90 points were the most the Bears have allowed in any game all season.

Cal was led by sophomore center Kristine Anigwe, who scored 23 points and added 9 rebounds in 31 minutes of play. It was the 13^th 20-point performance of the season for Anigwe, the second-leading scorer in the conference averaging 22.3 points per game. The Bears bench chipped in 24 points, led by eight points apiece from freshmen Mi'Cole Cayton and Jaelyn Brown.

NEXT UP
Cal returns to Berkeley for a five-game homestand, hosting No. 13 UCLA on Friday, February 3, at 8 pm PT. Two of the three meetings between the Bears and Bruins last season went to overtime, including a 73-67 UCLA overtime victory in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament. Friday's game will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks with special programing throughout the game as Cal and the conference celebrate the Lunar New Year.

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.

Rama and several members of her family will be in attendance on February 12, when the Bears host Colorado at 3 p.m. PT in their annual Play4Kay game.

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).