California Golden Bears Athletics

SAN FRANCISCO – Helping the Cal women's basketball team close the non-conference with an important road   win at Kentucky, Bears guard Kianna Smith has been named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, the conference office announced on Tuesday. Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu was selected as the Pac-12 Player of the Week.

This is the second Pac-12 weekly honor for Smith, who also earned Freshman of the Week honors on November 27 after earning All-Tournament honors at the Cal Classic. Smith is the third player in the conference to earn multiple Freshman of the Week honors this  season and the first Cal player to do so since Kristine Anigwe was name Pac-12 Freshman of the Week a record eight times during the 2015-16 campaign.

A 6'0" point guard, Smith had 14 points and eight assists in Cal's win at SEC-foe Kentucky on December 21. Smith, who has scored in double-figures in three consecutive games for the Bears, matched her season high with four rebounds and committed just one turnover in 37 minutes of action. A rookie from Moreno Valley, Smith went 5-10 from the floor and 3-6 from beyond the arc against the Wildcats, her third game this season with three or more made three-pointers.

A 2017 McDonalds All American, Smith is averaging 10.4 points per game this season, one of three Bears averaging double-figures. Smith leads the Bears with 5.4 assists per game on the year, the second-highest mark by any freshman in Division I basketball this season and good for sixth overall in the Pac-12. The freshman point guard is shooting a team-high 41 percent from three-point range this season and ranks second among conference freshmen with a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Smith and the 20^th-ranked Golden Bears open Pac-12 play on Friday, hosting USC at 6 p.m. PT at  Haas Pavilion. The Trojans (10-1, 0-0 Pac-12) and Bears (9-2, 0-0 Pac-12), met twice last season  with Cal winning both matchups, including a 71-58 victory in the first round of the 2017 Pac-12 Tournament.

2017-18 TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW
Season, group and single-game tickets for the 2017-18 women's basketball season are now on sale. Season tickets start as low as $40 ($2.67 per game, 15 games) for youth and seniors and $80 ($5.33 per game, 15 games) for adult general admission tickets. Single-game tickets are available starting at $4 for youth and seniors and $5 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.

JOIN THE JOURNEY: THE RETURN OF THISISCALBASKETBALL.COM
Cal's one-of-a-kind multimedia fan site, ThisIsCalBasketball.com, is back for its seventh 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).