WBB12/28/2017 9:32 AM | By: Cal Athletics
Bears Begin Pac-12 Play
BERKELEY – Conference play is here! After a strong showing in the non-conference slate, the Cal women's basketball team begins Pac-12 play on Friday, hosting USC at 6 p.m. PT at Haas Pavilion. The Golden Bears (9-2, 0-0 Pac-12) enter conference play on a six-game winning streak and are coming off a 62-52 road win over Kentucky their last time out. The Trojans (10-1, 0-0 Pac-12) opened the season on an eight-game winning streak before dropping a 75-74 decision to 19th-ranked Texas A&M on December 15.
Friday's matchup will be the 70th meeting all-time between the in-state rivals, with the Trojans holding a 39-30 advantage in the all-time series. However, the Bears have won seven of the last 10 meetings between the schools, including both matchups last season. Cal and USC played just once during the 2016-17 regular season, a 63-56 victory for the Bears on February 5 at Haas Pavilion to cap off a weekend sweep of USC and UCLA. The teams met again in the first round of the 2017 Pac-12 Tournament, where the Bears prevailed 71-58 behind 34 points and 13 rebounds from Kristine Anigwe.
A forward/center, Anigwe leads Cal in both scoring (17.0 points per game) and rebounding (8.6 rebounds per game) this season, and is one of three Cal players averaging double-figures. Junior guard Asha Thomas is averaging a career-high 11.1 points per game and scored a team-high 17 points in Cal's win at Kentucky,  going 3-5 from beyond the arc. Reigning Pac-12 and USBWA National Freshman of the Week Kianna Smith is averaging 10.4 points per game to go with 5.4 assists per outing, the second-highest assist mark by any freshman in Division I basketball this season.
Picked to finish fifth in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll, Cal will be looking to open conference play with a win for the second consecutive season and the fifth time overall in seven season under head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. The Bears will be opening conference play at home for the first time since the 2014-15 season and are 5-1 this season at Haas Pavilion, the lone loss coming to No. 23 Missouri.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Friday's game against the Trojans can be viewed on the Pac-12 live stream, with live stats also available. Fans can receive additional in-game updates and behind-the-scenes information by following the Bears social media accounts (Twitter: @CalWBBall, Instagram: @CalWBBall).
LAST TIME OUT
The Cal women's basketball closed the 2017-18 non-campaign with an important victory on the road, topping Kentucky, 62-52, on December 21 at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky. The Golden Bears overcame an early seven-point deficit to extend their winning streak to six in a row and earned their fourth consecutive win on the road. Four different players scored in double-figures for the Bears, led by 17 points from junior guard Asha Thomas, who went 3-5 from beyond the arc.
Senior Mikayla Cowling played all 40 minutes for the Bears and added 15 points, her third consecutive game scoring in double-figures, while freshman point guard Kianna Smith added 14 points and a game-high eight assists. Forward Penina Davidson added 13 points and seven rebounds while sophomore CJ West had a career-high 10 rebounds off the bench.
After trailing by seven points late in the first quarter, the Bears clawed back in the second as Cowling got to work. The senior from Benecia, California, scored 10 of her 15 points in the second quarter, including an alley-oop at the buzzer to give Cal a 30-27 lead at the half. Defensively, Cal locked down and held Kentucky without a field goal for the final 8:04 of the half.
The Bears shot 47.7 percent from the floor on the game and finished 8-14 (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc, Cal's best three-point percentage away from home this season.
SCOUTING THE TROJANS
Back for his second stint with the Trojans, head coach Mark Trakh's squad boasted the Pac-12's top mark in non-conference play, going 10-1 to open the season. USC started the year on an eight-game winning streak, highlighted by wins over Purdue and LMU. After dropping a 75-74 decision to No. 19 Texas A&M, the Trojans bounced back, closing the non-conference slate with wins over Middle Tennessee and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. USC has been receiving votes in both the Associated Press and USA TODAY weekly polls.
Senior forward Kristin Simon leads both the Trojans and the Pac-12 in scoring this season, averaging 18.5 points per game. Sophomore guard Minyon Moore is second on the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game and has scored double-figures in her last seven outings, including a 34-point performance against LMU. After missing a significant portion of last season due to injury, junior guard Aliyah Mazyck is back for the Trojans and averaging 14.6 points per game and has connected on a conference-best, 35 three-pointers to go with 3.1 steals per game. Senior guard Sadie Edwards is averaging 14.5 points per game and scored a team-high 23 points in the Trojans' win over UTRGV on December 20.
After finishing 14-16 overall and 5-13 in conference play, USC was picked to finish eighth in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches' Poll. Trakh, who previously coached the Trojans from 2005-09 and led the team to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, was hired over the summer, replacing former Trojans head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke.
UP NEXT
The opening weekend of Pac-12 play continues on Sunday, with Cal hosting No. 11 UCLA (9-2, 0-0 Pac-12) at 11 a.m. PT on New Year's Eve. The top-20 showdown will be a rematch of last season's matchup at Haas Pavilion, in which the Golden Bears upset the 13th-ranked Bruins, 80-77. UCLA was picked to finish first in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches' Poll and will open the conference slate on Friday at Stanford (6-6, 0-0 Pac-12). All tickets for Sunday's game will be $1 and the contest will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks.
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).
