WBB11/16/2018 6:53 PM | By: Cal Athletics
Bears Return To The Bay
Cal Squares Off Against Pacific Sunday At Maples Pavilion
Updates were made to this story on Saturday evening to reflected the updated game location.
BERKELEY – After picking up a pair of wins on the road, the Cal women's basketball team returns to the Bay Area Thanksgiving holiday. The Golden Bears (3-0, 0-0 Pac-12) are set to take on Pacific (1-0, 0-0 WCC) at 2 p.m. PT at Maples Pavilion on the Stanford Universitycampus.The game between the Bears and Tigers was originally scheduled to be played at Haas Pavilion, but was relocated on Saturday afternoon due to concerns about the air quality inside Haas Pavilion as a result of the fires in Butte County.
The Golden Bears are off to an unbeaten start and are coming off a difficult road trip that featured games at Penn State and BYU. Cal topped the Lady Lions, 75-58, on Sunday in State College, before beating BYU, 70-52, Tuesday afternoon in Provo. Point guard Asha Thomas led the Bears with 17 points and six assists, in what proved to be a milestone day for the senior from East Oakland. Playing in her 100th career game for the Golden Bears, Thomas reached the 1,000-point milestone with a pair of free throws late in the game, becoming the 30th player in Cal women's basketball history to reach the milestone. Sophomore guard Kianna Smith added a season-high 16 points on 4-7 shooting from beyond the arc while senior Kristine Anigwe also chipped in 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for her third consecutive double-double.
The reigning ESPNW National Player of the Week and the first Pac-12 Player of the Week for the 2018-19 season, Anigwe is off to a tremendous start to her senior year, averaging 26.0 points per game and 15.7 rebounds per game to start the season. Anigwe is tied for the national lead with three double-doubles on the season and currently ranks in the Top-15 nationally in both scoring and rebounding.
Defensively, the Bears have put up strong performances in each of their last two outings. After giving up 79 points in the season opener vs Houston, Cal has held its opponent to fewer than 60 points in each of its last two outings. Cal gave up just 52 points on Tuesday at Penn State and is outrebounding opponents by an average of 13 rebounds per game on the year.
Cal and Pacific played last year in Stockton, resulting in a 92-85 victory for the Golden Bears behind a 28-point, 18-rebound effort from Anigwe.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Tuesday's match against the Cougars be viewed on the Pac-12 live stream, with live stats also available. Play-by-play and commentary will be available through KALX and fans can receive additional in-game updates and behind-the-scenes information by following the Bears social media accounts (Twitter: @CalWBBall, Instagram: @CalWBBall).
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Pacific also enters Sunday's game unbeaten on the season. The Tigers began the year with an 83-80 victory over UC Davis after their previously scheduled season-opener vs William Jessup was cancelled.
Pacific used a big third quarter to down the defending Big West champions, outscoring UC Davis, 30-17, in the third quarter alone. Pacific held a 19-point lead with less than four minutes left to play and was able to weather a furious comeback attempt by the Aggies.
Senior guard Ameela Li led Pacific with a career-high 27 points, going 10-19 from the floor and 4-9 from beyond the arc. Sophomore Brooklyn McDavid added a career-best of her own with 24 points while Valerie Higgins added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Li, the reigning WCC Player of the Week, was an Honorable Mention WCC selection last season and one of three starters returning from last season. McDavid also earned All-WCC Honorable Mention last season and collected WCC All-Freshmen honors.
Pacific went 15-17 last season, reaching the semifinals of the WCC Tournament. The Tigers led the conference in scoring, averaging 75.2 points per game last season.
Bradley Davis, a 1995 Cal graduate, is in his fourth season as head coach of the Tigers and his 13th season overall at Pacific. Davis previously served as an assistant and associate head coach under now Utah head coach Lynne Roberts.
UP NEXT
Cal will head south for Thanksgiving, participating in the University of San Diego Thanksgiving Tournament hosted at Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Golden Bears will take on Tulane at 4 p.m. PT on Friday, November 23, before a 4 p.m. PT meeting with San Diego on Saturday afternoon. Tulane is off to a 2-0 start this season and will take on another Pac-12 foe, Washington, on Sunday. San Diego is 1-1 on the young season and will take on Minnesota on Saturday.
2018-19 TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW
Season, group and single-game tickets for the 2018-19 women's basketball season are now on sale. Season tickets start as low as $40 ($2.67 per game, 15 home games) for youth and seniors and $80 ($5.33 per game, 15 home games) for adult general admission tickets. Single-game tickets are available starting at $4 for youth and seniors and $5 for adult, while group rates begin at $3 per seat for groups of 10 or more. 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).
