No. 14 Cal vs No. 1 Connecticut
Saturday, Dec. 22 | 12 PM PT | Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, CA | Pac-12 Networks
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BERKELEY – For the first time in program history, the Cal women's basketball team will take on the No. 1 team in the nation on the Bears' home court. The 14^th-ranked Golden Bears will square off against top-ranked Connecticut on Saturday at 12 p.m. PT at Haas Pavilion. Cal (9-0, 0-0 Pac-12) and UConn (10-0, 0-0 AAC) are two of only 12 undefeated teams remaining in women's Division I basketball this season and will be meeting for the second consecutive year. The Bears and Huskies met in Storrs, Connecticut last November in the start of a four-year home-and-home series.

"We've played our way into this being a very important game," said Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. "I think we're deserving of the big crowd that's going to be at [Haas Pavilion] as we play the number one team in the country and I think everything we've done all year is so that we're ready to challenge ourselves."

Off to a 9-0 start, the Bears will be looking to pull of the biggest upset in program history. Cal is 0-4 all-time against AP No. 1 opponents, with the last three such meetings coming against UConn. The Golden Bears last home win over an AP Top-5 opponent came on November 21, 2008, when the Bears knocked off No. 3 Rutgers. 66-52.

Along with a pair of unbeaten teams, Saturday's Top-15 clash also features some of the top players in the game, with four of the 35 players on the 2019 Wade Trophy Watch List slated to take the court on Saturday in Cal's Kristine Anigwe and UConn's Napheesa Collier, Crystal Dangerfield, and Katie Lou Samuelson.

Anigwe is off to a dominant start in her senior season and is the only player in Division I basketball with a double-double in every game this year. The 6'4" center/forward is second in the nation in rebounding (13.7 rebounds per game) and fifth in scoring (23.6 points per game), and is coming off an 18-point, 16-rebound performance in 21 minutes of action Sunday against UC Santa Barbara. Anigwe's double-double led the Bears in a balanced effort on both ends of the floor against the Gauchos, as Cal won 69-45. Ten different players scored for the Bears, who also received a season-high 30 points of production from the bench. With the win over the Gauchos, the Bears extended their home winning streak to six in a row, dating back to February 2018.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Saturday's game against the Huskies will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks with Mary Murphy, Krista Blunk, and Cindy Brunson on the call. Live stats will also be available, along with audio coverage from KALX Radio. 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 HUSKIES
The unanimous number one team in the nation each of the last three weeks, UConn heads to Berkeley after a thrilling come-from-behind win at Oklahoma on Wednesday night. Trailing by 12 in the third quarter, the Huskies clawed back and closed the game on a 13-1 run to remain perfect on the season. Collier had 23 points and a career-high 17 rebounds in the win, while Samuelson added 20 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double of her own.

The Huskies have now won 125 consecutive regular season games, a streak that dates back to the 2014-15 season. UConn's last regular season loss came in its last trip to the Bay Area, falling to Stanford in overtime, 88-86, on November 17, 2014 at Maples Pavilion. Since that defeat, the Huskies have won two national titles and posted an overall record of 157-2 with their only losses coming in overtime in the National Semifinals.

UConn has five starters averaging double-figure scoring this season, led by Samuelson at 20.1 points per game. Collier, a 6'2" forward and two-time All-American, is second in scoring at 18.9 points per game and leads the team with 10.9 rebounds per game. Junior guard Crystal Dangerfield leads the Huskies in assists and three-point percentage while underclassmen Megan Walker and Christyn Williams round out UConn's primary starting lineup. Williams scored a game-high 28 points in UConn's win over then-No. 1 Notre Dame, going 11-16 from the floor.

Head coach Geno Auriemma is in his 34^th season in Storrs  and has led the Huskies to 11 NCAA titles. On Friday night, Auriemma will join Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr for "A Chat With Champions", a discussion moderated by Gottlieb exploring success and the world of basketball.

UP NEXT
After a brief break for the holidays, Cal returns to Haas Pavilion on December 30, hosting Harvard at 2 p.m. PT in the final game of the non-conference slate. This will be just the second meeting all-time between the Golden Bears and Crimson, but the second year in a row that Cal will face an Ivy League foe. The Golden Bears beat Brown University on the road last season, as Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb squared off against her alma mater. The December 30 game against Harvard marks Cal's final tune-up before opening Pac-12 play on January 4, when the Bears host UCLA at 7 p.m. at Haas Pavilion.

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).