California Golden Bears Athletics
California
Washington State
Bears Back In Action Against Cougars
1/17/2019 10:39 AM | Women's Basketball
Cal Hosts Washington State Friday Morning For Fifth Annual School Haas Rock
Cal vs Washington State
Friday, Jan. 18 | 11:30 AM PT | Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, CA
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BERKELEY – Haas will be rocking Friday morning when the Cal women's basketball team welcomes Washington State to Haas Pavilion for the Fifth Annual School Haas Rock game. The Golden Bears (10-5, 1-3 Pac-12) and Cougars (7-9, 2-3 Pac-12) at 11:30 a.m. PT in front of nearly 3,000 elementary and middle school-aged children from schools across the Bay Area. Now in its fifth year, School Haas Rock incorporates educational components into the game day experience, with this year's focus on fire safety and prevention.
"This is always one of my favorite games of the year," said Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. "For me as a coach, there is no greater feeling than to have thousands of screaming kids watching our girls do what they love. Kids from our community get to see our powerful young women playing basketball, while also experiencing a college campus."
Along with the energy in the building, Gottlieb and her squad are looking forward to the opportunity to get back in the win column. The Bears are coming off a pair of single-digit losses in last weekend's road trip to Arizona. Cal's second-half comeback fell short in a 60-55 loss to the Wildcats in Tucson last Friday evening, and came up on the wrong side of a thrilling back-and-forth affair in Tempe two days later, falling at No. 19 Arizona State, 62-61.
The Bears now return home and look to snap their two game skid. Cal swept both meetings against Washington State last season and has won five of the last six meetings between the teams overall. Kristine Anigwe scored 30 points in both meetings against the Cougars last season, including a 30-point, 17-rebound effort in last season's win at Haas Pavilion. Anigwe has carried that dominant play into her season and currently leads the nation in both rebounds per game (14.5) and double-doubles (15). The 6'4" center/forward also ranks ninth in the nation in scoring at 21.8 points per game.
Anigwe and the Bears will look to slow down another one of the top scorers in the nation in Washington State's Borislava Hristova, who is eighth in the nation in scoring at 21.9 points per game. A redshirt junior, Hristova scored 25 points in last season's loss at Haas Pavilion, but missed the final matchup between the teams due to injury.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Friday's game against the Cougars can be viewed on the Pac-12 live stream, with live stats also available and audio coverage available from KALX. 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 COUGARS
Washington State brings momentum to Berkeley, coming off a 74-48 win over Colorado on Sunday. The Cougars outscored the Buffaloes, 62-35, over the final three quarters of play to earn their second conference win of the year and snap a three-game losing streak. Hristova led the Cougars with 23 points on 7-16 shooting and added 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Chanelle Molina (18 points) and Maria Kostourokva (12 points) also reached double-figures for the Cougars, who improved to 4-5 at home on the year.
Washington State opened conference play with a 79-76 victory over rival Washington before dropping three straight to Oregon State, Oregon, and Utah.
Hrisotva, a native of Varna, Bulgaria, leads the Cougars and ranks second in the Pac-12 in scoring this season. A two-time All-Pac-12 selection and 2019 Cheryl Miller Watch List nominee, Hrisotva is averaging 22.2 points per game in conference play, highlighted by a 38-point performance against Washington in the conference opener.
Chanelle Molina – the oldest of three Molina sisters on the Cougars' roster this season – is second on the team in scoring at 15.8 points per game this season and ranks sixth in the conference with 5.7 assists per game. Senior guard Alexys Swedlund is also averaging double-figures, at 12.6 points per game, and is shooting 46.4 percent (45-97) from beyond the arc this season, good for 14th in Division I this season. Senior center Maria Kostourkova is the team's top rebounder at 9.1 rebounds per game, while also adding 1.6 blocks per outing.
Head coach Kamie Ethridge is in her first season in Pullman and fifth season overall as a Division I head coach. Ethridge came to Washington State after five seasons at Northern Colorado, where she was named the 2018-19 Big Sky Coach of the Year. Prior to her time with Northern Colorado, Ethridge spent eight seasons as the associate head coach at Kansas State, helping the team to nine NCAA Tournament appearances. As a player, Ethridge won the Wade Trophy after leading Texas to the first undefeated season in Women's Division I Basketball history and won a gold medal for the United States at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
UP NEXT
The Bears will be back in Berkeley on Sunday, hosting Washington at 2 p.m. PT. The Huskies (8-9, 1-4 Pac-12) open the weekend at Stanford on Friday night, with a 7 p.m. PT matchup against the Cardinal. Washington earned its first win in Pac-12 play last Friday, beating Colorado, 68-58, before falling to Utah on Sunday, 58-43. The Bears won all three matchups against the Huskies last season, including a meeting in the first round of the 2018 Pac-12 Tournament.
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).
