Cal at No. 21 Utah
Friday, Jan. 25 | 7 PM MT/6 PM PT | Jon M. Huntsman Center | Salt Lake City, UT | Pac-12 Networks
GAME NOTES | LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK 

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - Coming off a weekend sweep at home over Washington and Washington State, the Cal women's basketball team looks to carry its momentum onto the road, heading the Rocky Mountains for matchups against Utah and Colorado. The Golden Bears (12-5, 3-3- Pac-12) will take on the 21^st-ranked Utes (16-1, 5-1 Pac-12) on Friday at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT before a Sunday afternoon meeting with the Buffaloes.

Cal will look to play spoiler on Friday night and hand the Utes just their second loss of the season. The Utes are ranked 21 in the latest Associated Press Top 25, their first time ranked in the poll since 2008. Beginning with Friday night's showdown in Salt Lake City, the Bears will play five of their next six games against teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25. Cal is looking for its first win of the season against a ranked team, falling 76-66 to No. 1 UConn on December 22 before a 62-61 loss to No. 19 Arizona State on the road.

The Bears head into this challenging stretch with momentum and in good form. Cal snapped a two-game skid with back-to-back wins over Washington State and Washington, led by a pair of eye-popping performances from Kristine Anigwe. The reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week, Anigwe averaged 29.5 points and 20.5 rebounds per game in the Bears' two wins. The 6'4" center/forward leads the nation in rebounding this season with 15.2 rebounds per game and grabbed a season-high 23 rebounds in Friday's win over Washington State, also contributing 29 points. She followed it up with 18 rebounds and 30 points on a 13-18 performance from the floor on Sunday against Washington, her third 30-point outing of the season and the 13^th of her Golden Bear career.

While Anigwe paced the Bears on the interior, Cal also received strong contributions across the board. Grad transfer Receé Caldwell scored in double-figures in both games for the Bears, including 15 points on 3-5 shooting from beyond the arc against the Huskies. Jaelyn Brown, Asha Thomas, and McKenzie Forbes also added double-figure production for the Bears, who leveled their conference record at 3-3.

Cal now looks to snap a two-game road losing streak and earn its first conference win of the season away from Berkeley.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Friday's game against the Utes will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks with Krista Blunk and Ros Gold-Onwude on the call. Live stats will also be available. 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 UTES
Ranked for the first time over a decade, Utah enters Friday's matchup on a four-game winning streak. The Utes started the season on a program-best 12-game winning streak before suffering their lone loss of the season on January 4, when Arizona State's Reili Richardson hit an off-balance jumper at the buzzer. Utah has responded with four consecutive wins and is coming off a 78-59 win over rival Colorado its last time out. Senior Megan Huff led the Utes with 17 points while three other players scored in double-figures in the win.

Utah boasts one of the top defenses in the Pac-12, holding opponents to an average of 57.8 points per game this season. The Utes have also found success on the offensive end, ranking fourth offenses in the conference in scoring offense (76.5 points per game) and third in field goal percentage (48.5 percentage). Balance has been a hallmark of Utah's offense this season with five players averaging eight or more points per game in conference play.

An All-Pac-12 selection last season, Huff leads the Utes in both scoring (19.6 points per game) and rebounding (9.4 rebounds per game) this season, ranking among the conference leaders in both categories. Freshman Dre'Una Edwards is second on the team in scoring this season at 12.2 points per game and leads all Pac-12 rookies with six double-doubles on the season. Redshirt freshman Dru Gylten has been a key to Utah's offense, averaging 6.3 assists per game.

Head coach Lynne Roberts is in her fourth season in Salt Lake City and has led the Utes to the postseason each of her previous three seasons.  

UP NEXT
The Bears will continue their mountain road trip on Sunday with a 1 p.m. MT/12 p.m. PT matchup in Boulder against Colorado. The Buffaloes (10-7, 0-6 Pac-12) enter the weekend looking for their first conference win of the year and host No. 6 Stanford at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT. Cal has won three of the last five meetings with Colorado, including a 78-76 win over the Buffs last season at Haas Pavilion. The Bears' most recent trip to Boulder saw head coach Lindsay Gottlieb's squad come away with a 65-53 win on January 13, 2017, led by 29 points and 11 rebounds from Anigwe.
 
2018-19 TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW
Season, group and single-game tickets for the 2018-19 women's basketball season are still 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).
 
###