STORRS, Conn. – The Cal women's basketball team continues its east coast swing on Sunday, taking on No. 5 Connecticut at 1 p.m. ET/10 am. PT at Gampel Pavilion. Sunday's game will be the third meeting in the last three seasons between the Golden Bears (0-1, 0-0 Pac-12) and Huskies (0-0, 0-0 American). The teams opened the series in Storrs in 2017, resulting in an 82-47 win for to-ranked UConn. The most recent matchup between the schools saw the Huskies prevail, 76-66, in a down-to-the-wire thriller at Haas Pavilion last December in front of a crowd of nearly 11,000.

This year's clash in Connecticut marks the season opener for the Huskies while the Bears are looking for their first win of the season. Cal opened the 2019-20 campaign on Friday night, taking on Ivy League foe Harvard on the road. The Bears led the Crimson by 10 at the half, but could not hold off a frantic second-half comeback by the hosts, dropping the season opener by a score of 56-53.

Yet despite the scoreline, Cal's freshmen impressed in their collegiate debuts. Dutch international Evelien Lutje Schipholt led the Bears with 13 points off the bench while fellow rookie Cailyn Crocker added 10 points for the Bears, seven of which came in the third quarter on a 3-for-3 performance from the floor. Freshman point guard Leilani McIntosh earned the start in her collegiate debut and led all players with five steals on the day, while also adding four points and four rebounds.

Taking on their first ranked opponent of the season, Cal looks to notch the upset win and pick up its first victory under new head coach Charmin Smith. After spending 12 years on the Cal staff as an assistant and later associate head coach, Smith was hired in June as the 10^th head coach in Cal women's basketball history. A four-year letterwinner at Stanford who went on the play in the WNBA, Smith served as an assistant coach for the WNBA's New York Liberty earlier this spring before returning to Berkeley to take charge of the Golden Bear program.

As a student-athlete at Stanford, Smith reached the Final Four on three occasions, including facing off against UConn in the 1995 National Semifinals, where the Huskies won, 87-60, en route to capturing their first of 11 NCAA titles.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Sunday's game against the Huskies will be carried live on SNY with streaming also available on ESPN3 for select markets. Live stats for the game will also be available while 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
Ranked No. 5 in the nation to start the season, UConn opens the season with three starters back from last season's squad that reached the Final Four. Senior Crystal Dangerfield, junior Megan Walker, and sophomore Christyn Williams are the top returns from the Huskies, and were all named to the Naismith Trophy Watch List to start the season. All three scored in double-figures in last seasons' meeting with the Bears in Berkeley, while now-sophomore Olivia Nelson-Ododa also saw action against Cal, but did not score.

The Huskies are coming off a 99-54 victory over Trevecca Nazarene on Wednesday night, in their final exhibition game in the lead-up to season. Walker led UConn with a game-high 28 points and also grabbed eight rebounds in 31 minutes of action. Dangerfield (17 points) and Williams (10 points) also scored in double-figures for the Huskies, while freshman Aubrey Griffin added 12 points off the bench on 5-of-5 shooting.

Head coach Geno Auriemma is in his 35^th season in Storrs  and has led the Huskies to 11 NCAA titles. UConn has won 94 consecutive home games entering the 2019-20 season, the longest active streak in the nation. The Huskies' last home loss came to Notre Dame at the XL Center in Hartford on March 12, 2013.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to Berkeley next weekend and host UC Riverside on Sunday, November 17, in their home opener. The matchup against the Highlanders is slated to tip off at 5 p.m. PT and is the first of eight games for the Bears at Haas Pavilion during the non-conference slate. Cal went 9-5 at home last season, including a 3-2 mark in non-conference play. Cal is 6-1 all-time against UC Riverside and has won the last five head-to-head meetings between the teams, including a 71-56 victory in their last meeting at Haas Pavilion on November 18, 2016.

2019-20 TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW
Season, group and single-game tickets for the 2019-20 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.

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).