BERKELEY – Coming off a thrilling win over Santa Clara last Saturday, the Cal women's basketball team looks to extend its win streak to eight in a row, taking on No. 14 Kentucky at 4 p.m. PT Saturday at Haas Pavilion. The Golden Bears (7-2, 0-0 Pac-12) will be looking to knock off a Top-25 opponent for the second time this season while the Wildcats (10-1, 0-0 SEC) head to California looking to rebound from a 67-66 loss to rivalry Louisville their last time out.
 
First-year head coach Charmin Smith and the Golden Bears have already registered one marquee win over a ranked team this season, knocking off then-No. 20 Arkansas, 84-80, on November 24. Senior guard Jaelyn Brown led the way with 30 points and 12 rebounds in the win over the Razorbacks, earning espnW National Player of the Week and Pac-12 Player of the Week recognition after the fact for her efforts.

Brown continues to pace the Bears heading into the final stages of the non-conference schedule. Cal's lone starter returning from last season, Brown leads Cal and ranks sixth in the Pac-12 in scoring at 15.2 points per game on the year. She is coming off a 26-point, 11-rebound effort in Saturday's 69-65 victory over the Broncos, her second double-double of the season.

The Bears also got a big lift down low on Sunday from redshirt senior Chen Yue, who tallied her first collegiate double-double with career-highs in both points (10) and rebounds (10). Freshman Evelien Lutje Schipholt was dominant in the paint as well, going off for a career-high 19 points, including a crucial stretch of nine consecutive points in the fourth quarter to regain the lead for the Bears. Lutje Schipholt, one of four freshmen on Cal's roster, also added nine rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive glass.

As a team, Cal committed a season-low four turnovers against the Broncos and has just 11 turnovers total in the last two games combined. Since dropping their first two games of the year on the road, Cal has now won seven consecutive games, its longest win streak since opening the 2018-19 season at 9-0.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Saturday's game against the Wildcats will be live streamed with live stats also 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 WILDCATS
The Wildcats head to the West Coast looking to rebound from their first loss of the season last Sunday against in-state rival Louisville. Kentucky fell to the 7^th-ranked Cardinals, 67-66, snapping their 10-game winning streak to start the season. Wildcats sophomore standout Rhyne Howard led all scorers with 26 points, but the Wildcats could not complete the fourth-quarter comeback. Sabrina Haines and Tatyana Wyatt added 12 points apiece for the Wildcats, who were out-rebounded 37-17 in the loss.

Howard, a sophomore from Cleveland, Tennessee, is the reigning national freshman of the year and is averaging a team-high 20.2 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game on the season. Howard has scored 20-points in six of Kentucky's 11 games this season, and had a season-high 30-points against Samford. The 6'2" guard has been named to the preseason Wooden, Naismith, Wade Trophy, and Cheryl Miller Award Watch Lists.

Redshirt junior Sabrina Haines is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.6 points per game on the season. Haines played her first three seasons at Arizona State before transferring to Kentucky and sitting out the 2018-19 campaign due the NCAA transfer rules. Haines leads the Wildcats in three-point percentage, shooting 47.1 percent (24-51) from beyond the arc on the season.

Kentucky was picked to finish fourth in the SEC preseason media poll and has been ranked in the Top-15 of the AP Poll every week so far this season.

Saturday's game will be the second meeting all-time between the teams, and the first since December 21, 2017, when the teams squared off for the first time in Lexington. The Bears topped the Wildcats, 62-52, to open the series between the schools. Cal had four players in double-figures, led by 17 points from then-junior Asha Thomas. Cal has won three of its last four games against SEC opponents, with wins over Arkansas, Kentucky, and LSU over that stretch.

Kentucky is led by head coach Matthew Mitchell, who is in his 13^th season as head coach of the Wildcats. Kentucky's all-time wins leaders with 291 career victories at UK, Mitchell was named the co-SEC Coach of the Year last season and returns 11 letterwinners from last season's squad that went 25-8 and reached the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.

UP NEXT
The Bears will play their final game of the non-conference slate on Saturday, December 29, hosting Grand Canyon University (3-5, 0-0 WAC) at 7 p.m. PT. The matchup against the Lopes will be the first meeting ever between the programs. The December 29 game will be a doubleheader with the Cal men's basketball team, who host Harvard at 3 p.m. PT at Haas Pavilion. Following the matchup against Grand Canyon, the Bears will begin Pac-12 play, hosting Washington (7-2, 0-0 Pac-12) at 7 p.m. PT on January 3.

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).