Cal Faces Texas A&M In Raising The B.A.R. Championship

BERKELEY – The California women's basketball team will play in the championship game of the Raising The B.A.R. Invitational when it takes on Texas A&M on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. PT. The Bears defeated San Jose State, 74-51, and the Aggies beat Winthrop, 84-32, on Friday to advance to the championship game. The Spartans will play the Eagles in the consolation game at 12 p.m.

The all-tournament team and tournament MVP will be announced at the conclusion of the championship game.

Cal and Texas A&M have faced off four previous times with the Aggies holding a 3-1 series lead and a three-game winning streak. The two teams last played on Nov. 27, 2015 in the South Point Tournament in Las Vegas, when Texas A&M won 75-58.

Both games on Saturday will be broadcast on the Cal Live Stream.

GAME INFORMATION
Date & Time: Saturday, Nov. 25 | 2:30 p.m. PT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Live Stream: Cal Live Stream

QUICK HITS

In the 74-51 win over San Jose State:
- Several Bears had career outputs: Marta Suárez posted her first-ever double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, McKayla Williams grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, Michelle Onyiah nabbed five steals and Lulu Twidale knocked down four 3-pointers.
- The Bears' bench posted a season-high 30 points.
- Cal forced the Spartans into 28 turnovers resulting in 29 points.
- The Bears finished with a season-high 23 offensive rebounds while holding San Jose State to just six.
- Cal tied its season high of 15 steals.
- The Bears improved to 6-0 to open the season, the best start to a season for Cal under head coach Charmin Smith.
Four different players scored in double figures in two games this season, a significant improvement from last season where four players scored in double figures just four times all season.
The Bears have had 10 or more steals in three games already this season, beating their total (2) from all of last season.
Through the first six games of the season, the Bears have hit 10 or more 3-pointers in three games surpassing last year's total where they hit double-figure 3-pointers in just one game.
Coming into this week, several Bears rank among Pac-12 leaders in various categories: Michelle Onyiah - 1st in total rebounds (47) and 5th in total blocks (8); Leilani - 2nd in total assists (28); Marta Suárez - 5th in 3PM (11).
Williams' 7.4 rebounds per game ranks third among all guards in the Pac-12. She has pulled down at least eight in all but one game this season.
Returners McIntosh and Kemery Martín received 2023-24 Pac-12 preseason All-Conference honorable mention honors.
The Bears welcome six newcomers to the team: freshmen guards Anastasia Drosouni (Greece) and Lulu Twidale (Australia), junior forward Marta Suárez from Tennessee, senior forward McKayla Williams from Gonzaga and graduate transfers Ila Lane from UCSB and Ioanna Krimili from the University of San Francisco.
Martín ended the 2022-23 season tied for the team lead with 59 made 3-pointers, which ranked eighth in the Pac-12 and were good for seventh on Cal's all-time single-season list.
Lane was named to this year's Lisa Leslie Award preseason watch list for the third time in her career. The annual award is given to the country's top center.
Krimili joins the Bears as one of the top 3-point shooters in the country. Last year she ranked 30th in the nation with 84 made 3-pointers while shooting at a 39.4 percent clip.
The Bears are coming off an incredibly competitive 13-17 season in which they played the second most ranked opponents (16) in the country. In nine of the 16 ranked games, Cal had a lead or was within single digits with under five minutes left in the game.