BERKELEY – The California women's basketball team hosts its final home game of the season with a matchup against No. 25 USC on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game can be viewed on Pac-12 Networks.
 
The Bears will be celebrating Senior Day as they honor the careers of Sela Heide, Evelien Lutje Schipholt, Leilani McIntosh and Peanut Tuitele before tipoff. Fans are also encouraged to stick around after the game for a special announcement.
 
Cal will also be honoring the 10-year anniversary of the team's Final Four run during the 2012-13 season, inviting back members of the team for a special on-court pregame celebration and reliving highlights from that season.
 
In addition, there will be a silent auction featuring memorabilia from the team's Final Four run with proceeds benefitting the Cal women's basketball program as well as a special relief fund designed to help women basketball players located in the region affected by the recent earthquake in Turkey.

USC is led by former Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, who is in her second season with the Trojans. USC is coming off a 12-16 (5-12) season and 10th place finish in the Pac-12. The Trojans return two full-time starters including Rayah Marshall who is second in the conference in blocks (3.3).

GAME INFORMATION

• Date & Time: Sunday, Feb. 17 | 1:00 p.m. PT
• Location: Berkeley, CA | Haas Pavilion
• Watch: Pac-12 Networks
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

QUICK HITS

• In the 67-54 loss to No. 16 UCLA:
  • Cal was led by Jayda Curry's team-high 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half.
  • Curry was joined in double-figures by Leilani McIntosh and Kemery Martín who had 14 points each.
  • Curry and McIntosh tied for a game-high four assists each.
  • Curry also hit three 3-pointers, her eighth game this season with at least three.
• Against Top 10 opponents:
  • Against then No. 9 Notre Dame on Nov. 12, Cal scored the most 3-pointers (9) and points (79), had the most assists (17) and steals (12 - only opponent to register double-digit steals) against Notre Dame among any of its opponents this season. Opponents include No. 5 UConn, No. 9 Virginia Tech and No. 13 Maryland.
  • In the first meeting at No. 2 Stanford on Dec. 23, Cal shot 43.9 percent from deep, the highest percentage allowed by Stanford, held Stanford to just 29.2 percent from 3-point range, its fourth lowest percentage of the season and the 69 points the Bears put up were the third highest total allowed by the Cardinal all season. In the second meeting at home on Jan. 8, Cal held them to its lowest FG (32.3) and 3PT (20.0) percentages and 3PT makes (4) of the season while outperforming them in all three categories along with its lowest scoring output (60 points).
  • Against No. 8 UCLA On Jan. 15, Cal was able to take control of the game early with a 15-2 lead and was down just one point in the fourth quarter before going on a scoring drought to seal the loss. The Bears shot 47.1 percent from deep, their second highest mark of the season.
• In five of the nine losses to ranked opponents, Cal has had a lead or trailed by no more than three points in the fourth quarter.
• Team national rankings: 65th asst/to ratio (1.10), 65th 3PT% (34.1), 67th fewest turnovers per game (14.2), 74th assists per game (14.9)
• This season Cal is averaging 68.0 points per game, the sixth highest average in program history since the 1999-00 season.
• The Bears are 8-3 when scoring at least 70 points this season.
• With her three 3-pointers against UCLA, Curry kept her streak of consecutive regular season games with at least one 3-pointer going at 48 games. Her streak is the longest among all active Pac-12 players and now marks the longest streak of any Pac-12 player since the 1999-00 season.

Jayda Curry, Cal	48	11/09/2021 - PRESENT
Shay Murphy, USC	45	02/18/2005 - 01/05/2007
Kelsey Plum, Wash	38	01/17/2016 - 02/10/2017
Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon	34	01/29/2017 - 02/04/2018
Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon	30	02/11/2018 - 02/15/2019

 

• Curry is the only player in the Pac-12 who has a hit a 3-pointer in every game this year.
• Cal has two players in the top 15 of the Pac-12 in 3-point makes: Martín (7th) - 51 and Curry (7th) - 51 and 3-point percentage: McIntosh (1st) - 43.9, Martín (12th) - 38.3. The duo of Curry and Martín rank third in the Pac-12 for 3-point makes (102) is one of only two pairs among Pac-12 schools with 50+ 3-pointers.
• Evelien Lutje Schipholt's career as a Bear will go down in Cal's history books as she took the fifth spot on Cal's all-time list for career blocks with 104 career blocks.
• Cal is one of two schools in the Pac-12 with two players in the top 10 in assists: Curry (6th) at 3.8 apg and McIntosh (8th) at 3.7 apg.
• Curry ranks second among all sophomores in the Pac-12 in scoring (14.2) and 35th nationally. She has scored in double-figures in all but six games this season.
• Lutje Schipholt has been a steady force leading the team in rebounds (128) and ranking fourth in scoring at 9.7 points per game (career-high). Her 57 offensive rebounds rank 11th in the Pac-12. Her 45.3 offensive rebounding percentage ranks 1st in the Pac-12 among the top 30 rebounders.
• McIntosh is the only player in the Pac-12 shooting 49% overall, 43% from deep and ranking in top 10 in assists (3.7). Her FG% is third among all guards in the Pac-12.
• McIntosh has dramatically improved her accuracy from deep, continuing her year-over-year improvement. She is currently shooting a career-high 43.9 percent from 3-point range and is one of only two players in the Pac-12 shooting at least 49 percent from the field and 43 percent from deep.
• Martín has been one of the Bears' most consistent players from 3-point range this season shooting at a 38.3 percent rate. She has hit at least two 3-pointers in all but 11 games this season and eight of 15 conference games.
• Off The Bench: Michelle Onyiah has been a key contributor off the bench this season. Onyiah is the leading scorer off the bench (6.4) and has a team-high two double-doubles this season.  In Pac-12 play she is leading the team in rebound average (5.6). Her 49 offensive rebounds this season rank in the top 20 of the Pac-12 and she is the only player on that list who has not started a game this year.
• Cal's offense is coming from multiple sources this season with four Bears averaging double-figure scoring: Curry - 14.2, Martín – 10.5, McIntosh - 10.2, Lutje  Schipholt - 9.7. Last season only Curry averaged double-figures.
• Peanut Tuitele has been instrumental in helping the Bears control the glass this season, currently leading the team in rebounding average at 5.0 boards per game and has had 34 offensive rebounds this season.
• The Bears' bench has been a solid contributing factor this season accounting for 27.3 percent of the team's scoring to date. Cal's bench has outscored its opponents in all but nine games this season.

UP NEXT
The Bears wrap up the regular season on the road starting with matchup against No. 4 Utah Thursday, Feb. 23 at 4 p.m.