BERKELEY – The California women's basketball team announced the signing of graduate transfer Ila Lane from UC Santa Barbara to its roster for the 2023-24 season.
 
Lane made a mark right off the bat to start her collegiate career, earning AP All-America honorable mention honors in 2020 and being named the Big West Freshman of the Year. She was an All-Big West First Team selection in 2023 and 2020 and a Second-Team selection in 2022. Lane opted out of the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
"We are extremely excited to have Ila join the team as I know she will make an impact right away," Cal head coach Charmin Smith said. "Not only is she an accomplished basketball player, but she is an exceptional student and will fit right in at Cal. She gives us great size, rebounding and finishing ability at the rim and will be a force in the Pac-12 next season."
 
A 6-foot-4 forward/center from Moraga, Lane amassed 1,150 points (13.1 points per game), 896 rebounds (10.2 rebounds per game), 76 blocks (0.9 blocks per game) and 41 double-doubles in 88 career games (all starts) for UCSB. She owns the Gauchos' single-season rebounding record (378 in 2019-20) and her career rebounds rank third all-time.
 
As a senior in 2022-23, Lane averaged 11.8 PPG and 8.1 RPG, which led the Big West. She collected 10 double-doubles and shot 54.4% from the field, which both also led the conference. Lane led her team to the Big West championship game, averaging 12.7 PPG and 7.7 RPG on her way to being named to the Big West All-Tournament team.
 
In 2021-22, she was named to the Lisa Leslie Award Watch List before leading the Big West in rebounding (9.7) and field goal percentage (58.0) while averaging 12.1 PPG. She registered four consecutive double-doubles from Feb. 24 – Mar. 5, which included a season-high 18 rebounds in the regular season finale at Hawaii. Lane also scored a career-high 27 points with 10 rebounds in a win over Denver on Dec. 2.
 
As a freshman in 2019-20, Lane led the country in rebounding average (13.0 RPG) while also adding 15.3 PPG and shooting 57.6% from the field.  She was second in total rebounds (378) and her 19 double-doubles led the Big West and all freshmen in the NCAA, while ranking fourth overall. She totaled three 20-point, 20-rebound games including going for 25 points and a career-high 20 rebounds in a win over UC Irvine on Feb. 5.
 
This past season, Lane was named to the 21st Annual Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (DI-AAA ADA) Scholar-Athlete Team after maintaining a 3.7 GPA over her four-year career. At Cal, she will enroll in the Berkeley Master of Social Welfare (MSW) Program, becoming the first active student-athlete at Cal to be accepted into the program.
 
"I'm excited to be a part of the Cal program with the rich history it has," Lane said. "I connected with the players and coaches right away during my visit which was a big factor in my decision to come here. Getting into the master's program was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and was everything I could have hoped for."
 
A native of San Jose, Lane played for Woodside Priory High School, where she led her team to the NorCal championship in 2018 and Central Coast Section titles from 2016-19. She averaged 18.1 PPG, 12 RPG and nearly two blocks per game during her final two seasons and holds the school record for career rebounds. Her accolades include DIII State Player of the Year, First Team All-League, Second Team All-League and First Team All-State honors.
 
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