BERKELEY – Fresh off its sweep of Washington and Washington State, the California women's basketball team will head on the road to take on No. 5 Colorado on Friday at 6 p.m. at the CU Events Center in Boulder.
 
This game marks the 27th all-time meeting between the programs with Colorado owning a slight 14-12 series advantage and having won seven straight. The last Bears' win came in an 80-60 victory on Jan. 27, 2019, at Colorado.
 
Colorado is led by eighth-year head coach JR Payne, who has guided the program to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2023. The Buffaloes are led by 2023 All-Pac-12 members Quay Miller and Jaylyn Sherrod, who were also named to this year's Naismith Player of the Year Watch List.
 
The Buffs took both games last year with the last meeting taking place in Boulder on Feb. 25, 2023m in a 95-69 loss. The Bears hung tight with then No. 21 Colorado in the first half, going down just six points at the break. Cal was unable to sustain its offense in the second half, shooting just 33% compared to Colorado's 60%.
 
Friday's game will air on Pac-12 Mountain with Jenny Cavnar and Carman Snyder on the call.  
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date & Time: Friday, Jan. 12 | 6 p.m. PT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Live Stream: Pac-12 Mountain
 
QUICK HITS

• In the 73-72 OT win against Washington State (Jan. 7):
  • Ioanna Krimili tied a season high with 21 points and four 3-pointers for the second consecutive game.
  • Marta Suárez had her fifth double-double of the season with 17 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
  • Leilani McIntosh dished out six assists to give her sole possession of the fifth spot on Cal's all-time career list, passing Mikayla Cowling and Natasha Vital.
  • The win gave Cal its first sweep over Pac-12 schools since the 2018-19 season and snapped a six-game skid against the Cougars.
  • Michelle Onyiah scored the last six points for the Bears in overtime, all off of offensive rebounds and putbacks.
• At 12-3, Cal is off to its best start in the Charmin Smith era and its best 15-game start since 2016-17 (13-2 that season).
• Cal is 11-1 when scoring at least 70 points.
• Head coach Charmin Smith was named this week's Coach of the Week by ESPN.
• Krimili is one of just two active players in the country with career averages of at least 17.0 points per game and 40% from 3-point range over at least three seasons. The other is UConn's Paige Bueckers.
• Krimili has scored in double figures in all six games played this season and hit multiple 3-pointers in five of them. She needs just six more 3-pointers to reach 300 made for her career - a feat only seven other active players in the country have achieved.
• McKayla Williams has been one of the most active players on the glass for the Bears this season. Her 6.9 rebounds per game average is second on the team and ranks third among all guards in the Pac-12 and 13th overall. Her 34 offensive rebounds lead all guards in the Pac-12.
• Onyiah has been effective on the glass when she has been on the floor. While averaging just 18.5 minutes per game she ranks 10th in the Pac-12 in rebounding (7.2). Her minutes per game are by far the fewest of any player ranked in the top 25 in the conference in rebounding.
• Marta Suarez's versatility at the forward position has been on display all year as her 23 made 3-pointers rank second in the Pac-12 and 22nd in the country among all forwards.
• McIntosh is on pace to average her most assists per game for a season. Her 6.3 assists per game rank second in the Pac-12 and 12th in the country.
• McIntosh is just 10 assists away from passing Asha Thomas for the fourth spot on Cal's all-time career list. She is also just five steals away from passing Karen Smith for eighth on the career steals list.
• McIntosh is the only player in the nation to average at least 11 PPG, 6.0 APG, 1.9 STL and 38.0% from 3-point range.
• Lulu Twidale has emerged as one of the team's top 3-point shooters. She has now hit multiple 3-pointers in seven games. Her 21 3-pointers are second on the team and rank fifth in the Pac-12 and 41st in the country among all freshmen.
• The Bears are giving up 60.5 points per game, a 9.1-point improvement over last season when they gave up an average of 69.6 points per game.
• Four or more players have scored in double figures in six games this season, a significant improvement from last season when four players scored in double figures just four times all season.
• The Bears have had 10 or more steals in five games already this season, beating their total (2) from all of last year.
• Through the first 15 games of the season, the Bears have hit 10 or more 3-pointers in five games, surpassing last year's total in which they hit double-figure 3-pointers in just one game.
• Pac-12 Leaders as of Jan. 9:
  • Assists per game - McIntosh, 2nd (6.3)
  • Steals per game – McIntosh, 9th (1.9)
  • Rebounds per game – Onyiah, 10th (7.3); Williams and Suarez, 13th (6.9)
  • 3PM per game – Suarez, 16th (1.5); Twidale, 19th (1.4)
  • Cal 3PM – 2nd (118)

NEXT UP
Cal stays on the road to take on No. 19 Utah on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT.
 
STAY POSTED
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