The California women's basketball team (5-0) will face its toughest test of the young season when it hosts SEC opponent Auburn (3-1) at Haas Pavilion on Friday at 6 p.m. PT. The Tigers earned an at-large bid to last year's NCAA Tournament and enter Friday's game having received votes in this week's AP Top 25 poll.
 
A win against Auburn would give Cal its second win this season over a team that played in last year's NCAA Tournament after having already defeated Gonzaga.
 
This is just the second meeting between the teams with Cal having won last year's contest 67-53 at Auburn. In that game, Michelle Onyiah grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds and Marta Suárez had her best game as a Bear, scoring 27 points with five 3-pointers and pulling down seven rebounds.
 
Auburn is led by fourth-year head coach Johnnie Harris, who led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament in 2024 for the first time since 2019. This year's team features two players averaging 20+ points per game in Arkansas transfer Taliah Scott (27.0) and returner DeYona Gaston (21.3). Auburn is 3-1 and coming off a loss at Oregon.
 
Friday's game will be streamed on ACCNX with Dave Benz and Theo Robertson on the call.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date & Time: Friday, Nov. 22 | 6 p.m. PT
Live Stream: ACCNX
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
QUICK HITS

• In the 86-65 win over Grambling State on Friday:
  • The trio of Ioanna Krimili, Suarez and Lulu Twidale combined for 11 of the team's 12 total 3-pointers, including seven in the third quarter alone over an eight-minute stretch.
  • The Bears topped 80 points for the fifth straight game to open a season, marking the first time in program history they achieved that feat.
  • Natalia Ackerman and Jayda Noble were key off the bench, pulling down seven and six rebounds respectively.
  • Freshman Gabrielle Abigor scored a career-high 11 points in just 11 minutes played.
  • Eight different Bears registered at least one assist and Cal went to the line a season-high 30 times.
  • Cal held Grambling State to just one made 3-pointer – a season low for an opponent.

• Krimili is currently the nation's leader in both career triples (354) and most career games with at least five made 3-pointers (24).
• Krimili and Twidale are off to a hot start from beyond the arc. Twidale is sixth in the NCAA with 18 and Krimili is 10th with 17; they are both shooting over 48% from downtown and 50% from the field.
• Cal is the only school in the country to have two players (Krimili and Twidale) rank in the top 10 nationally for 3-pointers made (through Nov. 20).
• Krimili is the nation's only member of the 50-40-90 club (min. 30 3PA, 10 FTA). She has only missed one free throw (15-of-16) this season.
• All five of Cal's starters have been efficient from the field as each member of the starting five is shooting over 50% from the field, led by Onyiah at 61.5%
• Ackerman has been incredibly productive off the bench. She is averaging 5.6 points and 5.2 rebounds in just 12.6 minutes per game. She is also 11-for-13 from the field so far this season.
• Onyiah is currently four blocks away from taking the fifth spot on Cal's all-time list. She would pass recent graduate Evelien Lutje Schipholt ('22).
• Entering the third week of play, Cal has hit 44 triples this season, which are tied for sixth in the nation.
• The Bears have put up a combined 346 points through the first four games of the season, which is the third most in program history through the first four games of a campaign. They put up 347 over that span in both the 2012-13 and 1994-95 seasons.
• The Bears have been aggressive over the first five games of the season, getting to the line 116 times, which ranks fourth in the NCAA among schools that have played five games so far. Cal has had four games with at least 20 free throw attempts - a mark it only reached four times total last year.

 
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