The California women's basketball team (8-4) will face a familiar foe when it takes on USC at the Invisalign Bay Area Women's Classic at Chase Center in San Francisco on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. PT.
 
This will be the 80th all-time meeting between the two programs with a majority of the games having taken place while both were in the Pac-12 Conference. USC owns a 44-35 series advantage although the two teams have evenly split the last 10 matchups. Cal's last win against USC came in an 81-78 overtime win on Feb. 19, 2023 at Haas Pavilion. The last time the Bears and Trojans faced each other on a neutral site was on March 2, 2017 at the Pac-12 Tournament in Seattle where Cal won 71-58.
 
A win would be Cal's first ranked win of the season and the sixth under head coach Charmin Smith.
 
USC is currently 8-3 and boasts wins over two top 25 opponents in NC State (9) and Washington (21). The Trojans are led by fifth-year head coach Lindsay Gottleib, the former Cal head coach (2011 – 2019), who guided the team to the 2025 Big 10 Tournament Championship game and an Elite 8 appearance. USC features four players who are averaging double-figure scoring led by Jazzy Davidson (16.0 ppg), who has earned Big 10 Freshman of the Week honors twice this season.
 
Sunday's game will air on ESPN with Andraya Carter and Beth Mowins on the call.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date & Time: Sunday, Dec. 21 | 5:30 p.m. PT
Broadcast: ESPN
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
QUICK HITS
In the 78-69 loss at Stanford on Sunday:

• Taylor Barnes scored seven points in the first quarter on her way to a team-high 16 points.
• Sakima Walker and Puff Morris rounded out the Bears in double figures with 13 and 12 points respectively.
• Gisella Maul continued her career season rebounding with a team-high 10 rebounds off the bench marking her second game this season with double-digit boards.
• Cal had a five-point lead in the opening minute of the fourth quarter but shot just 25.0% from the field in the quarter.       

Starting Five

• Barnes and Morris are the only freshmen duo in the ACC to rank in the top 10 among all rookies in the conference in points, 3-pointers, rebounds and assists.
• Lulu Twidale is now two 3-pointers away from passing former teammate Ioanna Krimili for the fourth spot on Cal's all-time career top 10 list.
• Sakima Walker has blocked at least two shots in nine of 12 games this year including eight straight and ranks second in the ACC with 25 blocks.
• Maul is having a career year in rebounding while coming off the bench. She has already set three career highs with games with 11, eight and nine rebounds and has tied or led the team in boards in four games this season.
• Naya Ojukwu has been one of the most efficient players in the country off the bench. For players averaging 10.0 minutes per game or less, she leads the country in scoring (6.9) and is 10th in rebounding (3.5). (Min. 10 games played)

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