The California women's basketball team (6-2) will play in its second ACC/SEC Challenge when it plays at Missouri (7-2) this Thursday at 6 p.m. PT at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri. In their first-ever ACC/SEC Challenge last season, the Golden Bears defeated then-No. 19 Alabama 69-65 at Haas Pavilion.
 
This is just the third meeting between the two programs with the series tied at 1-1. The two teams last played in the Cal Classic held in Berkeley on Nov. 25, 2017, when the Tigers escaped with a 55-52 win. Prior to that the Golden Bears beat the Tigers 82-70 on Nov. 23, 2014, as part of the Hawaii Tournament.
 
Missouri is currently riding a three-game win streak coming into the contest against Cal. The Tigers are led by first-year head coach Kellie Harper and feature four players who average double-digit scoring highlighted by Grace Slaughter (19.6 ppg) and Shannon Dowell (17.4 ppg), who have both posted 30+ point games this season.
 
A win against the Tigers would be Cal's fifth against an SEC opponent under head coach Charmin Smith.
 
Thursday's game will be broadcast on the SEC Network with Brenda VanLengen and Andrea Lloyd on the call.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date & Time: Thursday, Dec. 4 |6:00 p.m. PT
Broadcast: SEC Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
QUICK HITS
In the 58-50 loss to Auburn last week:

• Lulu Twidale led all scorers with 18 points and for the third time this season nailed four 3-pointers.
• Three Bears had at least eight rebounds led by Taylor Barnes, who grabbed nine, and Mjracle Sheppard and Sakima Walker, who had eight each.
• Barnes' nine rebounds were a career high.
• Cal got to within two points with 2:31 left but was unable to complete the comeback.           

Starting Five

• Puff Morris is one of only two freshmen in the country to rank in the top 20 in both assists and 3-pointers among all rookies. The other is Oklahoma's Aaliyah Chavez, the No. 1 incoming freshman in her class.
• Barnes is the only freshman in the conference to rank in the top six in points, rebounds, assists and 3-pointers among rookies.
• Twidale is averaging 3.3 per game over the last four, has hit four triples in three of the last four and is 10 away from passing former teammate Ioanna Krimili for the fourth spot on Cal's all-time career list.
• After averaging just 4.3 triples per game for the first three games, Cal is now averaging 8.2 over its last four contests.
• Dating back to the 2023-24 season, Cal has won 16 straight regular-season nonconference games at Haas Pavilion.

STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal women's basketball, follow the Bears on X/Twitter (@CalWBBall), Instagram (@CalWBBball) and Facebook (/CalWBBall/).