The California women's basketball team (9-5) has wrapped up nonconference play and will resume ACC play when it heads to Chapel Hill to play North Carolina on Thursday at 9 a.m. PT.
 
This will be just the sixth meeting between the two programs with North Carolina holding a slight 2-3 series advantage. North Carolina pulled away in the fourth quarter for the 65-52 win in the most recent matchup which took place last season at Haas Pavilion. The Bears are 0-2 on the road in the series and will be looking for their first win in Chapel Hill.
 
A win would be Cal's first top-25 win of the season and sixth under Charmin Smith. It would also mark the highest ranked win under Smith since beating #13 Arizona on Mar. 1, 2020 and first since beating #21 NC State on Jan. 9, 2025.
 
North Carolina is 12-3 overall and 1-1 in ACC play and riding a three-game winning streak.The Tarheels are led by seventh-year head coach Courtney Banghart who guided the team to a Sweet 16 appearance last season. The Tarheels feature four players who average double-figure scoring led by Indya Nivar (12.4) who also ranks third in the ACC in steals (47).
 
Sunday's game will air on ACC Network with Debbie Antonelli and Kevin Brown on the call.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date & Time: Thursday, Jan. 1 | 9:00 a.m. PT
Broadcast: ACC Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
QUICK HITS
In the 91-50 Cal win over Cal Poly on Sunday:

• Lulu Twidale hit five 3-pointers which moved her into third place on Cal's all-time career triples list and marked her sixth career game with at least five triples.
• Naya Ojukwu had her best offensive showing of the season with 16 points on 7-of-8 from the field to go along with five rebounds and two blocks.
• Twidale and Gisella Maul both tied their career highs with six assists each.
• The 91 points scored marked the second-most this season after scoring 92 against San Jose State in early December.
• The win marked Cal's 19th-straight regular season nonconference win at home dating back to the 2023-24 season.           

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.
• Twidale is averaging 2.7 triples over her last 10 games and has had six games with at least three triples during that span.
• Sakima Walker has blocked at least two shots in 9 of 14 games this year including a stretch of eight straight. Since the Harvard game on Nov. 16 she has totaled 24 blocks which is 10th in the country.
• Maul is having a career year in rebounding while coming off the bench. She set a career high with 11 rebounds at Missouri and has had at least seven rebounds in six games. She is second on the team with 5.6 rebounds per game and is averaging 7.3 over her last six games.
• Cal is only giving up 59.3 points per game, the fewest under Charmin Smith and fourth fewest in program history dating back to the 1981-82 season. The last time Cal's scoring defense averaged 60.0 points or fewer was the 2012-13 season. 

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