Cal Opens ACC Tournament Thursday

After completing its first season in the ACC, the California women's basketball team finished in seventh place in the final standings to earn a first-round bye in the Ally ACC Tournament which begins today at the First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Golden Bears will face 10th-seeded Virginia (who defeated Pittsburgh in the first round) on Thursday at 2 p.m. PT on the ACC Network.

Cal and Virginia are tied 3-3 in the series with the Bears taking the most recent matchup, 76-70, at Virginia on Feb. 20. In that matchup, Ioanna Krimili nailed six 3-pointers and Lulu Twidale hit three – including a pivotal one that put Cal up five points with 15 seconds left in the game.

A win against Virginia would give Cal its most wins in a season since the 2012-13 season when it won 32 games.

Thursday's game will air on the ACC Network with Pam Ward and Stephanie White on the call.

GAME INFORMATION
Date & Time: Thursday, Mar. 6 | 2 p.m. PT
Broadcast: ACC Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

QUICK HITS
In the win over Miami on Sunday:

Michelle Onyiah posted her second-straight 20-point, 10-rebounds game finishing with a career-high 26 points (11-of-12) and 10 rebounds. She hit her first 10 field goals of the game.
Marta Suarez also posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Krimili knocked in three 3-pointers and moved into 10th place on the ACC's all-time single-season top 10 list (94) passing NC State's Aislinn Konig.
Lulu Twidale tied her career high with six assists for the second-straight game.
Cal shot 50.0% from the floor and 42.9% from deep.

NCAA Team Rankings (as of Mar. 4)

Total 3-pointers made - 11th (277)
3-point makes per game - 17th (8.9)
Field goal percentage - 32nd (45.8)
3-point percentage - 40th (35.1)
Scoring - 56th (74.0)

Milestone Watch:

Krimili is just six 3-pointers from taking 6th place on the ACC's all-time single-season top 10 list.
Cal is just four 3-pointers away from entering the ACC's all-time single-season top 10 list.
Cal is just six 3-pointers from breaking its single-season program record (282) that was set last year.

Player Notes

On Tuesday, Krimili was named to the All-ACC Second Team.
Over her last four games Krimili is averaging 15.5 points per game on 48.8% shooting from the field and 51.4% from deep.
Twidale's last three games have been her best stretch dishing the ball of her career with totals of 5-6-6 over those three games. The six assists are tied for her career high.
Krimili is currently the nation's leader in both career triples (431) and most career games with at least five made 3-pointers (28) among active player. She ranks fourth in the NCAA in career points (2,560) among all active players which ranks 67th all-time in NCAA DI women's basketball (since 1981-82).
Krimili and Twidale are the best 3-point shooting duo in the nation. Krimili is ranked eighth (94) while Twidale is ranked 13th (86) (through Mar. 5). No other school has a duo who have combined for more made 3-pointers or rank in the top 20.
Twidale leads all sophomores in the nation in made 3-pointers (through Mar. 4).
Marta Suarez has scored in double figures in all but four games during conference play averaging 13.8 points per game over that stretch along with averaging 7.8 rebounds per game - which both lead the team
Suarez is one of only 12 forwards in the country and only one of three in the ACC shooting at least 46% from the field and 32% from deep (min. 100 3PTA).
Kayla Williams one of just four players in the nation shooting at least 49.0% from the field, 39.0% from deep and totaling at least 125 assists on the season. The other three are Paige Bueckers (UConn), Olivia Miles (Notre Dame) and Katie Dinnebier (Drake).
Over her last two games, Onyiah averaged 25.0ppg (on 75.0% shooting) and 10.0rpg.
Onyiah is setting career single-season highs across several categories this year: FG% (61.1), rebounding (7.3), scoring (12.1) and double doubles (10). During ACC play she is shooting 63.0% from the field.
Of Onyiah's 10 double-doubles for the season, eight have occurred during ACC play which rank second in the conference. She's registered a double-double in five of her last eight games including her last two.

Team Notes

The last four games have been one of Cal's best stretches of the season. During that span the Bears are averaging 11.0 3-pointers, 18.8 assists and just 13.5 turnovers per game while shooting 48.0% from the field and 41.5% from deep.
Cal's 3-point shooting has come alive lately. After a seven-game stretch where it didn't reach double-figure triples, the Bears have hit 10+ in three of the past four games.
Cal is one of 32 teams in the country with at least three Quad 1 wins.
Cal is currently 9-5 against teams from the 2024 NCAA Tournament with wins over No. 19 Alabama, No. 21 NC State, Florida State, Gonzaga, Auburn, Arizona, Syracuse and Stanford (twice).
Entering this week, Cal is one of only five schools in the country to have five players averaging over 10 points per game.
Four of the Bears' seven losses this season have come against teams that were ranked or receiving votes at the time.

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