Cal Hosts No. 18 Arizona Saturday

Tipoff is at 7 p.m
BERKELEY – The California women’s basketball team (9-3) hosts its Pac-12 conference home opener on Saturday against No. 1 Arizona. 18. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and the game can be seen on the Pac-12 Network.
Saturday’s game marks the 73rd all-time meeting between the two programs with Cal holding a 38-34 lead in the series, though Arizona has won the last three contests. Cal’s last win came on March 1, 2020 in a 55-54 road victory at No. 13 Arizona.
GAME INFORMATION
- Date and Time: Saturday, December 31 | 7 PM PT
- Location: Berkeley, CA. | Haas Pavilion
- Watch: Pac-12 Network
- Live Stats: StatBroadcast
QUICK STRIKES
- In a 90-69 loss at No. 2 Stanford:
- Jayda Curry led three Bears in double-digit scoring with 20 points (18 in the second half) including three 3-pointers, followed by Leilani McIntosh’s 17 and Evelien Lutje Schipholt’s 13.
- Cal shot 43.9 percent from deep, the highest percentage allowed by Stanford, which ranks 10th nationally in field goal defense, to an opponent so far this season.
- Cal held Stanford to just 29.2 percent from 3-point range, its fourth-lowest percentage of the season. The Cardinal ranks 27th nationally in 3-point percentage.
- The 69 points the Bears put up were the third-highest total allowed by the Cardinal all season.
- Against top 10 opponents: In addition to No. 2 Stanford, Cal also faced No. 9 of Notre Dame on Nov. 12 and scored the most 3-pointers (9) and points (79), had the most assists (17) and steals (12 – only opponent to record double-digit steals) against Notre Dame among any of his opponents this season. Opponents include No. 7 Virginia Tech, No. 9 UConn and no. 15 Maryland.
- Ranking of national teams: 40th FG% (45.4), 51st rebounding margin (+7.1), 56th goals (75.5), 61st assists per game (15.9)
- Cal is averaging 75.5 points per game (56th in the nation), the highest average in program history since the 1999-00 season.
- Through 12 games, the Bears have done a great job of distributing the ball, keeping turnovers low. Nationally they rank 49th in asst/me ratio (1.11), 61st in assists per game (15.9) and 60th in fewest turnovers per game (14.2).
- With three 3-pointers against Stanford, Curry kept her streak of consecutive regular-season games with at least one 3-pointer at 34 games. Her streak is the longest among all active Pac-12 players and is tied for the third-longest streak of any Pac-12 player since the 1999-00 season.
Shay Murphy, USC | 45 | 18.02.2005 – 01.05.2007 |
Kelsey Plum, Wash | 38 | 17.01.2016 – 02.10.2017 |
Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon | 34 | 29.01.2017 – 02.04.2018 |
Jayda CurryCal | 34 | 11/09/2021 – NOW |
Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon | 30 | 11.02.2018 – 15.02.2019 |
- Curry ranks second among all Pac-12 sophomores in scoring (15.8) and 17th nationally. She is averaging 19.3ppg over her last four games.
- Lutje Schipholt has been a stalwart for the team thus far leading the team in rebounding with 6.1 boards per game and ranking third in scoring with 10.3 points per game, which is a career and first season high. that it averages double digits. 37 of her 73 rebounds this season have come on the offensive end, which ranks 5th in the Pac-12 and 73rd nationally. Her 50.1 offensive rebounding percentage ranks second in the Pac-12 among top 40 rebounders.
- McIntosh has greatly improved his three-point accuracy, continuing to improve year after year. She is currently shooting a career-high 50.0 percent from distance (ranked second in the Pac-12)a marked improvement from last season’s 36.2 percent. She is one of only two players in the Pac-12 to shoot at least 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from deep.
- Martín has been one of the Bears’ most consistent players from 3-point range this season shooting 42.4 percent, which ranks 9th in the Pac-12. She has made at least two 3-pointers in 7 of 12 games and 5 of her last 8. She is shooting 50 percent from deep over her last five games. Her percentage ranks 64th nationally among eligible players.
- Jadyn Bush has made a positive impact every time he comes off the bench for the Bears. In just 8.0 minutes per game she is averaging 5.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. She had a season-high 15 points against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 3.
- Peanut Tweets has been instrumental in helping the Bears control the glass this season, ranking second on the team in rebounding with 5.7 boards per game and has 23 offensive rebounds so far, which ranks in the top 25 in the Pac- 12. She had grabbed at least seven rebounds in three of her last four games.
- The Bears’ bench has been a solid contributor this season accounting for 30.1 percent of the team’s goals to date. Cal’s bench has outscored opponents in all but two games this season.
- Cal has two players in the Pac-12 top 10 in both 3-pointers: Martín (8) – 25, Curry (4) – 27 and 3-point percentage: McIntosh (2) – 50.0, Martín (9) – 42.4.
- Cal’s offense comes from multiple sources this season with three Bears averaging double figures: Curry – 15.8, Martín – 11.3, Lutje Schipholt – 10.3. Last season only Curry averaged double figures.
NEXT
The Bears host Arizona State on Monday, January 2 at 12 p.m
STAY POSTURED
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