WBB11/15/2017 8:09 AM | By: Cal Athletics
Bears Set For Showdown In Storrs
STORRS, Connecticut - After starting the 2017-18 season with an exciting win at Haas Pavilion, the 20th-ranked Cal women's basketball is headed east, taking on top-ranked Connecticut at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on Friday at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut. The No. 1 team in the nation and 11-time NCAA champions, the  Huskies (1-0, 0-0 AAC) have won 66 consecutive home games, a streak that dates back to March 2013. Yet Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb and the Golden Bears (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12) welcome the challenge of taking on one of the most successful programs in college sports.
"When [Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma] reached out and asked if I wanted to start a series with UConn, I agreed with no hesitation," said Gottlieb, now in her seventh season as head coach of the Golden Bears. "They are the best and we want to be the best. I want to give our players every possible opportunity to compete, to stretch themselves, and to play on the biggest stage."
Friday's game marks the start of a four-year series between the schools and will be the fifth meeting all-time between the teams. The Golden Bears and Huskies last squared off on December 22, 2013, an 80-47 victory for the Huskies in the Maggie Dixon Classic in New York City. This will be just the second meeting between the teams in Connecticut and the first since the 1994-95 season.
The matchup between the Golden Bears and Huskies features six of the 30 players named to the John R. Wooden Award® Preseason Top 30. A two-time honorable mention All-American and the 2016 USBWA National Freshman of the Year, Cal junior Kristine Anigwe was named to the early season watch list for national player of the year, along with Huskies Napheesa Collier, Kia Nurse, Katie Lou Samuelson, Azurá Stevens, and Gabby Williams. Anigwe, Collier, Stevens, and Connecticut sophomore Crystal Dangerfield played together on the USA Basketball Women's U19 Team that won gold at the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championships, while Anigwe and Samuelson also teamed up to win gold at the 2014 FIBA U17 Worlds.
Coming off an 87-80 victory over Saint Mary's on November 10, the Golden Bears will now look to record the program's first-ever win over an AP No. 1 opponent. Cal's last win over a Top-5 foe came on January 13, 2013, beating fifth-ranked Stanford, 67-55 on the road.
UConn also opened the 2017-18 season in victorious fashion, beating Stanford, 78-53, in Columbus, Ohio.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Friday's game will be broadcast live on Sport, with a live stream available on ESPN3 for viewers outside the SNY broadcast range. Live stats will also be available, along with additional updates and behind-the-scenes information on the Bears social media accounts (Twitter: @CalWBBall, Instagram: @CalWBBall).
LAST TIME OUT
The Battle of the East Bay went to the Golden Bears, as the No. 20 California women's basketball team opened the season with and 87-80 victory over Saint Mary's on Friday night at Haas Pavilion. Six different players scored double-figures for the Golden Bears, who opened the season with a victory for the sixth consecutive season.
A two-time All-Pac-12 selection, Anigwe led the Bears with 17 points, 15 of which came in the second half as she returned to action after a minor knee injury sustained in the preseason. Guards Mi'Cole Cayton and Mikayla Cowling added 13 points apiece, while freshman wing Alaysia Styles totaled 11 points in her first collegiate game. Junior guard Asha Thomas and senior Penina Davidson finished with 10 points each. Davidson, a forward from Auckland, New Zealand, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for the second double-double of her career.
Friday also marked the 100th career game for the Davidson and Cowling, the two seniors on the Golden Bears' roster.
After a slow start to the game, the Bears should their footing midway through the first quarter and erased a seven-point deficit with a 14-3 run to cap off the quarter. Cal surged again late in the second quarter, taking a 47-36 lead into the locker room. The Gaels used a big third quarter to tie the game entering the fourth, but the Bears responded, thanks in part to calm play down the stretch by freshman guard Kianna Smith. The rookie from Moreno Valley, ended the night with eight points and went a prefect 4-4 from the foul line over the final 30 seconds to ice the victory for the Bears
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
The unanimous No. 1 team in the nation according to both the Associated Press and Coaches' Polls, Connecticut returns four starters from last year's team that went 36-1 and reached the Final Four for the tenth consecutive season. Connecticut saw its pursuit of a fifth consecutive NCAA title come to an end in the national semifinals, falling to Mississippi State in overtime, 66-64.
Collier, a 6-1 wing from O'Fallon, Missouri, led the Huskies in scoring last season, averaging 20.4 points per game. Samuelson, whose older sisters Bonnie and Karlie played at Stanford, was close behind, averaging 20.2 points per game on the season while shooting 42 percent from beyond the arc. Connecticut's frontcourt features 2017 WBCA National Defensive Player of the Year Gabby Williams, with transfer Stevens, an Honorable Mention All-American at Duke, coming off the bench.
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Now in his 33rd season as head coach of the Huskies, Geno Auriemma saw his squad open the season with a 78-53 victory over Stanford. Dangerfield, a sophomore point guard, led UConn with 24 points, while Samuelson added 21 points in the victory, going 4-7 from three-point range.
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UP NEXT
The Golden Bears will wrap up their trip to New England on Sunday, heading to Providence, Rhode Island to take on Brown University at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT. Gottlieb graduated from Brown in 1999, where she was a member of the women's basketball team and served as a student assistant coach for the 1998-99 season. Sunday's game will be the first meeting between the schools.
2017-18 TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW
Season, group and single-game tickets for the 2017-18 women's basketball season are now on sale. Season tickets start as low as $40 ($2.67 per game, 15 games) for youth and seniors and $80 ($5.33 per game, 15 games) for adult general admission tickets. Single-game tickets are available starting at $4 for youth and seniors and $5 for adults, while flex and partial plans are also available purchase. For more information, call the Gold Standard Sales and Service line at (800) GO BEARS (462-3277) or visit the CalBears.com ticket page.
JOIN THE JOURNEY: THE RETURN OF THISISCALBASKETBALL.COM
Cal's one-of-a-kind multimedia fan site, ThisIsCalBasketball.com, is back for its seventh season and once again features an unprecedented look into the inner workings of the personalities behind the Cal women's basketball's roster. Visitors to ThisIsCalBasketball.com can get an in-depth look at the personalities behind the jerseys, from action and portrait photos to bio videos and conversations between current players and alumnae.
STAY POSTED
Keep up-to-date on the latest Cal women's basketball news by following the Bears on social media. View behind-the-scenes photos and videos and learn more about Cal and its student-athletes on Twitter (@CalWBball), Instagram (@CalWBball) and Facebook (Facebook.com/CalWBball).
