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Bears Travel to Hawaii for Tournament

AT THE HAWAIIAN AIRLINES RAINBOW WAHINE CLASSIC, HONOLULU, HI
FRIDAY, NOV. 28 - SUNDAY, NOV. 30, SPECIAL EVENTS ARENA

Fri. Nov. 28    Hawaii, Special Events Arena (10,225),  Honolulu, HI    3:35 p.m. HST
Sat. Nov. 29    Cal vs. Indiana or Wisconsin-Green Bay                  12:25 or 2:30 pm. HST
Sun. Nov. 30    Game time and opponent to be determined

Paige Bowie is averaging 9.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg for Cal.

HOOPS IN HAWAII: The California women's basketball team (1-1) travels to Honolulu over the Thanksgiving break to play in the eight-team Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic, Friday, Nov. 28-Sunday, Nov. 30. The Bears open up tourney play against host Hawaii on Friday at 3:35 p.m. (HST), and then play either Indiana or Wisconsin-Green Bay in the second round. The third round of play concludes on Sunday. The eight participating teams are: Alabama, Cal, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa State, Marshall and Wisconsin-Green Bay.

LAST TIME IN HAWAII: Cal last visited Hawaii in December, 1993, when the Bears finished sixth at the Rainbow Wahine Classic. In that tourney, Cal defeated Alaska-Anchorage (82-62), and lost to Hawaii (98-73) and USF (75-62). Cal also finished sixth in the Rainbow Wahine Classic in November, 1987, losing to Hawaii (62-58), defeating Oklahoma (81-66) and losing to UCLA (75-50). The Bears also traveled to Honolulu for back-to-back games against Hawaii on Jan. 14-15, 1977, and posted two victories over the Rainbow Wahine (47-41, 31-25). Overall, Cal is 4-4 in games played in Hawaii.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: Hawaii opened up the season with a pair of victories over St. Bonaventure (83-45) and Louisiana State 79-63) to win the Hawaiian Regent Classic Championship. Last season, Hawaii finished with a 21-8 record and a tie for second place in the WAC. Indiana also opened up the season with a pair of wins, defeating Ball State (79-64) and Kentucky (84-71). Indiana returns 12 letterwinners off last year's team that posted a 16-13 record. Rounding out the Bears half of the bracket is Wisconsin-Green Bay, another team with a 2-0 record thus far. The Phoenix opened the season with a road win at Minnesota (72-65) and a win at home over Marquette (67-50). UWGB posted an 18-11 record last season.

SERIES RECORDS: Hawaii leads the series with Cal, 4-2, including wins over the Bears in the 1993 Rainbow Wahine Classic (98-73) and the 1987 Rainbow Wahine Classic (62-58). Cal's two victories over Hawaii came on consecutive days (Jan. 14-15) in 1977. Cal has never faced any of the other six teams in the tournamen

CALIFORNIA PROBABLE STARTERS 
                                    PTS     REB NOTES
Amber Lacey         F   6-0     Sr  17.5    9.0 Shooting 69.6% from the field
Paige Bowie         F   5-11    So  9.5     5.5 1997 Pac-10 All-Freshman hon. mention
Jennie Leander      C   6-3     Jr  6.0     4.5 1996 Pac-10 All-Freshman team
Masa Radovic        G   6-1     Fr  10.5    3.0 Yugoslavian Jr. National Team member
Courtney Johnson    G   5-8     Fr  10.0    5.5 Leads team in assists (9), steals (5)

LAST GAME: Cal lost a heartbreaker at UOP on Nov. 24, as Martha Yarbrough sank a short jumper with 2.3 seconds remaining to give UOP a 64-63 victory in Stockton. Freshman Masa Radovic's pair of free throws had given the Bears the lead with 11 seconds left, 63-62, but UOP was able to move the ball up the court and get Yarbrough open for the game-winner. The Bears inbounded the ball and called timeout, but a desperation 3-point attempt by Radovic at the buzzer bounced off the rim. Radovic led the Bears with a career-high 19 points and dished out four assists, while senior Amber Lacey worked the inside for 16 points and five rebounds.

SEASON OPENER: Cal posted a solid 94-58 victory over Cal Poly SLO in the season and home opener on Nov. 20 in Kaiser Arena. The victory marked the Bears 18th consecutive victory in home openers, dating back to the 1980-81 season. Senior Amber Lacey, a transfer from Alabama, led the Bears with a career-high 19 points and 13 rebounds, while freshman Kenya Corley came off the bench to contribute 18 points and eight rebounds in just 18 minutes. Freshman guard Courtney Johnson made the first start of her career, and responded with 12 points, six rebounds and five assists, while sophomore Paige Bowie tossed in 12 points. The Bears shot an outstanding 50 percent from the field for the game (36-for-72), and outrebounded Cal Poly SLO, 51-33.

HEAD COACH MARIANNE STANLEY (Immaculata '76): One of the most successful coaches in the history of women's basketball, Marianne Stanley is 6-21after her first season at Cal. Her overall record in 18 seasons as a collegiate head coach is 386-170 (.694), including stops at Stanford (1996), USC (1990-93), Penn (1988-89) and Old Dominion (1978-87). Stanley won three national titles at Old Dominion (1979, 1980, 1985), took USC to three NCAA Tournaments, and was named National Co-Coach of the Year last season at Stanford, helping lead the Cardinal to the Final Four. As a two-time All-America point guard, she led Immaculata College to a pair of national titles (1973-74). In her 22 seasons as a player and coach, she has made 17 postseason appearances, and competed in 10 Final Fours. Stanley's staff at Cal includes associate head coach Barbara Thaxton and assistant coaches Carol Alfano and Milica Vukadinovic.

1997-98 California Notes

THREE'S THE CHARM: As a team, Cal has made at least one three-pointer in 52 straight games, dating back to Dec. 8, 1995. In fact, Cal has made at least three treys in 46 of those games, thanks in large part to departed 1996-97 seniors Liz Rizzo and Patrycja Czepiec, two of Cal's top four all-time three-pointer shooters. This season, the Bears were 2-for-12 from three-point range against Cal Poly SLO and 1-for-11at UOP. Against UOP, Paige Bowie sank the team's lone three-pointer with just 5:07 left in the game to preserve the streak.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: In this weekend's trip to Hawaii, the Bears will be looking to snap a 15-game losing streak on the road, which dates back to the 1995-96 season. Cal's last road win came Feb. 24, 1996 at Washington State (91-83).

STAT STUFF: The Bears are showing a marked improvement in several statistical areas this season, highlighted by scoring 78.5 points per game, compared to only 60.6 ppg last year. Also, the Bears have reduced their turnovers to 16 per game, after committing nearly 23 turnovers per game a year ago. This season, Cal is shooting a respectable 46.2% from the field, compared to just 40.3% last year, and the Bears rebounding has improved from 36.3 rpg last year to 43.5 rpg this season.

NEW HOME COURT: The Cal women's basketball team will play its home games for the 1997-98 season in the Kaiser Arena (4,685), part of the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center in downtown Oakland. The construction of the new $40 million, 12,000-seat Walter A. Haas Jr. Pavilion has begun on campus, and completion of the project is expected in January, 1999. The Pavilion is named for Walter and Evelyn Haas Jr., who donated a lead gift of $10 million.

BEARS ON TV: Cal will make seven television appearances this season: Nov. 28 at Hawaii (Hawaii TV), Jan. 4 vs. Oregon State (Fox Sports), Jan. 9 vs. Stanford (Fox Bay Area), Feb. 6 at Stanford (Fox Bay Area), Feb. 12 vs. USC (Fox Bay Area), Feb. 21 at Washington (Fox Sports), Feb. 28 vs. Arizona State (Fox Bay Area).

CAL ON THE RADIO: For the 16th consecutive season, KALX (90.7 FM) will broadcast all California games, home and away. Each broadcast begins five minutes prior to tip-off.

        Arizona             1-0
        Oregon              1-0
        Oregon State        2-1
        California          1-1
        Washington State    1-1
        Arizona State       0-1
        UCLA                0-1
        Stanford            0-2
        USC                 0-0
        Washington          0-0