Nov. 21, 2012

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Game 4
No. 11/11 California vs. Eastern Washington
Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, Calif.
Friday, Nov. 23 - 1 p.m. PT
Series Record: Cal leads, 2-1
Last: Cal 64, EWU 45 (Nov. 9, 2005 in Berkeley)

Gametracker | Premium Live Audio (Dave Lewis) | FREE Live Video

California Game Notes | EWU Game Notes

BERKELEY - No. 11/11 California hosts the Cal Classic by Doubletree this weekend at Haas Pavilion with Eastern Washington, Cal State Fullerton and Georgetown all coming to Berkeley for the post-Thanksgiving event. The Bears will open the tournament Friday at 1 p.m. against Eastern Washington with Cal State Fullerton and Georgetown meeting at 3:15 p.m.

Saturday's matchups will feature the Bears in either the consolation or championship game against the Titans or Hoyas, depending on Friday's results. California will play the 3:15 p.m. game on Saturday, and Eastern Washington will be the designated host team in the 1 p.m. game.

Fans can listen to Dave Lewis's live call of the game on CalBears.com's premium All-Access player for a monthly fee. The game will also be streamed live for free on the Pac-12 Platform at http://pac-12.com/live/calbears.aspx.

BLACK FRIDAY SPECIALS: Fans can enjoy a Cal version of Black Friday with merchandise specials and deals at the Team Shop near Gate 5 on Friday. All fans will receive 25% off every purchase made at the team shop on Friday, and all customers making a purchase will receive a coupon for 40% off any ONE non sale item to be used at a future game this season.

CAL CLASSIC BY DOUBLETREE: This is the second year that the DoubleTree by Hilton Berkeley Marina has been the presenting sponsor of Cal's annual fall tournament. From 2008-10, the tournament was known as the Colliers International Classic. From 2004-07, it was called the Contra Costa Times Classic. The tournament, which first began in 1978, has also been known as the Golden Bear Classic and the Oakland Tribune Classic.

The Bears have won their tournament seven of the last nine years and 18 times overall. The Bears have been in the championship game 29 consecutive years. There have only been three times the Bears have not played in the title game, the last time coming during the 1981 season, when the Bears finished fourth in what was then an eight-team format.

Cal won last year's final, 70-48, over UNLV after defeating Cal State Bakersfield in the first round, 86-56.

MVP: At the conclusion of the tournament, a Cal Classic MVP will be named as well as a five-member All-Tournament team. A Cal player has been named the MVP seven of the last nine years and 16 Bears have earned the honor since the award was first presented in 1979. Reshanda Gray was named MVP last season.

ABOUT THE TOURNEY TEAMS: Eastern Washington (2-1) is coming off its first victory of the season, a 68-50 win over the Portland Pilots of the WCC. Cal State Fullerton brings an even 2-2 record into the weekend with home wins over San Francisco and Sacramento State bookended by road losses to Nevada and LMU. Georgetown enters with a 3-1 record after defeating LSU 71-69 Monday afternoon.

A CALIFORNIA WIN WOULD:
* Move Cal to 4-0 for the first time since the 2009-10 Sweet 16 team began the year 7-0 and ran out to a 20-2 start to the season
* Move Lindsay Gottlieb to 13-4 in ALL non-conference games at California
* Move Lindsay Gottlieb to 9-1 in HOME non-conference games at California

GAME RECAP: Sophomore Reshanda Gray scored 22 points - one shy of her career-high - and junior Gennifer Brandon posted her third double-double in as many games as No. 11 California defeat Cal Poly, 87-61, Monday night at Haas Pavilion. Four players reaching double-digit scoring - Gray, Brandon (18 points, 11 rebounds), Talia Caldwell (11) and Brittany Boyd (10) - and two more knocked on the door with Layshia Clarendon scoring nine points and Afure Jemerigbe scoring eight on the night.

IN THE RANKINGS: California improves one spot to No. 11 in both the Associated Press and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Polls, the highest rankings for the Bears since the 2008-09 team climbed as high as No. 3 in the country. That team, led by Alexis Gray-Lawson, went on to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 with a 27-8 final record. Four teams on this year's schedule - Stanford (1/1), Duke (4/4), UCLA (19/22), and Kansas (22/23) - are ranked this week in addition to Georgetown receiving votes in both polls.

A LOOK AHEAD: California hits the road for the first time this season with a trip to Old Dominion and Duke next weekend. The game against the Monarch will air live on Cox 11 (regional TV) on Friday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. (ET). The Bears then take on No. 4 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 2 at 2 p.m. (ET).

BRANDON'S DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Junior Gennifer Brandon's has posted three consecutive double-doubles to open the 2012-13 season. Her double-double (17p-10r) against Lehigh in the opener was the 16th of her career, and she followed that effort with double-doubles against Saint Mary's (14p-14r) and Cal poly (18p-11r). The Sylmar native collected six double-doubles as a freshman in 2009-10 and nine double-doubles as a redshirt sophomore in 2011-12.

PIERRE STEALS THE LIST: Count senior Eliza Pierre as one of the top defensive players in Cal history. Pierre stands at No. 5 in the Cal history books with 208 career steals after her three-steal effort against Lehigh pushed her past Laura Baker's 204 along with two against Saint Mary's. The record of 295 steals is held by Mazetta Garrett (1979-84). Pierre also stands at No. 2 in the Pac-12 active career list behind Chucky Jeffery of Colorado (217).

CAL ON THE BOARDS: Senior Talia Caldwell and junior Gennifer Brandon combine to make the Cal post players possibly the most dominant on the boards in the Pac-12. Caldwell is the active Pac-12 leader with 765 rebounds, and Brandon is not far behind at No. 4 on the active list with 678 boards. No other duo in the league combines for over 1,200 rebounds, let alone the 1,443 by these two.

BALANCED ATTACK: One thing Coach Gottlieb is preaching this season is the balanced options that her team possesses on the offensive end of the court, and the numbers back up that assertion. Five Bears hit double figures in Cal's 80-48 victory against Lehigh in the opener, and six Bears hit double figures against Saint Mary's. Six Bears average double figures scoring in the early going of the season.

CALDWELL APPROACHES 10: Senior Talia Caldwell currently has 765 career rebounds, a mark that is 24 shy of matching Ingrid Dixon for No. 10 in the California all-time record book.

MAKING THEM SEE GRAY: Sophomore Reshanda Gray scored 22 points in Cal's win over Cal Poly, just one shy of her career-best of 23 set against UNLV last season. Gray was led by a 10-of-14 effort from the charity stripe to become the first Golden Bear in two years to hit 10 free throws in a game. The last to do so was DeNesha Stallworth at Oregon on Mar. 25, 2010.