The California Golden Bears women’s basketball team is preparing for the second half of Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play with an upcoming game against Georgia Tech. The matchup will take place at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta on Thursday at 4 p.m. PT, marking Cal’s first-ever trip to the city and only the second meeting between the two programs. In their previous encounter last year, Cal secured a 79-65 victory.
Georgia Tech enters the game with a 10-13 overall record and a 5-6 mark in ACC play. The Yellow Jackets are coached by Karen Blair, who is in her first season after joining from Maryland, where she led the Terrapins to five consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Key players for Georgia Tech include Talayah Walker, who leads her team in scoring with an average of 16.3 points per game, and Brianna Turnage, who ranks second in the ACC for rebounding at 9.8 boards per contest.
Thursday’s contest will be available via streaming on ACCNX, with Andrew Selover and Fallon Stokes providing commentary.
In their most recent outing, Cal lost to No. 7 Louisville by a score of 71-59. Gisella Maul recorded a career-high 19 points on efficient shooting, including two three-pointers. Mjracle Sheppard also reached double figures with 13 points while Sakima Walker posted her fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Sheppard has averaged 13.3 points per game over her last three games while shooting over sixty percent from the field and averaging more than five assists per game. Maul has been consistent as well, averaging fifteen points and six-and-a-half rebounds over her last four contests while maintaining high shooting percentages both from the field and beyond the arc.
Walker currently stands second in the ACC for field goal percentage at just under fifty-seven percent and is third in blocks this season with thirty-nine total.
Senior player Twidale is approaching a milestone; she needs seventeen more points to become only the twenty-ninth player in program history to reach one thousand career points. In January, Twidale led all ACC players in made three-pointers (twenty-eight) and was fifth in assists (forty-three). Alongside Sheppard—who ranked seventh in assists—they formed one of only two duos within the conference to rank among its top ten assist leaders.
Twidale had notable performances during road games against Syracuse and Boston College earlier this month: she led all ACC players that week in total points (fifty-two), assists (twenty-one), and made threes (twelve). Nationally, she ranked first for assists, second for three-pointers made, seventh for total points scored during that period, and was unique as the only player to appear within the top ten across all three categories nationwide.
At Boston College specifically, Twidale became “the only player in the NCAA not named Caitlin Clark (4 times) to post 36 points, eight 3-pointers and nine assists in a game (since at least 2002-03 according to Stathead).” Her eight three-pointers tied for seventh most ever recorded by an ACC player in a single game while her thirty-six point performance was Cal’s highest since Kristine Anigwe’s thirty-seven-point effort against Houston back in November of 2018.
During Cal’s visit to Syracuse that same week, Twidale registered her first career double-double with sixteen points alongside twelve assists—a feat achieved by just seven players throughout program history—and hit crucial shots late to help force double-overtime.
Fans can stay updated on further developments by following Cal women’s basketball on social media platforms X/Twitter (@CalWBBall), Instagram (@CalWBBball), or Facebook (/CalWBBall/).
