The California Golden Bears women’s basketball team will conclude its two-game homestand by hosting Idaho on Wednesday at 7 p.m. PT at Haas Pavilion.
Cal, currently holding a 7-3 record, aims to continue its six-game home winning streak and secure an 18th consecutive nonconference victory at Haas Pavilion, a run that began during the 2023-24 season.
This matchup marks the fourth meeting between the two teams, with Cal leading the series 3-1 and having won the last two encounters. Their most recent game took place on November 16, 2022, when Cal won 84-71 at Haas Pavilion.
Idaho enters the contest with an 8-2 record and has been successful in seven of its past eight games. The Vandals were picked to finish third in the Big Sky preseason poll and are led by second-year head coach Arthur Moreira. Last season, Moreira guided Idaho to 18 wins, setting a school record for victories by a first-year head coach. The team features Hope Hassman, who was named Big Sky Player of the Week on November 18, and Kyra Gardner, who received the honor on November 11 after achieving career highs against Washington State with 26 points, eight rebounds, six three-pointers made and five steals.
Wednesday’s game will be available via streaming on ACCNX with commentary from Dave Benz and Ashlee Jones.
In their previous outing—a 92-42 win over San Jose State—Lulu Twidale scored a game-high 20 points for her ninth career performance of at least 20 points and her first such effort this season. Sakima Walker recorded her second career double-double with 16 points (making eight of twelve field goals) and collected eleven rebounds. Naya Ojukwu contributed nineteen points in just sixteen minutes off the bench. The fifty-point margin marked Cal’s fifth-largest since the 1981-82 season. The Bears grabbed fifty-five rebounds—twenty-two offensive—both representing season highs; it was also their highest single-game total since pulling down fifty-eight boards against Sacramento State in December 2016.
Among starters, freshmen Taylor Barnes and Puff Morris are noted as being the only duo in the ACC ranked among conference rookies’ top fifteen in scoring, three-pointers made, rebounds and assists. Gisella Maul has averaged nine rebounds per game across her last two appearances. Ojukwu continues to be highly efficient off the bench; among players averaging fewer than eight minutes per game nationally she ranks second in scoring (6.6) and fourth in rebounding (3.2). Twidale is averaging over three three-pointers per game during her last six outings and has made four or more triples three times within that span—her nineteen threes tie her for nineteenth nationally over those games. Since playing Harvard on November 16, Walker has tallied seventeen blocks—tied for eighth-most nationwide.
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