The California women’s basketball team is set to host its first Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) game of the season against Duke at Haas Pavilion on Thursday at 3 p.m. PT. This marks only the sixth meeting between the two programs, and their second as ACC opponents. Duke leads the series 4-1, with Cal’s only win occurring in a 72-66 victory at Haas Pavilion in December 1993.
A win for Cal would be its third this season over a team that played in the 2025 NCAA Tournament and would mark its first Quad 1 victory of the year. The Bears currently hold a record of 9-7 overall and are seeking their first conference win after three ACC losses.
Duke enters the matchup with a 9-6 overall record and is undefeated in ACC play at 4-0. The Blue Devils are the reigning ACC Tournament champions under head coach Kara Lawson, who has led them to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight run last year. The team features Toby Fournier, last season’s ACC Rookie of the Year, who leads Duke in scoring (17.7 points per game), rebounding (7.4 rebounds per game), and blocks (35).
Thursday’s contest will be available to stream on ACCNX, with commentary from former Bear Layshia Clarendon and Krista Blunk.
In their most recent outing, Cal lost to NC State 71-60. Taylor Barnes recorded her first career double-double with 15 points and a personal best of 11 rebounds, along with three steals. Gisella Maul finished just shy of a double-double, tallying nine points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Lulu Twidale made three three-pointers for the seventh time this season en route to scoring 16 points. Naya Ojukwu was perfect from the field until her final attempt, ending with 14 points.
Cal has maintained strong performance at home, winning thirteen straight games at Haas Pavilion dating back to last season and holding a combined home record of 24-1 since last year; their only loss came on January 30, 2025 against UNC.
Barnes became just the fifth rookie in the ACC this season to achieve a double-double and is Cal’s first freshman since Michelle Onyiah and Dalayah Daniels in 2021 to do so. Maul ranks seventh among all players in conference play for rebounding average (7.7) despite not being a full-time starter—the only player in the top ten without that distinction.
Defensively, Cal has limited six out of seven power conference opponents below their typical scoring averages this season and held all three ranked opponents an average of more than nine points under their usual output.
Ojukwu has been effective off the bench; among players averaging no more than ten-and-a-half minutes per game nationwide (minimum ten games played), she leads all scorers (7.3 points per game) and ranks thirteenth in rebounding (3.2).
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