Cal Opens The 2026-27 Season Hosting Washington State - California Golden Bears Athletics

The California women's basketball team is set to begin the 2026-27 season with a home opener against former Pac-12 foe Washington State on Monday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. PT but may change as the game follows the men's team who will face Adams State prior at 5 p.m. that day.

On the line is the Golden Bears' regular season nonconference home winning streak which sits at 19 games and began with a win over Nevada on Dec. 9, 2023.

This marks just the 81st overall meeting between the two programs with Cal holding a 51-29 series lead. This marks the first time Cal and Washington State are meeting as nonconference opponents and since the two faced off in the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas when the Bears won 65-44.

Washington State enters the 2026-27 season under ninth-year head coach Kamie Ethridge and has gone to three NCAA Tournaments and won the Pac-12 Tournament (2023) under her tenure. The Cougars feature center Alex Covill who is entering her fourth season with the program and was named to the Lisa Leslie Award Watchlist this preseason.

Monday's game will be streamed on ACCNX with Ashlee Jones and Dave Benz on the call.

GAME INFORMATION
Date & Time: Monday, Nov. 2 | 6:00 p.m. PT
Broadcast: ACCNX
Live Stats: Statbroadcast

The Golden Bears are coming off a season in which they:

Posted their third straight winning season
Won 21+ games for the second straight year
Advanced to the quarterfinal round of the WBIT
Defeated two teams who advanced to the Sweet 16 (Notre Dame and Virginia)

QUICK HITS

Preseason accolades: Senior Lulu Twidale received several preseason recognitions this preseason:
- Preseason All-ACC
- Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watchlist – top 20 shooting guards in the country
- Naismith Women's POY Trophy Watchlist – top 50 overall players in the country
Cal returns four of five full-time starters from the 2025-26 team who accounted for 75% of the team's 3-point makes and 58% of its scoring.
Twidale will enter the 2026-27 season ranked second in the country for career 3-pointers among active players.
Gisella Maul is coming off a career year in which she had career season-highs in scoring (9.8), rebounding (6.7), assists (2.3) and double-doubles (5).
The Bears' transfer class includes senior Shannon Dowell (Missouri) who posted two 30+ point and nine 20+ games in 2025-26, junior Albina Syla (Rhode Island) who was named the Atlantic 10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player last year and sophomore Carly Amborn (Stanford) a four-star recruit in high school out of local San Domenico HS in Larkspur, CA.
The Bears will be featured on 11 nationally televised contests this season between ACC Network and the B1G Network.

STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal women's basketball, follow the Bears on Twitter/X (@CalWBBall), Instagram (@CalWBBball) and Facebook (/CalWBBall/).