NR CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS 9 – 5 (0-1 ACC, 13th Place)
NCAA NET 63 (UNC 17); Massey rating 51 (UNC 24); RPI 96 (Nolan) (UNC 41); Torvik 56 (UNC 9)
Last Season 25-9, (12-6 ACC, 7th) 1-1 ACC Tournament; 0-1 NCAA (Lost to Miss. St.46-59)
New Year's Day, Thursday noon’s game for 12-3 and #16/15 UNC is against California at Carmichael. They are officially the University of California - Berkeley but “Cal” generally suffices. Most other California System schools like UCLA, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis or UC Santa Barbara seen no particular reason to call Cal UC Berkeley the way that NCSU likes to call Carolina UNC-CH. Cal fields 30 varsity sports including Beach Volleyball and Water Polo for women. Oddly, although Rugby is a men’s varsity sport the women’s team remains a club sport. The “Golden Bear” is a color variation of the Grizzly. It is extinct in California; the last known sighting was in 1924. Its beautiful pelt was the bear’s death sentence as it was hunted to extinction so bozos could have a bearskin rug.
UNC and Cal have played five times and the series stands 3-2 UNC. The last game was Jan 30 ’25 with Carolina winning 65-52 at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley. It was Cal’s only home loss. Otherwise they were 16-0. Reniya Kelly had 16 points to lead the Heels. For Cal just four players return from that game and just one, Lulu Twidale, was a starter.
For Thursday’s game, the Heels are a 12-point favorite by Massey’s reckoning; Nolan thinks the game will be UNC by 15. Torvik favors the Heels by t4 points.
The Bears had a top-100 schedule (#91), or so says the NCAA; UNC currently is #121 with the SOS pulled down by playing UNCW, Charleston So. and BC. Cal went 9-4 in non-conference games with a line-up that included no top-25 teams but a good mix of P4 and mid-majors, both home and away.
Several local teams were played, including St. Mary’s, at San Jose State, Sacramento State, and Pacific; Cal got started, however, across the pond in Paris where they met – and lost to – Vanderbilt 65-74.
Cal also played in the Raising the B.A.R. Invitational, defeating Charlotte and Harvard. B.A.R. stands for Basketball, Activism and Representation, whatever that might mean. They played in this last year as well. The Bears also visited Frisco TX to play in the Hoopfest Tournament, going 1-1 with a 68-63 win over Grand Canyon and a 50-58 loss to Auburn. The ACC/SEC Challenge match was at Mizzou, also a loss 67-68. In that game, Cal had a one-point lead with 10 seconds left, turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds pass, ad lost on a last second basket. Somehow that all sounds strangely familiar.
Cal opened ACC play with the December game against their ancient rival, the Stanford Cardinal. The Bears lost at Palo Alto, 69-78. Conference play will continue with UNC.
The Bears have established a rotation. This group includes Australian Lulu Twidale, a 5-10 junior G (13.9 ppg/3.7 rpg); she started last year’s game and was held to 3 points on 1 of 9 shooting.
All the other starters having departed, Cal turned to its freshman class for two replacements. These are Taylor Barnes, a 6-0 F (9.4/5.1) and McDonald’s AA Aliyahna Morris (7.9/3.2). Morris likes to be called “Puff”. She is a 5-5 PG who leads in assists and has an apparent liking for magic dragons. These two have started every game.
Another starter is Sakima Walker, a 6-5 GS C (10.9/6.9). Walker spent two years at South Carolina, primarily as a reserve. She leads Cal in blocked shots. The final starter is Miracle Sheppard, a 5-10 junior G (10.3/4.5), most recently at LSU. She leads Cal in steals.
Cal traditionally does not use a deep bench but appearances may be expected from Lola Donez, a 5-11 sophomore G (2.3 ppg) and Anastasia Drosouni, a 5-11 junior G (3.0 ppg). Both played sparingly in last year’s game. More likely to play are Naya Ojukwu, a 6-1 sophomore F (7.1/3.5) and Gisella Maul, a 5-11 junior G (5.5/5.6). For a sophomore, Ojukwu has gotten around with stops at Utah, Gonzaga and Morgan State. Maul (good name for a Rugby player) was available last season but did not play in the UNC game.
As ACC play has started conference statistics can be shown although they will be based on one or two games. With that in mind, Cal is #13 in scoring (69.4; UNC #3 at 80.6); #10 defensively (59.3; UNC #7 at 56.6). Carolina’s scoring margin of 24 ppg is top three in the ACC. The Bears are #10 in FG% (43.1%; UNC is #3 at 47.9%)
At the moment Carolina is the top 3-point shooting team at 36.4% (136 of 374); Cal will shoot threes with Twidale and Puff Morris handling that duty; they are #13 at 29.4%. Neither team defends the three, #11 and #12 respectively. Carolina continues to be an awful FT team, in their familiar place of dead last at 62.5%. Cal is somewhat better, but not much: 14th at 66.5%.
Neither club is a rebounding power. Carolina is 7th in rebounding margin (+8.3) and Cal is 12th (+3.9). UNC has the better of it with turnovers: top three in turnover margin and A/TR.
The Head Coach is Charmin Smith, in her seventh year. Her 90-94 (29-69) would seem to raise an eyebrow but last season’s 25 wins and a NCAA appearance was a substantial improvement over recent years. Away from the court Smith is a martial artist (Muay Thai) so if UC decides to terminate her as coach it would be better to do that by text message.
For #16/15 Carolina, keeping it simple means just win the home games. That’s it. Cal and Stanford are very winnable games Just get it done.
ACCN will carry the game; game time is 12:00 Noon EST. There will be audio from GoHeels as well. One source: Tar Heel Sports Network, WCHL 97.9/1360.
NCAA NET 63 (UNC 17); Massey rating 51 (UNC 24); RPI 96 (Nolan) (UNC 41); Torvik 56 (UNC 9)
Last Season 25-9, (12-6 ACC, 7th) 1-1 ACC Tournament; 0-1 NCAA (Lost to Miss. St.46-59)
New Year's Day, Thursday noon’s game for 12-3 and #16/15 UNC is against California at Carmichael. They are officially the University of California - Berkeley but “Cal” generally suffices. Most other California System schools like UCLA, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis or UC Santa Barbara seen no particular reason to call Cal UC Berkeley the way that NCSU likes to call Carolina UNC-CH. Cal fields 30 varsity sports including Beach Volleyball and Water Polo for women. Oddly, although Rugby is a men’s varsity sport the women’s team remains a club sport. The “Golden Bear” is a color variation of the Grizzly. It is extinct in California; the last known sighting was in 1924. Its beautiful pelt was the bear’s death sentence as it was hunted to extinction so bozos could have a bearskin rug.
UNC and Cal have played five times and the series stands 3-2 UNC. The last game was Jan 30 ’25 with Carolina winning 65-52 at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley. It was Cal’s only home loss. Otherwise they were 16-0. Reniya Kelly had 16 points to lead the Heels. For Cal just four players return from that game and just one, Lulu Twidale, was a starter.
For Thursday’s game, the Heels are a 12-point favorite by Massey’s reckoning; Nolan thinks the game will be UNC by 15. Torvik favors the Heels by t4 points.
The Bears had a top-100 schedule (#91), or so says the NCAA; UNC currently is #121 with the SOS pulled down by playing UNCW, Charleston So. and BC. Cal went 9-4 in non-conference games with a line-up that included no top-25 teams but a good mix of P4 and mid-majors, both home and away.
Several local teams were played, including St. Mary’s, at San Jose State, Sacramento State, and Pacific; Cal got started, however, across the pond in Paris where they met – and lost to – Vanderbilt 65-74.
Cal also played in the Raising the B.A.R. Invitational, defeating Charlotte and Harvard. B.A.R. stands for Basketball, Activism and Representation, whatever that might mean. They played in this last year as well. The Bears also visited Frisco TX to play in the Hoopfest Tournament, going 1-1 with a 68-63 win over Grand Canyon and a 50-58 loss to Auburn. The ACC/SEC Challenge match was at Mizzou, also a loss 67-68. In that game, Cal had a one-point lead with 10 seconds left, turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds pass, ad lost on a last second basket. Somehow that all sounds strangely familiar.
Cal opened ACC play with the December game against their ancient rival, the Stanford Cardinal. The Bears lost at Palo Alto, 69-78. Conference play will continue with UNC.
The Bears have established a rotation. This group includes Australian Lulu Twidale, a 5-10 junior G (13.9 ppg/3.7 rpg); she started last year’s game and was held to 3 points on 1 of 9 shooting.
All the other starters having departed, Cal turned to its freshman class for two replacements. These are Taylor Barnes, a 6-0 F (9.4/5.1) and McDonald’s AA Aliyahna Morris (7.9/3.2). Morris likes to be called “Puff”. She is a 5-5 PG who leads in assists and has an apparent liking for magic dragons. These two have started every game.
Another starter is Sakima Walker, a 6-5 GS C (10.9/6.9). Walker spent two years at South Carolina, primarily as a reserve. She leads Cal in blocked shots. The final starter is Miracle Sheppard, a 5-10 junior G (10.3/4.5), most recently at LSU. She leads Cal in steals.
Cal traditionally does not use a deep bench but appearances may be expected from Lola Donez, a 5-11 sophomore G (2.3 ppg) and Anastasia Drosouni, a 5-11 junior G (3.0 ppg). Both played sparingly in last year’s game. More likely to play are Naya Ojukwu, a 6-1 sophomore F (7.1/3.5) and Gisella Maul, a 5-11 junior G (5.5/5.6). For a sophomore, Ojukwu has gotten around with stops at Utah, Gonzaga and Morgan State. Maul (good name for a Rugby player) was available last season but did not play in the UNC game.
As ACC play has started conference statistics can be shown although they will be based on one or two games. With that in mind, Cal is #13 in scoring (69.4; UNC #3 at 80.6); #10 defensively (59.3; UNC #7 at 56.6). Carolina’s scoring margin of 24 ppg is top three in the ACC. The Bears are #10 in FG% (43.1%; UNC is #3 at 47.9%)
At the moment Carolina is the top 3-point shooting team at 36.4% (136 of 374); Cal will shoot threes with Twidale and Puff Morris handling that duty; they are #13 at 29.4%. Neither team defends the three, #11 and #12 respectively. Carolina continues to be an awful FT team, in their familiar place of dead last at 62.5%. Cal is somewhat better, but not much: 14th at 66.5%.
Neither club is a rebounding power. Carolina is 7th in rebounding margin (+8.3) and Cal is 12th (+3.9). UNC has the better of it with turnovers: top three in turnover margin and A/TR.
The Head Coach is Charmin Smith, in her seventh year. Her 90-94 (29-69) would seem to raise an eyebrow but last season’s 25 wins and a NCAA appearance was a substantial improvement over recent years. Away from the court Smith is a martial artist (Muay Thai) so if UC decides to terminate her as coach it would be better to do that by text message.
For #16/15 Carolina, keeping it simple means just win the home games. That’s it. Cal and Stanford are very winnable games Just get it done.
ACCN will carry the game; game time is 12:00 Noon EST. There will be audio from GoHeels as well. One source: Tar Heel Sports Network, WCHL 97.9/1360.
