SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Following their season opening victory over Morgan State, the USF Dons' women's basketball program (1-0) is back to work Saturday afternoon for their first neutral site game of the year against fellow Bay Area school the California Golden Bears (1-0).

The Dons return to Chase Center for the second time after playing Stanford at the home of the Warriors in November 2019. Saturday's matchup will be the first of four Pac-12 opponents on USF's schedule this season. 

GAME DETAILS:

Date: Saturday Nov. 13, 2021

Matchup: California Golden Bears (1-0) vs. San Francisco Dons (1-0)

Location: San Francisco, Calif.

Arena: Chase Center

Time: 2:30 p.m.

Links: Watch (WCC Network) | Live Stats

FAST START:

• USF began their season on a high note with a 69-53 victory over the Morgan State Bears at War Memorial Gym.
• Ioanna Krimili picked up right where she left off last season by scoring 20 points while shooting 7-for-11 from the field to go along with four made three-point shots, seven rebounds and two assists. 
• Making her Dons debut, junior guard Jasmine Gayles provided a great spark off the bench dropping 19 points on a very efficient 8-for-9 shooting. The scoring from the backcourt was key through the early portions of the game when USF built a double digit lead heading into halftime.
• Doing a little bit of everything has been Amalie Langer's calling card throughout her time on the Hilltop, and Tuesday's opener was no different. Langer finished with 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting to go along with two rebounds and her tenacious effort on the defensive end. 
• Forward Lucija Kostic was making her impact felt on the defensive end recording five blocks and corralling 10 defensive rebounds against the Bears. 
• The Dons defense was ready to go from the jump as the cooled off the potent Morgan State offense forcing them to shoot a paltry 26% from the field keeping their opponent at arm's length from wire-to-wire. 

THINGS TO KNOW:

• Saturday afternoon's game will be mark back-to-back years that the Dons and Golden Bears have faced off as USF knocked off Cal at Haas Pavilion 67-62 last December.
• USF split against two Pac-12 opponents they faced last season, falling to Oregon State in Corvalis before defeating the Golden Bears. 
• The coaching matchup on Saturday will feature coaches with connections to Stanford and legendary Cardinal head coach Tara VanDerveer through their playing careers. Goodenbour played for Stanford from 1989-93, winning the 1992 NCAA Championship and being named Most Outstanding Player in the process.
• Smith played from 1993-97 leading the program to three Final Fours and Pac-10 titles before playing with Goodenbour at the professional level playing for the Portland Power of the ABL before joining VanDerveer's coaching staff with the Cardinal. 

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS:

• California enters Saturday's matchup fresh off a season opening 90-71 win over Sacramento State at home.
• The Golden Bears have already matched their win total from a season ago as they managed just a 1-16 record during the pandemic-altered 2020-21 season. 
• In their season opening victory, the young Golden Bears received three 20+ point performances from Jayda Curry, Cailyn Crocker and Evelien Lutje Schipholt while scoring 52 of their 90 points in the painted area.
• USF is familiar with Lutje Schipholt after she dropped a career-high 20 points against the Dons in the Golden Bears' loss in Berkeley last season. 

For updates and more information on the USF women's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsWBB on Twitter, @USFDonsWBB on Instagram and @USFDonsWBB on Facebook.