Game Against USC Highlights Cal's Nonconference Women's Basketball Schedule

A game at the Chase Center against national powerhouse USC, coached by former Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, highlights Cal’s 13-game nonconference women’s basketball schedule for 2025-26, which was announced this week.

The Golden Bears, who went 21-9 and reached the NCAA tournament last season, will face USC on December 21 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

The Trojans finished the 2024-25 season ranked No. 5 in the country after winding up with a 31-4 record and a Big Ten regular-season title. They were a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament but lost to UConn in the quarterfinals when national player of the year JuJu Watkins suffered a torn ACL early in the game.

Watkins, who was a sophomore for USC this past season, is not expected to be ready to return until late in the 2025-26 season if she returns next season at all, so she is unlikely to be available for the game against Cal.

With Watkins’ status in mind, ESPN’s early top-25 rankings for 2025-26 placed USC at No. 12.

Cal will open its regular season in Paris, France, against Vanderbilt on November 3, and it will face Missouri on the road on December 4.

Matchups for the Raising The B.A.R event that Cal will host on November 15 and 16 have yet to be announced, but the other three teams involved will be Harvard, Oakland University and North Carolina-Charlotte. Presumably the second day of the event will feature a matchup between Cal and Harvard, which went 24-5 last season and reached the NCAA tournament.

Cal will participate in the 2025 Hoopfest in Frisco, Texas, on November 24 and 26, although the Bears’ opponents for that event have not been set.

Cal's nonconference schedule can be viewed here.