Cal Women's Basketball Team Will Open 2025-26 Season in France

Cal’s women’s basketball team will open its 2025-26 season in France.  You read that correctly. The Golden Bears will play their first regular-season game of next season 5,500 miles away in Paris, France.

Cal announced on Thursday that the Cal women's basketball team has accepted an invitation to play in Oui-Play Paris 2025, where it will play Vanderbilt on Monday, November 3 at the Adidas Arena in Paris.

Cal played in the Bahamas in 2001-02, and that is Cal’s only game outside the United States to date.  And the Bahamas are only 2,700 miles away.  This one will be all the way to Europe, and it dwarfs those much publicized long East Coast road trips for ACC road games.

Oui-Play Paris 2025 will be a doubleheader that will also feature Duke against Baylor in the second matchup.

Game times and television coverage will be announced later, but it should be noted that Paris is nine hours ahead of California time.

Tickets for Oui-Play Paris 2025 can be purchased starting Friday (tomorrow) at 10 a.m. at this site.

"I'm honored to be invited to play in the Oui-Play event and have an opportunity to compete in such a prestigious setting,” Cal head coach Charmin Smith said in a statement provided by Cal. “It's a testament to how far this program has come during my time here and I'm excited to showcase the Bears on an international stage. It gives us a chance to go against some really high-level competition and provide a bonding experience for a team full of fresh new faces."

This past season Cal reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019. The Bears lost in the first round to Mississippi State and finished the season with a 25-9 record, the most wins since the 2012-13 season. Picked to finish 14th in the ACC, Cal wound up seventh with a 12-6 conference mark.

The Bears’ 2025-26 roster will include only one player who started for the Bears in 2024-25 – Lulu Twidale. The Bears have added several transfers as well as incoming freshman Aliyaha "Puff" Morris, who was a high school McDonald’s All-American this past season.

Vanderbilt went 22-11 overall in 2024-25, including 8.8 in the SEC and the Commodores lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament. 

Recent articles:

Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 34 -- DeSean Jackson

Rugby becomes Cal's third endowed sport

Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 35 -- Ron Rivera

Cal gets its 21st football commitment for 2026: WR Tyree Sams

Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 36 -- Tarik Glenn

Cal Baseball stars enter transfer portal