The 2024–25 California Golden Bears women's basketball team represented the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

during the

2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season The 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began on November 4, 2024. The regular season ended on March 16, 2025, with the 2025 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament beginning with the First Four on March 19 and ending with ...

. The Golden Bears were led by sixth-year head coach Charmin Smith and played their home games at

Haas Pavilion The Walter A. Haas Jr. Pavilion is an indoor arena on the campus of the University of California in Berkeley. It is the home venue of the Golden Bears men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, and men's and women's gymnastics teams. T ...

. They competed as first-year members of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

. The Golden Bears started the season well, winning their first six games of the season. They played only one traditional Power-4 school during this run, defeating Auburn 63–59 on November 22. The Golden Bears participated in the

Acrisure Holiday Invitational The Acrisure Holiday Invitational is a four-team NCAA Division I college basketball tournament played on the two days before Thanksgiving, at Acrisure Arena in Thousand Palms, California Thousand Palms is a census-designated place (CDP) in ...

where they lost their opening game against

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

78–72 but won the third-place game against

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

74–62. They welcomed nineteenth-ranked

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

to the Haas Pavilion for the

ACC–SEC Challenge The ACC–SEC Challenge is an in-season NCAA Division I college basketball series that matches men's and women's teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). It replaced the ACC–Big Ten Challenge and the ...

, and the Golden Bears pulled off the upset 69–65. They won their next three games, including a rivalry and ACC opening win over

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

to enter the rankings at number twenty-four. They won the Raising the B.A.R Invitational by defeating Fordham and

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

. Their winning streak ended on their first trip to the east coast, where they lost to Clemson 69–58. The won three games after that, including a defeat of number twenty-one

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

. They ascended to number eighteen in the polls when they lost at number sixteen

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

72–38. The Golden Bears went 3–3 over their next six games and fell out of the rankings. They won a rivalry rematch with Stanford while losses included games against number fifteen

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and number three Notre Dame. The Golden Bears finished the season going 5–1 over their next six games, with their only loss coming at

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

by three points. They won their final game of the season over

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

82–63. The Golden Bears finished the season 25–9 overall and 12–6 in ACC play to finish in seventh place. As the seventh seed in the ACC tournament, earned a bye into the second round where they defeated

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

75–58. They lost to sixth ranked and second seed Notre Dame by nine points in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament and were the eighth-seed in the Spokane 4 region. They lost to ninth seed

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

69–46 in the First Round to end their season.

Previous season

The Golden Bears finished the season 19–15, 7–11 in

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

play to finish in a tie for eighth place. As an eighth seed in the Pac-12 women's tournament they defeated

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

in the First Round before falling to first-seed

in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large invitation to the WBIT where they defeated

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

in the First Round before losing to Saint Joseph's in the Second Round.

Offseason

Departures

Incoming Transfers

Recruiting

Source:

Roster

Schedule and results

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Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2024-25 California Golden Bears women's basketball team California Golden Bears women's basketball seasons

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

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