page_title: California Golden Bears
section_title: Basketball
hierarchical_section_title: California Golden Bears / Varsity programs / Women's varsity programs / Basketball
caption_attribution_description: English: California's women's basketball team huddles up prior to a game against the UCLA Bruins in February 2012.
context_page_description: 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 teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I primarily as a member of the Pac-12 Conference, and for a limited number of sports as a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Over the course of the school's history, California has won team national titles in 13 men's and 3 women's sports and 107 team titles overall. Cal athletes have also competed in the Olympics for a host of different countries. Notable facilities used by the Bears include California Memorial Stadium and Haas Pavilion. Cal finished the 2010–11 athletic season with 1,219.50 points, earning third place in the Director's Cup standings, the Golden Bears' highest finish ever. Cal did not receive any points for its national championships in rugby and men's crew because those sports are not governed by the NCAA. Cal finished 12th in the 2014-15 standings.
  In 2014, Cal instituted a strict academic standard for an athlete's admission to the university.
context_section_description: California's women's basketball team has made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, their best result being a Final Four appearance in 2013. The team has also won one WNIT championship, in 2010.
  In 2009–10, under Joanne Boyle, the Bears's top-10 recruiting class and star senior Alexis Gray-Lawson) rebounded from a rough start to their season to win the WNIT. The championship game against  Miami (FL) was the first ever championship game held at Haas Pavilion. Gray-Lawson ended her career as the all-time Cal leader in three points made and games played.
  In 2012–13, under second-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, the Cal women reached a record AP and USA Today Coaches Poll #6 ranking at the end of the season, earning the 2 seed in the Spokane region of the NCAA Tournament. The Bears reached the first Final Four in school history. In June 2019, Gottlieb became the first NCAA women's head coach to be hired to an NBA coaching staff when she became an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
  The current women's basketball head coach is Charmin Smith. Notable alumni of the team include first-round WNBA draft selections Layshia Clarendon and Kristine Anigwe. Anigwe holds the team's all-time scoring and rebounding records.
caption: The 2012 Cal Women's Basketball team before a game.
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