2025–26 California Golden Bears women's basketball team

2025–26 California Golden Bears women's basketball
Raising the B.A.R Invitational champions
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Record8–5 (0–1 ACC)
Head coach
Associate head coachHeidi Heintz (4th season)
Assistant coaches
  • Travon Bryant (3rd season)
  • Jenny Huth (2nd season)
  • Eliza Pierre (5th season)
Home arenaHaas Pavilion
2025–26 ACC women's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 13 Louisville 2 0   1.000 12 3   .800
NC State 2 0   1.000 9 4   .692
Syracuse 1 0   1.000 11 1   .917
Stanford 1 0   1.000 11 2   .846
No. 18 Notre Dame 1 0   1.000 9 2   .818
Virginia 1 0   1.000 9 3   .750
Duke 1 0   1.000 6 6   .500
Virginia Tech 1 1   .500 11 3   .786
Wake Forest 1 1   .500 11 3   .786
Clemson 1 1   .500 9 4   .692
Miami (FL) 1 1   .500 8 4   .667
No. 16 North Carolina 0 1   .000 11 3   .786
California 0 1   .000 8 5   .615
SMU 0 1   .000 7 6   .538
Pittsburgh 0 1   .000 7 7   .500
Boston College 0 1   .000 4 10   .286
Florida State 0 2   .000 5 9   .357
Georgia Tech 0 2   .000 4 9   .308
† 2026 ACC tournament winner
As of December 22, 2025
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2025–26 California Golden Bears women's basketball team represents the University of California, Berkeley during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Golden Bears are led by seventh-year head coach Charmin Smith and play their home games at Haas Pavilion. They compete as second-year members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Previous season

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

Offseason

Departures

California Departures
Name Num. Pos. Height Year Hometown Reason for departure
Michelle Onyiah 0 C 6'3" Graduate Student Eastvale, California Graduated
Jayda Noble 2 G 5'11" Graduate Student Spokane, Washington Graduated
Zahra King 3 G 5'10" Freshman Brooklyn, New York Transferred to SMU[1]
Kayla Williams 4 G 5'7" Graduate Student Los Angeles, California Graduated
Marta Suárez 7 F 6'3" Senior Oviedo, Spain Graduated; transferred to TCU[2]
Kamryn Mafua 14 G/F 6'1" Freshman Folsom, California Transferred to Utah[3]
Ioanna Krimili 21 G 5'10" Graduate Student Heraklion, Greece Graduated
Natalia Ackerman 35 F 6'1" Graduate Student Watsonville, California Graduated

Incoming Transfers

Incoming Transfers
Name Num Pos. Height Year Hometown Previous School
Mjracle Sheppard 1 G 5'10" Junior Kent, Washington LSU[4]
Naya Ojukwu 13 F 6'1" Sophomore Meridian, Idaho Morgan State[5]
Sakima Walker 35 G 6'5" Graduate Student Columbus, Ohio South Carolina[6]

Recruiting

Source:[7]

College recruiting information
Name Hometown School Height Weight Commit date
Taylor Barnes
F
Grand Prairie, Texas South Grand Prairie High School 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) N/A  
Recruit ratings: ESPN:    (92)
Isis Johnson-Musah
G
Detroit, Michigan Detroit Edison Academy 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) N/A  
Recruit ratings: ESPN:    (NR)
Grace McCallop
G
Shawnee Mission, Kansas Bishop Miege High School 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) N/A  
Recruit ratings: ESPN:    (NR)
Aliyahna Morris
G
Rancho Cucamonga, California Etiwanda High School 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) N/A  
Recruit ratings: ESPN:    (96)
Overall recruit ranking:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

Roster

2025–26 California Golden Bears women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Mjracle Sheppard 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Montverde Academy
LSU
Kent, WA
F 3 Taylor Barnes 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr South Grand Prairie Grand Prairie, TX
G 5 Lola Donez 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Lahainaluna Lahaina, HI
G 6 Isis Johnson-Musah 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Detroit Edison Academy Detroit, MI
F 7 Naya Ojukwu 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) RS So Mountain View
Morgan State
Meridian, ID
G 10 Lulu Twidale 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr South West Metro Pirates Sunshine Coast, Australia
G 12 Grace McCallop 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Bishop Miege Shawnee Mission, KS
G 21 Gisella Maul 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Jr Cedar Park
Texas
Cedar Park, TX
F 22 Claudia Langarita 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) GS INS Joaquim Blume
San Francisco
Barcelona, Spain
G 23 Anastasia Drosouni 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Jr Expaideftiria Fryganiotis Thessaloniki, Greece
G 25 Aliyahna Morris 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) Fr Etiwanda Rancho Cucamonga, CA
C 35 Sakima Walker 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) GS Columbus Africentric Early College
South Carolina
Columbus, OH
G 42 Sofia Bowes 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) So San Ramon Valley San Ramon, CA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: September 19, 2025

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
October 28, 2025*
7:00 p.m.
Westmont       Haas Pavilion 
Berkeley, CA
Regular season
November 3, 2025*
11:30 a.m., ESPNU
vs. No. 19 Vanderbilt
Oui-Play
L 65–74  0–1
 17  Barnes   11  Walker   5  Barnes  Adidas Arena (5,712)
Paris, France
November 9, 2025*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
Sacramento State W 69–52  1–1
 16  Sheppard   7  Sheppard   6  Sheppard  Haas Pavilion (1,323)
Berkeley, CA
November 11, 2025*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
Pacific W 60–52  2–1
 19  Twidale   8  Tied   3  Twidale  Haas Pavilion (1,070)
Berkeley, CA
November 15, 2025*
3:00 p.m., ACCNX
Charlotte
Raising the B.A.R Invitational semifinal
W 69–44  3–1
 17  Morris   9  Walker   6  Morris  Haas Pavilion (137)
Berkeley, CA
November 16, 2025*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
Harvard
Raising the B.A.R Invitational championship game
W 76–65  4–1
 17  Twidale   9  Maul   5  Morris  Haas Pavilion (1,019)
Berkeley, CA
November 20, 2025*
11:30 a.m., ACCNX
Saint Mary's W 70–62  5–1
 25  Walker   9  Walker   11  Morris  Haas Pavilion (4,624)
Berkeley, CA
November 24, 2025*
5:00 p.m., FloHoops
vs. Grand Canyon
Hoopfest Basketball Women’s Challenge
W 68–63  6–1
 15  Sheppard   9  Ojukwu   5  Twidale  Comerica Center (271)
Frisco, TX
November 26, 2025*
4:30 p.m., FloHoops
vs. Auburn
Hoopfest Basketball Women’s Challenge
L 50–58  6–2
 18  Twidale   9  Barnes   4  Sheppard  Comerica Center (162)
Frisco, TX
December 4, 2025*
6:00 p.m., SECN
at Missouri
ACC–SEC Challenge
L 67–68  6–3
 16  Sheppard   11  Maul   4  Tied  Mizzou Arena (2,892)
Columbia, MO
December 7, 2025*
2:00 p.m., ACCNX
San Jose State W 92–42  7–3
 20  Twidale   11  Walker   4  Tied  Haas Pavilion (1,150)
Berkeley, CA
December 10, 2025*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
Idaho W 68–61  8–3
 15  Maul   5  Tied   5  Walker  Haas Pavilion (903)
Berkeley, CA
December 14, 2025
1:00 p.m., ACCNX
at Stanford
Rivalry
L 69–78  8–4
(0–1)
 16  Barnes   10  Maul   4  Morris  Maples Pavilion (2,957)
Stanford, CA
December 21, 2025*
5:30 p.m., ESPN2
vs. No. 19 USC
Invisalign Bay Area Women's Classic
L 57–61  8–5
 13  Walker   10  Walker   3  Morris  Chase Center (6,258)
San Francisco, CA
December 28, 2025*
2:00 p.m., ACCNX
Cal Poly       Haas Pavilion 
Berkeley, CA
January 1, 2026
9:00 a.m., ACCN
at North Carolina       Carmichael Arena 
Chapel Hill, NC
January 4, 2026
11:00 a.m., The CW
at NC State       Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
January 8, 2026
7:00 p.m., ACCN
Duke       Haas Pavilion 
Berkeley, CA
January 11, 2026
2:00 p.m., ACCNX
Wake Forest       Haas Pavilion 
Berkeley, CA
January 15, 2026
3:00 p.m., ACCNX
at Syracuse       JMA Wireless Dome 
Syracuse, NY
January 18, 2026
9:00 a.m., ACCNX
at Boston College       Conte Forum 
Chestnut Hill, MA
January 25, 2026
6:00 p.m., ACCN
Stanford
Rivalry
      Haas Pavilion 
Berkeley, CA
January 29, 2026
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
Notre Dame       Haas Pavilion 
Berkeley, CA
February 1, 2026
11:00 a.m., The CW
Louisville       Haas Pavilion 
Berkeley, CA
February 5, 2026
4:00 p.m., ACCNX
at Georgia Tech       McCamish Pavilion 
Atlanta, GA
February 8, 2026
10:00 a.m., ACCNX
at Pittsburgh       Petersen Events Center 
Pittsburgh, PA
February 12, 2026
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
Virginia       Haas Pavilion 
Berkeley, CA
February 15, 2026
2:00 p.m., ACCNX
Virginia Tech       Haas Pavilion 
Berkeley, CA
February 19, 2026
3:00 p.m., ACCNX
at Florida State       Donald L. Tucker Center 
Tallahassee, FL
February 22, 2026
11:00 a.m., ACCNX
at Miami (FL)       Kaseya Center 
Coral Gables, FL
February 26, 2026
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
Clemson       Haas Pavilion 
Berkeley, CA
March 1, 2026
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
SMU       Haas Pavilion 
Berkeley, CA
ACC Women's Tournament
*
vs.        Gas South Arena 
Duluth, GA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Pacific Time.

Source:[8][9]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516171819Final
AP
CoachesRV

References

  1. ^ Creme, Charlie (April 30, 2025). "Women's NCAA basketball: Top 10 transfer portal winners". ESPN. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  2. ^ Creme, Charlie (April 30, 2025). "Women's NCAA basketball transfer rankings for 2025-26 season". ESPN. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  3. ^ Judd, Brandon (April 13, 2025). "The Utes are adding a former 4-star talent out of the transfer portal". Deseret News. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  4. ^ Milligan, Rashad (April 30, 2025). "Another former LSU women's basketball player has transferred to a program out west". Nola.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  5. ^ "Cal Signs Naya Ojukwu For 2025-26 Season". calbears.com. University of California Athletics. May 6, 2025. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  6. ^ Fowler, Chapel (April 28, 2025). "Former Gamecocks WBB player Sakima Walker transferring to ACC school". The State. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  7. ^ "California Golden Bears". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  8. ^ "2025–26 Women's Basketball Schedule". calbears.com. University of California Athletics. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  9. ^ "Women's Basketball 2025-26 ACC Schedule Released". calbears.com. University of California Athletics. September 2, 2025. Retrieved September 19, 2025.