2024–25 California Golden Bears women's basketball team

The 2024–25 California Golden Bears women's basketball team represented the University of California, Berkeley during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Golden Bears were led by sixth-year head coach Charmin Smith and played their home games at Haas Pavilion. They competed as first-year members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.^[1]

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 where they lost their opening game against Michigan State 78–72 but won the third-place game against Arizona 74–62. They welcomed nineteenth-ranked Alabama to the Haas Pavilion for the ACC–SEC Challenge, 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 to enter the rankings at number twenty-four. They won the Raising the B.A.R Invitational by defeating Fordham and Temple. 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. They ascended to number eighteen in the polls when they lost at number sixteen Duke 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 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 by three points. They won their final game of the season over Miami 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 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.

The Golden Bears finished the season 19–15, 7–11 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie for eighth place. As an eighth seed in the Pac-12 women's tournament they defeated Washington State in the First Round before falling to first-seed Stanford in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large invitation to the WBIT where they defeated Hawaii in the First Round before losing to Saint Joseph's in the Second Round.

California Departures

Name	Num.	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Leilani McIntosh	1	G	5'5"	Graduate Student	Phoenix, Arizona	Graduated
Ila Lane	12	F/C	6'4"	Graduate Student	Moraga, California	Graduated
Alma Elsnitz	14	G	5'11"	Senior	Stockholm, Sweden	Graduated
Kemery Martín	15	G	6'0"	Junior	Sandy, Utah	Transferred to BYU[2]
Mia Mastrov	21	G	5'11"	Junior	Lafayette, California	Graduated
McKayla Williams	24	G	6'1"	Senior	Los Angeles, California	Graduated
Ornela Muca	31	G	5'7"	Senior	Athens, Greece	Transferred to Pepperdine[3]

Source:^[7]

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Gabrielle Abigor C	Walnut Creek, California	Berean Christian	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: NR
Sofia Bowes G	San Ramon, California	San Ramon Valley	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: NR
Lola Donez G	Lahaina, Hawaii	Lahainaluna	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: NR
Kamryn Mafua G/F	Folsom, California	Folsom	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 94
Zahra King G	Brooklyn, New York	Westtown	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 92
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, 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:

Source:^{[8] [9]}