Smith Earns Pac-12 Freshman of the Week Honor

SAN FRANCISCO – Helping the Cal women's basketball team close the non-conference with an important road win at Kentucky, Bears guard Kianna Smith has been named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, the conference office announced on Tuesday. Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu was selected as the Pac-12 Player of the Week.

This is the second Pac-12 weekly honor for Smith, who also earned Freshman of the Week honors on November 27 after earning All-Tournament honors at the Cal Classic. Smith is the third player in the conference to earn multiple Freshman of the Week honors this  season and the first Cal player to do so since Kristine Anigwe was name Pac-12 Freshman of the Week a record eight times during the 2015-16 campaign.

A 6'0" point guard, Smith had 14 points and eight assists in Cal's win at SEC-foe Kentucky on December 21. Smith, who has scored in double-figures in three consecutive games for the Bears, matched her season high with four rebounds and committed just one turnover in 37 minutes of action. A rookie from Moreno Valley, Smith went 5-10 from the floor and 3-6 from beyond the arc against the Wildcats, her third game this season with three or more made three-pointers.

A 2017 McDonalds All American, Smith is averaging 10.4 points per game this season, one of three Bears averaging double-figures. Smith leads the Bears with 5.4 assists per game on the year, the second-highest mark by any freshman in Division I basketball this season and good for sixth overall in the Pac-12. The freshman point guard is shooting a team-high 41 percent from three-point range this season and ranks second among conference freshmen with a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Smith and the 20th-ranked Golden Bears open Pac-12 play on Friday, hosting USC at 6 p.m. PT at  Haas Pavilion. The Trojans (10-1, 0-0 Pac-12) and Bears (9-2, 0-0 Pac-12), met twice last season  with Cal winning both matchups, including a 71-58 victory in the first round of the 2017 Pac-12 Tournament.