A pair of Cal women’s basketball alumnae in Talia Caldwell and Eliza Pierre will serve as the interim assistant coaches as head coach Lindsay Gottlieb and assistant coach Kai Felton are away on maternity leave. Caldwell and Pierre took over June 1 and will assist in camp management, offseason workouts and recruiting until the end of July.

The two were part of the class of 2013 and helped lead the Bears to their first Final Four appearance in school history during their senior season. In their four years with the squad, Cal had an overall record of 99-43, won the Women’s National Invitation Tournament in 2010 and made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Caldwell finished her tenure at Cal as one of the most accomplished players in school history. In 142 career games with the Bears, the second-most games played in the program’s history, the center became one of just four players to total 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Caldwell’s 1,007 rebounds rank as the fourth-most in school history.

Following her career with the Bears, Caldwell played professionally in Greece, Poland, Puerto Rico and Spain. In 2016, she was named Spain’s 2016 Import Player of the Year. Caldwell earned an invitation to the New York Liberty’s training camp in 2016 as well.

The Los Angeles native has also excelled off the court both in her studies and beyond. Caldwell earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors twice and became the first women’s basketball player to be accepted into the Haas School of Business. She created the website Five Fifths Culture, which revolves around cultural content.

Pierre led the charge defensively during her career with the Bears, earning four conference All-Defensive honors. The guard was particularly adept at swiping the ball from her opponents, leading the conference in steals during her sophomore year en route to racking up 243 career steals, the fifth-most in school history.

Pierre graduated with a degree in African-American Studies and worked at the Lake Avenue Community Foundation, a faith-based nonprofit in Pasadena, California. Last season, Pierre worked with Cal’s basketball operations staff.