With almost the entire team returning for the 2012–13 season, expectations were high, and the Bears were ranked #13 in the AP pre-season poll, their highest ranking since 2009. The Bears more than lived up to the expectations, compiling a 32-4 season record, and ending the regular season with a #6 ranking. The highlight of the regular season was a 67-55 road victory over arch-rival and perennial women's basketball power #4 ranked Stanford. Cal's victory broke an 81-game conference winning streak for the Cardinal. Gottlieb led the Bears to a 17-1 conference record, making them Pac-12 Conference co-Champions—the first conference championship in California Women's Basketball history. The Bears earned a second seed in the NCAA tournament, the Bears' highest tournament seed ever. They defeated Fresno State 90-76 in the first round, and downed South Florida in overtime to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for only the second time in school history. The Bears beat LSU to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time, and then earned their first trip to the Final Four trip with a thrilling 65-62 overtime victory over Andy Landers' Georgia Bulldogs at the Spokane Arena in Spokane, WA. A tough loss to Louisville in the national semifinal game concluded the team's extraordinary season. "What I said to our team in the locker room is that we can be disappointed about a half a basketball that we wish we had back. We could be disappointed to not be playing on Tuesday night," Gottlieb said. "But I'm going to think about that for two minutes, and for the next 10,000 minutes I'm going to think about what this group did for the University of California."