SACRAMENTO -- Winners of five straight games and off to its best start in nearly a decade, the Sacramento State women's basketball team hosts Fresno State on Saturday (Dec. 3) at Noon in its only game of the week.
GAME #7
WHAT: Fresno State (4-3) at Sacramento State (5-1)
WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022
TIME: Noon
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: The Nest
WATCH: ESPN+ (https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/eventCalendarId/401491493?gameId=401491493)
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com (https://statb.us/b/430463)
BUY TICKETS: HornetSports.com (https://hornetsports.com/sports/2022/10/21/2022-23-womens-basketball-single-game-tickets.aspx)
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IN THE RANKINGS: Neither Sacramento State, nor Fresno State, are ranked nationally... The Hornets, however, are listed among those receiving votes in the Nov. 29 College Insider Mid-Major poll, picking up nine votes in this week's rankings.
HORNETS PICKED FIFTH TO START 2022-23: Sacramento State was picked to finish fifth in the Big Sky Conference standings according to a vote of both the league's head coaches and the media released by the conference office on Oct. 26. The Hornets, who finished seventh a season ago, received 146 points and a first-place vote in the media poll, while picking up 46 points in the coaches' poll. Montana State, which finished tied for second in the regular season and won the Big Sky Tournament title, was picked atop both polls, earning nine of the 10 first-place votes from the coaches, and 24 first-place votes from the media that cover the league.
BIG SKY HIGH: The Hornets' fifth-place prediction is the highest for the program since Sacramento State was picked to finish third in both the coaches and media polls prior to the 2015-16 campaign, after winning 18 games and advancing to the third round of the WNIT the season prior. The Hornets actually finished tied for second in the 2015-16 coaches poll with former member North Dakota, but the Fighting Hawks received one first-place vote to win the "tiebreaker."
NATABOU ON MID-MAJOR AWARD WATCH LIST: One season after showing she's one of the best in the West, junior post Isnelle Natabou is garnering national attention heading into the 2022-23 campaign, named as one of 25 players to the watch list for the 2023 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats on Oct. 19. The first Big Sky Conference student-athlete ever to be named to the list for this particular award, Natabou is joined by 24 of her peers on the initial watch list and is only one of four from the West Coast named to the list along with Gonzaga's Brynna Maxwell, Portland's Alex Fowler, and San Francisco's Ioanna Kimili. For more details, read the complete release on HornetSports.com.
NATABOU NAMED TO BIG SKY'S PRESEASON HONOR ROLL: In addition to her national honor, Natabou was also named to the seven-member preseason all-conference team, joining Montana State's Darian White (who also was selected the MVP), Idaho's Beyonce Bea, Montana's Carmen Gfeller, Northern Colorado's Hannah Simental, Montana State's Kola Bad Bear, and Weber State's Daryn Hickock. The native of the Czech Republic became only the third Hornet to earn preseason all-league honors in the process, joining former standouts Kennedy Nicholas (2019-20) and Brianna Burgos (2016-17).
BUT WAIT... THERE'S MORE!: The accolades continued to roll in for Natabou, who was also named the Big Sky's Preseason Player of the Year according to ESPN.com, which made its picks for all 32 Division I conferences on Oct. 25.
NATABOU SHARES BIG SKY WEEKLY HONORS: For the third time in her career, Sacramento State junior Isnelle Natabou was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week on Nov. 29 after helping the Hornets to a tournament title and an undefeated 3-0 week. Natabou, who picked up the first two honors of her career in back-to-back weeks in January of last year, shared this week's honor with Idaho's Beyonce Bea. It also gave Sacramento State back-to-back award winners this season after teammate Kahlaijah Dean earned Big Sky weekly honors last week. The native of the Czech Republic averaged 14.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per game in the Hornets' victories over UC Davis, Cal Poly, and UTEP, shooting 63 percent from the floor and blocking six shots in the sweep of the week.
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS: Fresno State enters the week with a 4-3 overall record, traveling to the Pacific Northwest to take on Portland State on Thursday (Dec. 1) before taking on Sacramento State in a run of three-straight games against Big Sky opponents... The Bulldogs are coming off a split at the Daytona Beach Invitational, defeating Delaware (53-49) before falling to Penn State (68-49)... Senior Yanina Todorova leads the team in nearly every major category including points (13.1 ppg), rebounds (5.9 rpg), assists (1.43 apg), and field goal percentage (.500).
SERIES NOTES: Fresno State leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 18-7, having won the last nine consecutive meetings dating back to 1993... The nine consecutive losses to the Bulldogs is tied for the second-longest active streak among all opponents, matching the nine-straight defeats to Montana State and trailing only the 15 straight losses to Nevada... The two programs haven't met in women's basketball since the 2010-11 season with the Bulldogs outgunning the Hornets, 120-93, on Nov. 14 of that year... Sacramento State's last win in the series came on Dec. 20, 1992, by a score of 82-63 at the Nevada Wolf Pack Classic... Saturday marks only the eighth meeting between the two schools at The Nest -- and the first since that 2010 decision -- as the Hornets are just 1-6 at home against the Bulldogs... Sacramento State has lost the last three at home against Fresno State, last winning on Dec. 20, 1991, by a 69-65 score.
TOURNEY TERRIFIC: With its win over UTEP, Sacramento State claimed its first regular season tournament title since winning the UC Irvine Marriott Freedom Bowl Classic during the 1993-94 season thanks to victories over North Texas and the host Anteaters. The sweep of last weekend's games in San Luis Obispo improved the Hornets to 5-3 in their last four regular season events, while the win over the host Mustangs snapped a four-game losing streak over host schools in those events.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING!: Following Saturday's win over UTEP, the Hornets have won a season-best five consecutive games -- their longest streak since winning five straight in Big Sky Conference play from Jan. 15-27 against Portland State, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Northern Colorado, and Idaho.
IF YOU START ME UP: Sacramento State's 5-1 start to the year is its best since the 2013-14 squad opened the year with 11 wins in its first 12 games -- a run that included nine consecutive victories at one point.
NOT HALF BAD: Having outscored opponents by a 212-157 in the first 20 minutes through six games, the Hornets have not trailed at halftime this season.
MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH: Although there would have been an overtime to play, Sacramento State is a UC Irvine buzzer-beater away from possibly being a perfect 6-0 on the season -- which would have been the first such start since game-by-game records are available dating back to 1971-72. Combined, Hornet opponents are 24-13 overall on the year -- including three teams with only one loss (UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, and UTEP).
"0" MY GOODNESS: The Hornets' win over UTEP to claim the crown in San Luis Obispo marked the second time this season that Sacramento State has handed a team its field loss of the season, dropping the Miners to 5-1 with its 63-50 victory. A week earlier, the Hornets dropped UC Santa Barbara from the ranks of the unbeaten with its 70-68 win in overtime, handing the then 3-0 Gauchos its first defeat.
DIALED IN FROM DISTANCE: 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches has never felt closer for the Hornets' stable of three-point shooters as Sacramento State enters the week ranked No. 4 in the nation with its .413 three-point percentage, trailing only national leader Colorado State (.465), Southern University (.417), and Illinois (.413) -- the latter of which leads the Hornets by mere percentage points.
WHO SHOT OUT THE LIGHTS?: Someone finally coralled the Hornets. UTEP limited Sacramento State to a season-low .393 shooting from the field, but could not catch up to them on the scoreboard in the Hornets' 63-50 victory, ending a run that saw them shoot now lower than 47 percent in their first five games of the season. Sacramento State, which leads the Big Sky and ranks No. 16 in the NCAA at .486 on the year, has hit better than 40 percent from the field in nine of its last 11 contests dating back to last year -- including a season-high of .537 at Santa Clara back on Nov. 14.
PLAYING FROM AHEAD: Sacramento State never trailed in its wins over UC Davis and Cal Poly -- the first two times that has happened this year -- and held the lead all the way until the eight-minute mark of the third quarter against UTEP before pulling away for a 13-point victory. The wire-to-wire win over the Aggies marked the first time since a 67-58 win over Eastern Washington on Feb. 26 of last season that the Hornets never trailed, while the back-to-back performances marked the first time that has happened since Feb. 8 and 10 against Montana State (W, 88-77) and Montana (W, 79-64) during the 2017-18 season.
SHUT IT DOWN: Since allowing a season-high 68 points in overtime against UC Santa Barbara, the Hornets' defense has been on point, allowing 50 points or fewer in two of its last three games, while lowering their season points allowed per game by nearly six points to 58.0 ppg entering the week -- ranking second in the Big Sky Conference -- while holding opponents to just 35 percent shooting from the floor and 24 percent from three-point range.
NOBODY'S PERFECT...: But senior Kahlaijah Dean nearly was in the Hornets' victory over Cal Poly to open tournament play last weekend, leading a balanced scoring effort with 18 points against the Mustangs. Dean finished the game 5-for-5 from the field overall, 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, and 5-of-6 from the line -- not missing a shot until a free throw that went awry in the closing seconds.
ALMOST AUTOMATIC: Get her close and Isnelle Natabou rarely misses. The junior, who was also nearly perfect against UTEP after hitting 6-of-7 from the field and all five of her free throws in the win, is a combined 38-for-56 on the year, ranking No. 8 in the NCAA in field goal percentage at .679 through the team's first six games. It's right where Natabou left off in 2021-22, when she shot .643 (182-283) from the field in her first year with the Hornets, ranking second on the school's all-time single-season list (Sue Digitale shot .651 in 1976-77).
PASSING THE CRASH TEST: Another 14 rebounds in the win over UTEP is nothing new for Natabou, who owns three of the top five single-game rebounding performances in the Big Sky this season, along with her 20 against UC Irvine (more on that later) and the 14 against UC Davis. Natabou ranks among the top 25 in the nation in rebounds per game (12th) and rebounds (24th), while also ranking 21st in defensive rebounds, and stands atop the Big Sky in both rebounding average and offensive rebounds (3.8 rpg), while standing second in defensive rebounds (7.3 rpg).
A PERFECT 10 (OR MORE): Dean and Natabou are the only two Hornets who have reached double figures in all six of the team's games thus far this season, while Natabou has accomplished the feat in each of her last 12 games when you include the final six contests of the 2021-22 campaign.
THE QUARTET PLAYS ON: It was a sweet song in San Luis Obispo last weekend as four Hornets finished in double figures in each of their victories over host Cal Poly and UTEP. It marked the first time that feat had been accomplished this season after it happened eight times in 2021-22, and the first time that it had happened in back-to-back games since road games at Weber State and Northern Arizona on Jan. 29 and Feb. 3, respectively, last season.
TRIPLE DOUBLE DOUBLE-DOUBLES: For the third time this season the Hornets have posted a pair of double-doubles in the same game after junior Isnelle Natabou went for 17 points and 14 rebounds, and sophomore Katie Peneueta added 11 points and 10 boards in the win over UTEP. Sacramento State is 3-0 in those games against Santa Clara, UC Davis, and the Miners, while posting a 3-1 record overall in games in which a Hornet has a double-double.
"HARNESS. ENERGY. BLOCK. BAD.": Sophomore Katie Peneueta is feeling the flow at the defensive end of the court, swatting a career high-tying three blocks in the win over Cal Poly and adding two more in the win over UTEP to bring her season total to 12 -- more than halfway to her 22-game total of 21 blocks last year. Her 12 blocks and 2.00 blocks per game lead the Big Sky Conference nearly a month into the season and ranks 30th in average and 33rd overall in the NCAA as of Nov. 28.
THE THEME FROM SWAT: The paint was not a pleasant place to be for opposing shooters last weekend as the Hornets posted back-to-back games with seven blocked shots against the Mustangs and Miners -- the most since Sacramento State finished with the same number on Feb. 26 of last year.
THREE IS MORE THAN TWO: Trust us... Katie Peneueta has certainly done the math. In 28 career games with the Hornets, the Vancouver, Wash., native has made a living from long distance, sinking 72 of her 77 career field goals from behind the three-point line. At the media timeout of the second quarter on Tuesday against UC Davis, Peneueta's last 30 makes from the field had all been three-pointers until she posted up and found room inside for a lay-up at the four-minute mark of the period -- her first two-point basket since scoring inside at Northern Arizona with 21 seconds left in a 76-62 Sacramento State victory on Feb. 3 last year.
BUTCHER BOMBS AWAY: Freshman Madison Butcher had, perhaps, her best game of the season in the tournament clincher against UTEP, finishing with a career-high 10 points and six rebounds while hitting 4-of-7 from the field, blocking a pair of shots, and assisting on two more scores. Butcher is shooting a robust 52 percent from the field and 7-of-14 from beyond the arc off the bench for the Hornets, averging 17.7 minutes per contest -- including 26 against the Miners.
THE DEAN OF SCORING: Dean brings with her a pedigree of knowing where the basket is, reaching the 1,000 career point milestone as only a junior at Oakland University and finishing her four years with the Golden Grizzlies with 1,425 points to her name. Following her first four performances in the green and gold, the Bakersfield, Calif., native has brought her total up to 1,537 career points, ranking tied for No. 30 among active scorers across the country and posting a total that would rank fourth on Sacramento State's all-time scoring list.
AMUSAN IN THE SCORING COLUMN: Senior Solape Amusan became the final Hornet to get on the board this season in the win over Cal Poly, draining a three-pointer at the 2:51 mark of the first quarter to help Sacramento State to an 11-point advantage at the end of the first period.
MINUTE WOMEN: There haven't been many players in the Big Sky -- let alone the entire country -- who have seen more time on the court to start the year than the Hornets' Katie Peneueta (37.7 mpg -- including all 45 minutes against UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 19), Kahlaijah Dean (35.8 mpg), and Isnelle Natabou (35.6 mpg -- including all 40 minutes against UTEP on Nov. 26). The trio ranks second, third, and fifth, respectively, in the league in minutes while Peneueta is 13th in the NCAA.
ARE YOU BOARD?: Natabou clearly wasn't in the Hornets' opener against UC Irvine, as her 20 rebounds were the most since she had 22 against Idaho in an overtime win on Jan. 22 of last year and was her third career game with 20-or-more rebounds. Nationally, the 20-rebound performance is tied for the fifth-highest in the NCAA for a single-game -- and the most of any Big Sky player -- as of Nov. 28, and stands as one of only eleven 20-rebound games in the NCAA entering the week.
MIND THE GAP: The 22-point margin of victory over Causeway rival UC Davis on Nov. 22 marked the largest against an NCAA Division I opponent in head coach Mark Campbell's tenure at the helm of the Sacramento State program and was the largest since a 23-point win over Sonoma State on Nov. 16 of last year.
HORNETS GO GLOBAL WITH SIGNEES: Head Coach Mark Campbell racked up the frequent flier miles to sign four student-athletes during the recent NCAA signing period, welcoming post Paula Haw and guard Lina Falk from Germany, forward Summah Hanson from Australia, and guard Sofia Alonso from Spain.
