SACRAMENTO — For the first time this season, the Sacramento State women's basketball team gets a chance to play in front of the hometown faithful, hosting Cal State Fullerton in its first home game of the year on Sunday (Nov. 12) at 2 p.m. After playing their first two games of the season on the road, Sunday's clash with the Titans opens a run that will see the Hornets play eight of their next nine at home, with the only exception a short three-hour trip south for a road game at Fresno State on Dec. 16.
THIS WEEK…
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Cal State Fullerton
GAME #3
WHAT: Cal State Fullerton (0-1) at Sacramento State (0-2)
WHEN: Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023
TIME: 2 p.m. PT
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
ARENA: The Nest
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'
• Sacramento State will not leave the state of California for the remainder of the calendar year until it rings in the New Year with a trip to Minnesota to take on St. Thomas to kick-off the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge
• The Hornets were 17-4 in games played in the "Golden State" last year, posting an 11-2 record at home and winning four of their last five -- the only loss in that stretch coming against UCLA in the NCAA Tournament
IN THE RANKINGS
• Neither Sacramento State, nor Cal State Fullerton, are ranked nationally to begin the year
• The Hornets finished 2022-23 ranked No. 22 in the final College Insider Mid-Major poll, but are unranked in that poll to start the 2023-24 campaign
• Sacramento State is scheduled to face four teams listed in the preseason College Insider poll (as of Nov. 1), all among those receiving votes and three of those during Big Sky Conference play: Eastern Washington (50 votes), Northern Arizona (4), UC Davis (3), and Montana (1)
IRON SHARPENS IRON
• The Hornets' 2023-24 schedule features three schools that reached the postseason Women's NIT a year ago: San Diego State (1st Round), Northern Arizona (1st Round), and Washington (National Semifinals)
• This year's slate of games also features a pair of opponents that finished in the top 100 of the NCAA's NET rankings in Washington (No. 63) and San Diego State (No. 93), as well as four others that finished in the top 150: Montana State (No. 120), Northern Arizona (No. 122), Eastern Washington (No. 132), and Santa Clara (No. 138)
• For comparison, Sacramento State stood No. 87 in the final NCAA NET rankings
NKOTB - NEW KIDS ON THE BENCH
• Joining first-year head coach Aaron Kallhoff on the bench are assistant coaches De'Audra Brown, Jodi Page, and Asha Thomas, along with Director of Operations Elexus Trenkle and Director of Player Development -- and former Hornet -- Kaylin Randhawa
• Brown joins the staff after helping Hawai'i to a Big West Tournament title and NCAA berth in 2022-23 following five years as an assistant at New Mexico State, where she helped the Aggies to a pair of WAC titles and a league tournament crown
• Page joins the staff after a season at UNC Greensboro in 2022-23, along with stops at New Mexico State, Cal State Fullerton, Arizona State, and Eastern Washington, as well as 20 years coaching in her native Australia
• Thomas enters her first Division I post following a standout playing career at California, where she was an All-Pac-12 selection and helped the Golden Bears to three 20-win seasons and three NCAA Tournament berths
• Trenkle comes to Sacramento after serving as the men's basketball director of operations at Tarleton in 2022-23 and a graduate assistant for the Texans in 2021-22
• Randhawa wrapped up her collegiate career with the Hornets in 2022-23, averaging 9.2 points and 2.8 rebounds while ranking second on the team with 73 assists. She is currently completing her studies to earn her teaching credential at Sacramento State
THE COACHES
• Sacramento State's Aaron Kallhoff is in his first season at the helm of the Hornets. He has served five previous seasons as a head coach at the junior college level and spent 10 years as an assistant at five Division I programs: Arkansas State, TCU, LSU, Penn State, and BYU
• Cal State Fullerton's Jeff Harada is in his seventh season at the helm of the Titans' program, posting a 68-103 (.398) record in his previous six campaigns. He also was head coach at Hawai'i Pacific (2007-11) and Central Washington (2014-17) before taking the job at Fullerton
ABOUT THE TITANS
• Following a win over Concordia (80-56) in a preseason exhibition, Cal State Fullerton officially opened the season with a 73-57 loss at Pacific in its regular season opener on Friday (Nov. 10)
• Senior center Ashlee Lewis finished with a game-high 17 points and nine rebounds, while Hope Hassmann (10) and Demonnie Lagway (10) were also in double figures
• Fullerton is coming off a 2022-23 campaign where it finished 14-16 overall and 9-11 in Big West Conference play, taking eventual champion Hawai'i to double-overtime in the opening round of the conference tournament
• Preseason All-Big West selection Fujika Nimmo is the team's leading returning scorer, averaging 14.5 ppg and finishing second on the team with 55 steals
• Lewis was also in double figures, averaging 10.3 ppg and shooting .430 from the floor while pacing the Titans on the glass with 7.3 rpg a season ago
• Fullerton was picked to finish fifth in the Big West preseason coaches poll after a seventh-place finish in 2022-23, returning three players who started all 30 games last year and eight letter winners overall
SERIES NOTABLES
• Cal State Fullerton leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by an 8-2 count dating back to 1976-77
• The Hornets snapped a four-game skid with a 67-55 win in Orange County last season -- its first win in the series since a four-point (79-75) triumph in 1997
• Last year's meeting was the first between the two schools since 2012
• This will be only the fourth meeting between the two schools in Sacramento and the first since 2011 -- an 81-64 win by the Titans
• Cal State Fullerton has won all three of the previous meetings in Sacramento
CONFERENCE CALL
• Sacramento State is a combined 87-102 against the current Big West Conference alignment, having faced 10 of the 11 members
• The Hornets were an impressive 6-1 against the league last season, dropping their opener against UC Irvine before rattling off six straight wins over UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, CSUN, and Cal State Fullerton
• Sacramento State's 32 wins over UC Davis are the most against any other Big West school, followed by the 20 wins over CSUN and 13 more against Cal Poly
• Sunday's game against Cal State Fullerton will be the first of four against Big West opponents -- all coming within the friendly confines of The Nest -- joining games against UC Davis (Nov. 21), CSUN (Dec. 2), and Cal Poly (Dec. 21)
LAST TIME OUT: NEVADA 69, HORNETS 53
• Summah Hanson posted a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Sophia Lee collected a career-high 11 points
• Benthe Versteeg added a balanced line of six points, seven rebounds, and a career-high eight assists
• Sacramento State bounced back from a 12-0 run that spanned the first and second quarters to make it a three-point (24-21) game with 4:22 remaining in the first half, and trailed by only five (29-24) at the break
• The Hornets then trimmed a 17-point deficit down to single digits late in the third thanks to a 10-2 run over the final three minutes of the period, but a 15-0 burst by Nevada rebuilt its lead and the Wolf Pack never looked back
• Sacramento State finished with a 42-33 advantage on the glass, including 14 offensive rebounds in the contest
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
• Freshman Ayanna Jackson and junior transfer Seilala Lautaimi each scored their first points at the Division I level at Nevada on Thursday
• Irune Orio posted her first points of the season
• Eight of the nine newcomers to the Sacramento State roster made their Division I debuts in the season opener against Washington on Nov. 6
SUMMAH, SUMMAH, SUMMAH TIME!
• Following a solid debut at Washington, freshman Summah Hanson broke out in a big way at Nevada on Thursday, finishing with 22 points and 11 rebounds to go with a pair of assists, two blocks, and a steal
• Hanson shot 7-of-17 from the floor, 4-of-6 from three-point range, and hit 4-of-5 from the line en route to her total, grabbing four of her 11 rebounds on the offensive end
• She became the first Hornet freshman to score 20 points in a game since Katie Peneueta had 20 at Northern Arizona on Feb. 3, 2022
• The 22 points were the most by a Sacramento State freshman since Tiara Scott scored 25 against Montana State on Feb. 18, 2017. Scott was 9-of-14 from the floor, including seven three-pointers
• Hanson's double-double was the first by a Hornet freshman since Margaret Huntington had 10 points and 13 rebounds against UC Irvine on Dec. 14, 2013
• Hanson has either shared or led the team in scoring in each of the team's first two games this year
• 10 of her 22 points came in the third quarter alone -- the first double-digit scoring quarter by a Hornet this season
BALANCED BENTHE
• The sophomore guard from the Netherlands did a little bit of everything at Nevada on Thursday, finishing with six points, seven rebounds, and eight assists
• Her eight assists (against only four turnovers) were a new career high, surpassing her previous high of three last set at Northern Colorado on Jan. 12 of last season
• Versteeg's eight helpers were also the most by a Hornet since Kahlaijah Dean finished with the same number against Idaho in the team's Big Sky Conference Tournament opener on March 6, 2023
• Meanwhile, the seven rebounds were just one shot of her career best set against Idaho on Jan. 5 last year
BETTER THAN SO-SO FOR SOPHIA
• Held to just on point in the season opener, freshman Sophia Lee exploded for a career-high 11 at Nevada on Thursday
• Lee finished 4-of-7 from the field, including her first career three-pointer, and hit both her attempts from the line
• She also added three rebounds and a pair of steals to her first career double-digit scoring performance in a career-high 30 minutes
WINDEX WOMEN
• The 42 rebounds at Nevada were the most for Sacramento State since the Hornets grabbed the same number against Idaho in last year's Big Sky Tournament opener
• Meanwhile, Sac State's 14 offensive boards were the most since the Hornets had the same number in a win at Weber State on Feb. 16 last season -- the end of a three-game run that saw Sacramento State finish with 15, 14, and 14 offensive rebounds
HANG ON A MINUTE
• You couldn't get Hanson or Versteeg off the floor against Nevada on Thursday
• Hanson played a season-high 39:22 at Nevada -- the most by a Hornet this season -- while Versteeg played all but 43 seconds against the Wolf Pack
• It was the most minutes played by a Hornet since Jordan Olivares went the full 40 against Idaho in the Big Sky Tournament opener on March 6
• Versteeg's minutes were the most since she played all 40 at Cal State Fullerton last year
