SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento State women's basketball continues a run of five straight games at home on Saturday (Nov. 18), welcoming San Diego State to The Nest for a 2 p.m. tip-off.
The game is part of a longer run that will see the Hornets play eight of nine at home beginning with their Nov. 12 clash with Cal State Fullerton, with the only exception in that stretch being a short three-hour trip south for a road game at Fresno State on Dec. 16.
THIS WEEK…
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | San Diego State | Big Sky Conference
GAME #4
WHAT: San Diego State (1-2) at Sacramento State (0-3)
WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 18, 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 San Diego State, are ranked nationally entering this week's games
• 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
• San Diego State's Stacie Terry-Huston is in her 11th season at the helm of the Aztec's program, posting a 132-174 (.431) record in her previous 10 campaigns.
ABOUT THE AZTECS
• Coming off a season where it won 23 games -- including 12 in the Mountain West -- and earned a berth into the postseason WNIT, San Diego State enters this weekend's game with an 1-2 record following a 77-68 win against UC Davis on Monday (Nov. 13)
• Last year's 23-11 record was the program's best season since 2012-13
• The Aztecs opened the year with a loss at Portland (72-58) and at home against California Baptist (76-68) before the win over the Aggies
• San Diego State was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West preseason poll
• Senior guard Jada Lewis (a transfer from Big Sky rival Portland State) leads a quartet of Aztecs in double figures, averaging 16.3 ppg and 4.0 rpg while shooting .455 from the floor and .476 from three-point range
• Kim Villalobos (12.7 ppg) and Sarah Barcello (10.7 ppg), the former shooting .433 from the field and leading the team with nine assists while the latter has hit better than half (.542) her attempts from the floor
• Senior Adryana Quezada is also in double figures at 10.3 ppg, while leading SDSU on the boards at 6.7 rpg
SERIES NOTABLES
• San Diego State leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 5-1
• The Aztecs have won the last two meetings -- both on the road -- including a 70-59 win in San Diego last year in the first meeting between the two programs since 2014
• The Hornets' only win in the series came in 2013 at home (93-89)
• Saturday marks only the third meeting between the two schools in Sacramento and the first since that 2013 win
• San Diego State won the first three meetings between the two in 2001 (72-51), 2003 (77-68), and 2008 (75-47)
CONFERENCE CALL
• Sacramento State is 55-87 against the current Mountain West Conference lineup, having faced all 11 members
• The Hornets were 1-1 against the Mountain West last year, posting a win over Fresno State (62-61) at home and falling at San Diego State (70-59)
• Sac State is 0-1 against the Mountain West this season, falling at Nevada (69-53) on Nov. 9
• Following Saturday's contest, the Hornets have one more game remaining against a Mountain West rival, traveling to Fresno State on Dec. 16
• Sacramento State is 2-9 in its last 11 games against the Mountain West Conference with six of those games coming against the Wolf Pack
• The 25 wins in the series against Nevada are the most by the Hornets against any Mountain West opponent, followed by the program's 19 wins against San Jose State
• Sac State is a combined 27-30 at home against Mountain West opponents, winning the last two against the league at The Nest
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!
• Head Coach Aaron Kallhoff announced that Australian guards Rubi Gray and Jemma Amoore have inked National Letters of Intent with the Hornets during the NCAA's early signing period
• Gray, a 5-7 guard from Devonport, Tasmania, and scholarship holder at Basketball Australia's prestigious Centre of Excellence, has represented her country at the U16 FIBA Women's Asian Championships in Jordan, the U17 FIBA World Cup in Hungary in 2022, and the U19 Women's Basketball World Cup in Spain in 2023, while also winning a number of titles as a team captain with the Devonport Warriors Basketball Club
• The basketball bloodlines run deep with Gray, whose father and uncle both played professionally in Australia
• Amoore, a 5-4 guard from Ballarat, Victoria, has played for her hometown Ballarat Miners' junior and senior clubs her entire career and she earned a spot on the Victorian state team for the U20 Australian Junior Championships back in February
• Amoore is the second of her family to attend college in the United States as her sister, Georgia, is a standout guard entering her senior season at Virginia Tech
DOUBLE-DOUBLE, HORNET STYLE
• That's what freshman Summah Hanson is all about
• The Sacramento State newcomer wrapped up her first week of collegiate basketball with her second straight double-double against Cal State Fullerton, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds
• She finished with five baskets and hit 7-of-8 from the line en route to her total, adding three assists and a pair of blocks
• Hanson became the first Hornet to post back-to-back double-doubles since Isnelle Natabou did so against Idaho (22-10) and Portland State (23-11) in the first two rounds of last year's Big Sky Tournament
• Entering this week's competition, Hanson is one of only six players in the Big Sky to post a double-double in a game this year, but the only one to have two to start the year
• Hanson's two double-doubles are tied for third in the NCAA entering the week, behind only TCU's Sedona Prince and LSU's Angel Reese with three each
• Hanson is one of only two freshmen -- and six underclassmen overall -- with multiple double-doubles along with Syracuse's Alyssa Latham
SUMMAH TIME!
• Following a solid debut at Washington, 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 and rebounding in each of the team's first three games this year
SHE'S KIND OF A BIG (SKY) DEAL
• Hanson enters this week's competition ranked No. 6 in the Big Sky in scoring (16.0 ppg) and No. 5 in rebounding (9.3 rpg)
• Hanson is one of only four players from around the league to rank in the top 10 in both categories, joining Eastern Washington's Aaliyah Alexander (1st in points, tied for 8th in rebounds), Montana's Dani Bartsch (4th in points, t3rd in rebounds), and Idaho State's Laura Bello (tied for 10th in points and third in rebounding)
• Among that group, Hanson is the only freshman as the others are in, at least, their third season of college basketball
• She also ranks in the top five in the league in four other categories
EASY AS AY-B-C
• Freshman Ayanna Jackson provided the Hornets a lift as a reserve on Sunday against Fullerton, finishing with a career-high 12 points
• Jackson hit her first three baskets and all three of her attempts from the line for the game, finishing 4-of-8 from the field -- including her first career three-pointer
• The newcomer from Chicago, Ill., played in 20 minutes against the Titans, after appearing in 20 minutes combined in the team's first two games
• She is the third different Hornet newcomer to finish with double-digit points this year, following up Sophia Lee's 11 points at Nevada
SHE GIVETH
• Sophomore Benthe Versteeg enters the week ranked among the Big Sky's best in assists, standing sixth at 3.67 apg while ranking second with 11 assists overall
• 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 short of her career best set against Idaho on Jan. 5 last year
NO THREE'S FOR THEE
• Sacramento State's defense has limited opponents to just .286 from beyond the arc this season -- the third-best mark in the Big Sky entering this week's contests
• That comes on the back of Sunday's performance when Cal State Fullerton was just 4-of-19 from three-point range -- a season low for makes by a Hornet opponent -- while Nevada shot just .208 from deep
• The four three-pointers allowed were the fewest since Portland State was just 3-of-14 on March 7 in the Big Sky Tournament, while the Wolf Pack's .208 three-point percentage was the lowest since Weber State hit 1-of-9 (.111) on Feb. 16 last year
O-R-I-WHOA
• After appearing in only four games last season, sophomore Irune Orio put together the best scoring and rebounding game of her career against Cal State Fullerton
• The Spaniard finished with career high's in points (8), rebounds (5), and steals (2), while making three baskets in 24 minutes
• In 2022-23, Orio finished with just seven points and two rebounds in four combined games (just over 13 minutes total), finishing 3-of-3 from the field
LALA'S LAND
• Junior transfer Seilala Lautaimi did work inside off the bench for the Hornets against Cal State Fullerton
• The San Mateo, Calif., native grabbed a career-high six rebounds in 10 minutes, adding a career-best three points to her final statline
• Lautaimi's total is tied for the fourth-highest in a single game this year behind Hanson's two 11-rebound performances and Versteeg's seven rebound game at Nevada
HANG ON A MINUTE
• You seemingly can't get Benthe Versteeg or Summah Hanson off the floor through three games this season
• Versteeg ranks third in the Big Sky in minutes per game entering the week, averaging 36.4 mpg -- including 39:17 at Nevada on Nov. 9
• Hanson, meanwhile, is ninth in the league at 31.4 mpg -- including a season-high 39:22 against the Wolf Pack, which stands as the most in a single game by a Hornet this year
