SACRAMENTO — Looking to bounce back after a season-opening defeat at Washington on Monday, the Sacramento State women's basketball team stays somewhat local for game two of the year, making the short jaunt up I-80 to take on Nevada at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nev., on Thursday (Nov. 9). Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
THIS WEEK…
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Nevada
GAME #2
WHAT: Sacramento State (0-1) at Nevada (0-0)
WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023
TIME: 6:30 p.m. PT
WHERE: Reno, Nev.
ARENA: Lawlor Events Center
WATCH: Sports Net Nevada/Mountain West Network
LIVE STATS: NevadaWolfPack.com
IN THE RANKINGS
• Neither Sacramento State, nor Nevada, 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
• Nevada's Amanda Levins is in her seventh season as head coach of the Wolf Pack and her 11th season overall as a head coach. Levins has posted a career record of 131-171 over her previous 10 seasons and an 89-95 mark in Reno
ABOUT THE WOLF PACK
• Thursday's contest against Sacramento State will be the regular season opener for Nevada, which defeated Cal State East Bay, 90-52, in an exhibition on Oct. 29
• The Wolf Pack is coming off a 2022-23 season that saw them finish 10-21 overall and 6-12 in the Mountain West Conference, reaching the quarterfinals of the league postseason tournament
• Nevada returns nine letter winners and welcomes eight newcomers to its roster for 2023-24, including a pair of Division I transfers to go with six freshmen
• The Wolf Pack brings back three of their top four scorers in senior forward Lexie Givens (10.5 ppg), junior guard Audrey Roden (10.5 ppg), and senior guard Victoria Davis (9.4 ppg)
• Givens also led Nevada on the glass last season with 6.4 rpg
SERIES NOTABLES
• Nevada leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by a 26-25 count, but the two schools haven't met in women's basketball since a pair of games in Sacramento in 2020
• The Wolf Pack have won the last 15 meetings between the two programs -- and 17 of the last 18 overall -- dating back to the 1996-97 campaign, and the last eight head-to-head clashes in Reno dating back to the 1994-95 season
• Thursday marks the first game in Reno since 2019, an 83-72 Nevada win
• Sacramento State's last win in the series came on Dec. 6, 1995, posting a 64-60 triumph at home
• The Hornets are 8-15 on the road against Nevada, last posting a win in Reno on Dec. 29, 1993, by a 77-54 score
• According to records that date back to 1972, Sacramento State opened the series with 24 wins in the first 33 head-to-head meetings with Nevada, including 11 straight wins from 1972-78
• This will be the Hornets' first game in the "Silver State" since a 2019 meeting at Nevada
• Sacramento State is 25-30 against schools from the state of Nevada, and 8-17 in games played in the state
• Thursday will be the second Sacramento State-Nevada clash in Reno in the last three days after the men's teams from the respective schools went head-to-head on Nov. 7, with the Wolf Pack posting a 77-63 win
CONFERENCE CALL
• Sacramento State is 55-86 against the current Mountain West Conference lineup, having faced all 11 members
• The Hornets were 1-1 against the conference last season, posting a win over Fresno State (62-61) at home before falling at San Diego State (70-59)
• Sacramento State is 2-8 in its last 10 games against the Mountain West Conference with five 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
• The Hornets are a combined 13-50 on the road against Mountain West opponents
• Nevada will be the first of three games against Mountain West members this year along with games against San Diego State (Nov. 18) and Fresno State (Dec. 16)
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
• Monday night's contest at Washington marked the Division I debuts for eight of Sacramento State's nine newcomers
• Freshmen Lina Falk, Paula Haw, and Sophia Lee also collected their first career points in the game, while freshmen Sophia Alonso and J'yana Salton got onto the scoresheet with the first rebounds of their careers
