SACRAMENTO -- Champions of the Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament for the first time in the history of the program, the Sacramento State women's basketball team checks off another box in this season of firsts as the Hornets are off to Los Angeles, slated to take on No. 4-seeded UCLA in the first round 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Championships.
Making their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the Hornets are a No. 13 seed and will face the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday (March 18) at a time to be announced. They will be joined in a four-team pod by No. 5-seeded and Big 12 regular season champion Oklahoma and No. 12 seeded and West Coast Conference Tournament champion Portland.
Sporting the most wins in a single-season in school history by either the men's or women's basketball programs, Sacramento State enters postseason play with a 25-7 overall record after finishing 13-5 in Big Sky play to earn a share of the league's regular season title. Last week, the Hornets went on a tear in Boise, Idaho, winning three games in three days at the No. 3 seed in the Big Sky Tournament, downing Idaho, Portland State, and top-seeded Northern Arizona, for the program's first ever conference tournament crown.
Sacramento State is riding the hot hand, entering "March Madness" on a nine-game winning streak dating back to Feb. 11 — which is tied for the third-longest run in school history and just one shy of the record shared by the 1989-90 and 1990-91 squads.
Led by Big Sky Co-Coach of the Year Mark Campbell, the Hornets have undergone a remarkable turnaround from a three-win team in 2020-21, to 14 victories in 2021-22, and the school-record win total this season. On the court, the 1-2 punch of senior guard Kahlaijah Dean and junior post Isnelle Natabou have sparked the offense all season.
Dean was named the Big Sky Most Valuable Player, the conference's Newcomer of the Year, and the MVP of the conference tournament after averaging 21.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game, shooting .455 from the field and 39 percent from three-point range.
Natabou, a first-team All-Big Sky selection and all-tournament team honoree, ranks among the top shooting in the country with a .642 field goal percentage, averaging 15.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
Around them, a cast that has has helped raise the bar at Sacramento State, including senior Kaylin Randhawa, who is averaging 9.4 points per game after setting a Hornet career high with 20 points in the championship game victory. Sophomore Katie Peneueta has been one of the nation's top sharpshooters, hitting on 46 percent from the field overall and just over 45 percent from beyond the arc, while senior Jordan Olivares, the only senior on the roster who has played four seasons in the green and gold is fresh off a Big Sky Tournament where she finished with a career-high 26 points in the championship game.
UCLA enters the postseason with a 25-9 overall record and an 11-7 mark in the Pac-12 — including a 13-3 mark at Pauley Pavilion this season. The Bruins fell to Washington State, 65-61, in the Pac-12 Tournament Championship game following wins over Arizona State, Arizona, and Stanford.
Oklahoma is in the NCAA Tournament for the 21st time sine 2000, winning the Big 12 regular season title with a 25-6 overall record and a 14-4 mark in league play. The Sooners fell to Iowa State in the conference tournament semifinals after opening with a win over TCU.
Portland is 23-8 overall and finished WCC play at 15-3 overall, posting its best record since the 1996-97 season and their highest-ever win total in league play. The Pilots finished second in the WCC in the regular season and are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997.
The 2023 championship will be the second to have 68 teams. First Four games will be played Wednesday, March 15, and Thursday, March 16, at four of the top-16 host sites. First- and second-round games will be played Friday, March 17, through Monday, March 20, on the campuses of the top-16 seeds.
In 2023 the championship will be utilizing a two-site regional format, with eight competing teams playing at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, and eight teams at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Regional play in Greenville and Seattle will take place March 24-27, with each site hosting two regional semifinal games March 24 and two March 25. In addition, each site will host a regional championship game March 26 and one March 27.
The 2023 Women's Final Four will be played March 31 and April 2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
2023 NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
March 18 & 20, 2023, at Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
First Round
No. 13 Sacramento State vs. No. 4 UCLA, TBA
No. 12 Portland vs. No. 5 Oklahoma, TBA
Second Round
Sacramento State/UCLA vs. Portland/Oklahoma, TBA
