SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State women's basketball team continues its three game roadtrip with a pair of contests in Southern California this week, taking on UC San Diego on Wednesday (Nov. 12) at 6 p.m., before traveling to Long Beach State on Saturday (Nov. 15) for a 2 p.m. tip-off.
GAME #4
WHAT: Sacramento State (2-1, 0-0 Big Sky) at UC San Diego (1-1, 0-0 Big West)
WHEN: Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2024
TIME: 6 PM PT
WHERE: La Jolla, Calif.
ARENA: LionTree Arena
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: UCSDTritons.com
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | UC San Diego | Big Sky Conference
THE COACHES
• Sacramento State's Aaron Kallhoff is entering his third year at the helm of the Hornets' program, posting a 23-44 mark and a 101-120 overall record in seven-plus seasons as a head coach
• Kallhoff claimed his 100th career win as a head coach in Sacramento State's 2025-26 season-opening win over Stanton University
• Heidi VanDerveer is in her 14th year as the UC San Diego head coach, posting an 253-131 record with the Tritons
NEW NEST
• After spending most of its history playing at The Nest, both the Sacramento State men's and women's basketball teams transition its home contests to the Hornet Pavilion located inside The WELL, an on-campus fitness complex that has renovated a portion of the facility to serve as the new home of the Hornets.
• The venue will seat approximately 3,000 fans -- nearly tripling the capacity of The Nest
• It was a giant facelift for the facility featuring (among other enhancements): re-striping of all courts to include the game court, telescopic bleachers around the center court, two new video boards, LED ribbon boards, new scoreboards, a new sound system, removal and replacement of existing lighting, new press tables and courtside seats, and new branding promoting Sacramento State and the city of Sacramento
"BIG" NEWS FOR 2026
• The 2025-26 campaign marks the 30th -- and final -- season as a member of the Big Sky Conference for the Hornets, who announced plans to move to the The Big West beginning in 2026-27
• Sacramento State could possibly face four of its future league rivals this year: UC San Diego (Nov. 12), Long Beach State (Nov. 15), Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 21), and either California Baptist (which is joining the league alongside the Hornets next year) or UC Santa Barbara (Nov. 29)
• Another league opponent -- Causeway rival UC Davis -- is also on the schedule (Nov. 24), but the Aggies are departing for the Mountain West Conference following this year
• The Big West will be the third conference for the Hornets in their Division I history after playing in the America West Conference along with Cal Poly, CSUN, and Southern Utah from 1994-96, and then joining the Big Sky in 1996-97
ABOUT THE HORNETS
• Sacramento State returns two starters and six letter winners overall off of last season's squad that finished 15-18 overall and 7-11 in Big Sky play
• The Hornets advanced to at least the second round of the conference tournament for the third straight season
• Bolstering the roster is a class of nine newcomers from across all levels of basketball -- a group that includes three Division I transfers, another from a prominent NAIA program, two from the junior college ranks, and three freshmen
• Record-setting senior guard Benthe Versteeg is the leading returning scorer after averaging 12.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, and 6.5 apg, while earning All-Big Sky first-team, Big Sky All-Defensive Team, and Big Sky All-Tournament honors for the second straight year
• Senior forward Fatoumata Jaiteh also returns after starting 27 of her 30 appearances a season ago, averaging 7.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, while finishing tied for second on the team with 45 steals
ABOUT THE TRITONS
• UC San Diego enters the week with a 1-1 record after falling at Pacific (69-66) to open the season, then bouncing back for a win over Denver (72-54) at home
• The Tritons finished 20-16 overall and 13-7 in The Big West last season, defeating UC Davis, 75-66, in the conference tournament championship to earn their first Division I postseason berth
• The university became the first to send both its men's and women's basketball teams to the NCAA Tournament in their first season of Division I eligibility
• UCSD fell to Southern, 68-56, in the "First Four"
• The Tritons were picked to finish fourth in The Big West standings in 2025-26, finishing behind Hawai'i, UC Irvine, and the Aggies
• Junior forward Erin Condron was one of seven players named to the league's preseason team
• Condron is averaging 9.5 ppg and a team-best 6.5 rpg while shooting .563 from the field in the team's first two games
• A trio players -- freshman guard Lev Feiman, senior guard Sabrina Ma, and senior guard Makayla Rose -- share the team lead at 12.0 ppg
SERIES NOTABLES
• Wednesday marks only the second all-time meeting with UC San Diego
• The Hornets posted a 71-60 victory over the Tritons at home last year on Nov. 7
• The two schools will be rivals in The Big West for one season in 2026-27 before the Tritons leave for the West Coast Conference in 2027-28
CONFERENCE CALL
• Sacramento State is a combined 90-107 against the current alignment of The Big West Conference according to available records
• The Hornets have lost their last two meetings with Big West schools and were 2-2 against the league in 2024-25
• Sacramento State posted wins over UC San Diego (71-50) and Cal State Fullerton (67-40), while falling to Long Beach State (69-68) and UC Davis (75-45) last year
• The Hornets are 5-5 in their last 10 meetings with Big West schools dating back to 2022-23
NOW "UC" ME
• Last Sunday's game against California was the first of four possible contests against a University of California system school this season
• The Hornets have faced all seven of the system's Division I opponents, posting a 53-71 record against the Golden Bears (6-7), UC Davis (32-36), UC Irvine (6-7), UCLA (0-8), UC Riverside (4-9), UCSD (1-0), and UC Santa Barbara (4-4)
PICTURE WORTH A THOUSAND POINTS
• Versteeg enters her final collegiate season closing in on a milestone, needing just 157 more points to reach 1,000 for her career
• Should she reach the plateau, Versteeg would become the 19th Hornet to accomplish the feat and the first since Summer Menke did it in 2022
• Along with her assist total (more on that in a minute), she also ranks eighth on the all-time minutes played list with 3,005 and, if she's able to replicate her total from each of the last two seasons, would set a new school record
• With her 17 assists over her first two games this season, Versteeg now has 463 for her career, moving her past Heather Baker (1989-93) into second on the school's all-time list, trailing only record-holder Fantasia Hilliard (726 from 2011-15), on that chart
• Among other top 10s, Versteeg is just 109 made field goals, 71 more free throws made, and 30 more steals from breaking into those respective lists
BACK TO RUN THE SHOW
• The two-time Big Sky assist queen returns to the floor for her fourth season in the green and gold as Benthe Versteeg looks for a repeat of her last two record-setting campaigns
• After setting the school single-season record with 208 assists in 2023-24, Versteeg matched her own mark with 208 helpers in 2024-25, which ranked her tied for eighth in the Big Sky record books
• It marked the 12th time in Big Sky history that a player accumulated 200 assists in a season and only the third to accomplish the feat since 2012, joining Northern Arizona's Regan Schenck (231 in 2022-23)
• Versteeg's 6.50 apg last year is tied for the second-highest single-season mark in program history along with Fantasia Hilliard's 2013-14 average -- both of which trailed Versteeg's 6.71 apg in 2023-24
• Versteeg has now led the Big Sky in assists per game in back-to-back seasons -- the first player in league history to do so since Hilliard did so in three straight years from 2012-15 and only the fourth overall since 1988-89 (Montana's Skyla Sisco and Eastern Washington's Jennifer Sutter)
• Versteeg's performance last year marked only the sixth time a Hornet led the league in assists, joining Lianna Tillman (6.04 apg) in 2021-22, Rexanne Rodriguez (5.65 apg) in 2000-01, Tika Koshiyama-Diaz (5.48 apg) in 2010-11, and Hilliard, who did it in three straight seasons: 2012-13 (5.9 apg), 2013-14 (6.5 apg), and 2014-15 (5.8 pg)
MASTER "KEY"-ANNA
• Junior forward Keanna Salave'a had her best night statistically as a Hornet on Sunday at California, finishing with a Sacramento State career high 12 points on 5-of-11 from the field in 26 minutes
• The shooting performance included her first two three-pointers as a Hornet to go along with five rebounds, two assists, and a block
MISS STEAL YOUR BALL
• Junior guard Natalie Picton has been sneaky to start the season, finishing with multiple steals in all three of the Hornets' contests thus far
• Picton's 11 swipes put her atop the Big Sky standings in that category following the first week of play and also ranks her No. 9 in the nation thus far
• Her five steals in her Hornet debut against Stanton enter the week tied for the second-most (along with teammate Rubi Gray) in a game by a Big Sky player this season, trailing only Montana State's Taylee Chirrick, who finished with six at Portland
• As a team, the 26 steals against Stanton were four shy of the program's all-time single-game mark of 30 set against Portland State on Feb. 7, 2015
• It total was the highest in six seasons for the Hornets, who last posted a 20-plus steal game against Cal Maritime on Nov. 13, 2019, finishing with 28 in that contest
NEW BENCH MARK
• Sacramento State has benefitted from its depth over the first three games of the season as the Hornet bench has outscored their counterparts at the other end of the court by a 117-23 total
• The bench has contributed at least 20 points in each of the team's first three games, including a whopping 72 in the opener against Stanton
• Sacramento State's reserves are averaging 39.0 ppg entering the week -- leading the Big Sky Conference and ranking No. 30 in the NCAA
SHOOTING BLANKS
• Dating back to last season, Sacramento State's defense has held five of its last six opponents -- and nine of its last 11 -- to under 40 percent from the field, including 28 percent by Northern Arizona in a Big Sky Tournament meeting last year
• Five of those 11 opponents have made fewer than 20 field goals in a game, including only 12 by Weber State on Feb. 20 last season
• Meanwhile, the Hornets' offense has shot 40 percent or better seven times in that same span
CROWD PLEASERS
• Despite an 11 a.m. tip-off against Nevada on Nov. 6, the Hornets drew a crowd for their game against the Wolf Pack, bolstered by a boisterous contingent of local school kids as part of "Field Trip Day" at Hornet Pavilion
• The 1,144 in attendance marked the seventh-largest single-game crowd in the program's Division I history and the fourth-largest for an on-campus contest that wasn't also a doubleheader with the men's team
• The on-campus record stands at 1,301 for a game at The Nest against Northern Arizona on Feb. 25, 2006
UNANSWERED CALL
• Aside from holding Nevada to just 45 points and 36 percent shooting overall, the Sacramento State defense made sure that the Wolf Pack didn't do any damage from long distance
• Nevada was shut out from beyond the arc, going 0-for-12 from three-point range -- the first time the Hornets have held an opponent to without a three-pointer since blanking the Wolf Pack (0-for-7) from distance on Nov. 9, 2019, in an 83-72 loss
DROP THE NEEDLE
• It was a record-setting night at Hornet Pavilion in the Hornets' victory over Stanton
• Sacramento State's 85-point margin of victory surpassed the previous mark, which was a 71-point, 86-15 win over San Francisco State on Feb. 21, 1974
• The 52 field goals made against the Elks bested the 50 makes from the field against Portland State on Jan. 2, 2016
LET'S GET STRAIGHT TO THE POINT
• The Hornets put together one of the highest-scoring single-game performances in school history against Stanton as the 124 points were the fourth-most in a game and the first 100-point showing since scoring 107 in a double-overtime defeat at Northern Arizona in 2020
• On the other side of the scoreboard, the 39 points allowed to the Elks were tied for the third-fewest allowed in the program's Division I history and the fewest since limiting San Jose State to the same total on Dec. 15, 2024, in a 66-39 victory
• It was the highest-scoring season opener in school history, surpassing the 101 points scored in a 101-58 win over Cal State East Bay to tip-off the 1988-89 season
1/4 + 1/2 = ONE WHOLE WIN
• The 42 points scored by the Hornets in the first quarter against Stanton were the most in a single-quarter for the team since the NCAA moved to four quarters in 2015-16
• Monday's mark surpassed the previous high of 39 scored in the third quarter of a 126-78 win over UC Irvine on Dec. 22, 2015
• Sacramento State's 71-point first-half against the Elks was also the highest single-half total since the Hornets put up 75 second-half points against the Anteaters in that same 2015 victory
YOU'RE A BIG HELP
• It wasn't a record, but it was REALLY close... the 33 assists against the Elks were one shy of the all-time mark of 34 against Portland State in a 126-78 win on Jan. 23, 2016
• That came just three weeks after the Hornets collected 33 assists against the Vikings in a 132-91 win on Jan. 2 -- the same game that they set the school single-game scoring record
PASSING FANCY
• As part of the Hornets' 33-assist performance on Monday, four Sacramento State players finished with at least four helpers -- including a game-high total from a somewhat unlikely source
• Senior forward Fatoumata Jaiteh led everyone with a career-high eight assists against Stanton -- the most by a Hornet since Benthe Versteeg had 11 against Eastern Washington in last year's Big Sky Tournament opener
• Jaiteh's total amounted to nearly a third of her total from all of 2024-25 when she finished the year with 27 assists and more than doubled her single-game high of three in the Big Sky Tournament match-up with Northern Arizona in the second round
• Senior classmate Benthe Versteeg, who led the Big Sky in both total assists and assists per game last year, finished with a "ho-hum" seven assists to go along with eight points, three rebounds, and four steals
• It was Versteeg's 31st career game with seven-or-more assists -- all of those coming in the last two-plus seasons (a total of 65 games)
BOARD MEETING
• The 53 rebounds and 29 boards on the offensive glass were the most in a single game for the Hornets since they grabbed 61 total and 33 on the offensive end as part of a 90-34 win over Pacific Union on Dec. 19, 2019
SHE CAN DO BOTH
• All nine of the Hornets' newcomers made their debuts in the green and gold in Monday's win over Stanton -- among them, redshirt freshman Jaety Mandaquit, who walked on the team after wrapping up her second season with the Sacramento State women's soccer team
• Mandaquit becomes only the third two-sport student-athlete in the women's basketball program's Division I history, the first since 2001-02, and only the second women's soccer player to make the jump
• The other two student-athletes were: Allison Espinosa, a two-time All-American (1989-90) in volleyball who played women's basketball in 1990-91 and 1991-92 (42 career games, 3.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, .477 FG%), and Lori Kerswell, a two-time All-Big Sky selection who played four years with the women's soccer team and joined the women's basketball team for one year in 2001-02 (22 games, nine starts, 4.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
• Trading her cleats for sneakers, Monday's debut for Mandaquit marked her first organized basketball contest since her junior year of high school
• She finished the win over Stanton with two points, three rebounds, and a pair of steals in 11 minutes against the Elks, scoring her first collegiate points with a lay-up off an assist from freshman Jamiah Fontenberry in the third quarter
• Hailing from Hilo, Hawai'i, Mandaquit is only the second Hornet to come from the "Aloha State" and the first since Jordan Kealoha (Honolulu) played two seasons for Sacramento State in 2010-12
A RARE BREED
• According to a preseason survey of schools across the country, Mandaquit is one of only four two-sport women's basketball student-athletes across the country
• Lamar's Molly Powell and UCLA's Megan Grant are doubling-up in women's basketball and softball, while Saint Louis' Ellie Paloucek joined the Billikens' women's basketball team after playing 14 matches with the women's soccer program
