SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Coming off an undefeated road trip to Southern California, the streaking Sacramento State women's basketball team returns home for a pair of non-conference contests beginning Friday (Nov. 21) at 6:30 p.m. against Cal State Fullerton at Hornet Pavilion.
GAME #6
WHAT: Cal State Fullerton (1-3, 0-0 Big West) at Sacramento State (4-1, 0-0 Big Sky)
WHEN: Friday, Nov. 21, 2024
TIME: 6:30 PM PT
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
ARENA: Hornet Pavilion
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetSports.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Cal State Fullerton | Big Sky Conference
THE COACHES
• Sacramento State's Aaron Kallhoff enters his third year at the helm of the Hornets' program, posting a 25-44 mark and a 103-120 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
• John Bonner is in his first season as head coach at Cal State Fullerton after spending the previous nine years at the helm at Cal State Dominguez Hills, where he was a two-time California Collegiate Athletic Association Coach of the Year and posted a 141-97 record
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 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 TITANS
• Cal State Fullerton enters the week with a 1-3 overall record after falling on the road at Denver, 60-55, on Sunday
• The result followed the Titans' first win of the year, an 81-51 win over Hope International
• Friday marks the second-straight road contest for Fullerton, who opened the year with four home contests (including an exhibition)
• The Titans, who were 7-23 overall and 5-15 in league, were picked to finish 10th out of 11 teams in The Big West, standing ahead of only Cal State Bakersfield in the preseason coaches poll
• Sophomore forward Cristina Jones is the team's leading scorer, averaging 12.3 ppg to go with 4.5 rpg and shooting .413 from the field
• Freshman Nicole Steiner is second in scoring at 12.0 ppg and leads the team in both rebounding (6.5 rpg) and assists (2.25 apg)
• Fullerton is averaging 66.8 ppg to its opponents' 65.8 ppg, while shooting .356 from the floor to the opposition's .456
SERIES NOTABLES
• Cal State Fullerton leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 9-3
• This marks the fourth straight season that the Hornets and Titans will face one another after not meeting since 2012, with the green and gold winning two of the previous three
• Sacramento State has split the two meetings with Cal State Fullerton under Head Coach Aaron Kallhoff, winning last season's clash, 67-40, after falling at home in 2023 by a 61-51 score
• Friday marks the fifth all-time meeting between the two programs in Sacramento, but the Hornets have yet to win a game at home against the Titans in the previous four
• The last seven meetings between the two schools have all been decided by double digits dating back to a, 79-75, Sacramento State victory on the road in 1997
CONFERENCE CALL
• Sacramento State is a combined 92-107 against the current alignment of The Big West
• Saturday's game marks the third in a run of four-straight contests against the conference, with Friday's home game against Cal State Fullerton and another against UC Davis to come three days later
• The Hornets' win over UC San Diego snapped a two-game skid against Big West schools after going 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
WELL... IT'S A START
• Thanks to its victories over UC San Diego and Long Beach State last week, Sacramento State opened with four wins in its first five games for the second straight year and the third time in the last four seasons
• A win Friday against Cal State Fullerton, which would improve the Hornets' record to 5-1, would be the team's best start since the 2022-23 squad opened 6-1 en route to Big Sky regular season and tournament titles and an NCAA Tournament appearance
COMEBACK KIDS
• A big third quarter helped power the Hornets' comeback from down 12 points in the period en route to a three-point win
• It was the largest comeback victory overall for Sacramento State since it erased a similar deficit in the first quarter against Eastern Washington en route to a 71-67 victory over the Eagles in the first round of the Big Sky Tournament on March 8, 2025
• Saturday was also the largest regular-season comeback since overcoming a 13-point second quarter deficit on their way to a 73-69 win at Montana State on March 1 last year, a win that ended the Bobcats' hopes for an unbeaten Big Sky season
LONG TIME COMING
• For the second time this season, the Hornets ended a rather lengthy drought of wins against an opponent with their victory over Long Beach State on Saturday
• The win over The Beach was the first by Sacramento State in the series dating back to a 74-67 triumph in 2011
• Earlier this year, the Hornets put an end to a 30-year drought against Nevada with a 65-45 win on Nov. 6 -- their first since a 64-60 victory in 1995
PICTURE WORTH A THOUSAND POINTS
• Versteeg enters her final collegiate season closing in on a milestone, needing just 139 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 moved into sixth on the all-time minutes played list with 3,070 and, if she's able to replicate her total from each of the last two seasons, would set a new school record
• With her 29 assists over her first five games this season, Versteeg now has 475 for her career, moving her 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 102 made field goals, 68 more free throws made, and 29 more steals from breaking into those 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)
CHAIRWOMEN OF THE BOARDS
• Sacramento State is one of three schools who have three players ranked among the top 15 in the Big Sky stats entering the week: Fatoumata Jaiteh (10th - 6.0 rpg), Keanna Salave'a (11th - 5.6 rpg), and Brooklyn Taylor (14th - 5.4 rpg)
• Jaiteh is tied for third with 30 rebounds overall, Salave'a is tied for fifth (28), and Taylor stands seventh (27)
• The Hornets rank third in the league in rebounding (40.8 rpg) as a team, but lead the league in both rebounding defense (29.8 rpg) and rebounding margin (+11.0)
• At UC San Diego on Nov. 12, Sacramento State dominated the glass, grabbing 53 rebounds and 16 on the offensive end
• The 53 boards tied the team's season high, matching the work done against Stanton in the season opener, and are the most against a Division I foe under Head Coach Aaron Kallhoff
• The previous high against a Division I opponent was 51 at Northern Arizona in an 82-66 win at Northern Arizona on Feb. 15, 2024
• Overall, the rebound total was the highest since the Hornets grabbed 61 total as part of a 90-34 win over Pacific Union on Dec. 19, 2019
JAITEH TAKE-AWAY
• A little bit of everything... that's been the story for senior Fatoumata Jaiteh this year
• The Washington native finished with five points, four rebounds, and an assist at Long Beach State, just three days after posting nine points, nine rebounds, and two assists at UC San Diego
• However, her active hands against The Beach were the story as the senior finished with a game-high five swipes
• The five steals matched her career and made her the third Hornet with five steals this year along with Natalie Picton and Rubi Gray, who had five apiece in the opener against Stanton
SEVEN-NINE!!!!
• Doesn't have the same kind of hold on the kids these days as those other two consecutive numbers that are being shouted (and shall remain unwritten here) in classrooms, arenas, and other venues across the country
• However, those have been two really good numbers for sophomore Brooklyn Taylor, who finished with nine points and seven rebounds at UC San Diego, and followed that up with seven points and nine rebounds at Long Beach State
• Six of her nine points against the Tritons came in a crucial fourth quarter when both of her field goals turned a three-point lead into a seven-point advantage as part of an 11-2 game-deciding run
• The nine rebounds against The Beach were a season high and one shy of her career high of 10 set against Lincoln University on Nov. 10, 2024
• In her last two, Taylor is averaging 8.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg, while shooting .462 (6-for-13)
NO "GRAY" AREA HERE
• Sophomore guard Rubi Gray followed up her career-high 24-point night at UC San Diego with a team-high 13 points in a win at Long Beach State, giving her double-digit point totals in back-to-back games for the first time in her career
• Gray averaged 18.5 ppg and shot 45 percent (14-for-31) from the field last week
• The 24-point outburst against the Tritons marked her first career double-digit scoring performance and her first career 20-point game
• She also setting new single-game career benchmarks in field goals (8), three-pointers (4), free throws (4), rebounds (4), blocks (3), and minutes (38) against UCSD
• The 24 points made her the first Hornet to score 20-or-more points this season and was the most by a Sacramento State player since teammate Benthe Versteeg finished with 24 against Northern Arizona in the second round of last year's Big Sky Tournament
• Gray nearly tripled-up her previous career scoring high of nine points set in this year's season opener against Stanton University
SHOOTING BLANKS
• Dating back to last season, Sacramento State's defense has held seven of its last eight opponents -- and 11 of its last 13 -- to under 40 percent from the field, including 28 percent by Northern Arizona in a 2025 Big Sky Tournament meeting
• Seven of those 13 opponents have made 20 (or fewer) 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 eight times in that same span
NEW BENCH MARK
• Sacramento State has benefited from its depth over the first five games of the season as the Hornet bench has outscored their counterparts at the other end of the court by a 148-37 total
• The bench has contributed at least 20 points in three of the team's first five games, including a whopping 72 in the opener against Stanton
• Sacramento State's reserves are averaging 29.6 ppg as of Nov. 17 -- ranking third in the Big Sky and No. 74 in the NCAA
MISS STEAL YOUR BALL
• Junior guard Natalie Picton has been sneaky to start the season, finishing with multiple steals in all five of the Hornets' contests thus far
• Picton's 16 swipes put her second in the Big Sky standings in that category as of Nov. 17 and also ranks her No. 12 in the nation thus far
• Her five steals in her Hornet debut against Stanton are tied for the third-most (along with teammate Rubi Gray and five others) in a game by a Big Sky player this season
• As a team, the 26 steals against Stanton were four shy of the program's single-game mark of 30 set against Portland State on Feb. 7, 2015
• The total was also 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
DELICIOUS DISH
• Add six more assists to the ledger for Versteeg, who has posted five-or-more helpers in each of the first five games of the season
• Her total of 29 assists and her 5.8 assists per game puts her atop the Big Sky in both categories, while ranking No. 12 and No. 33 in the nation, respectively, as of Nov. 17
• Her 29 assists are two ahead of last year's five-game pace when she finished the campaign tying her own single-season record of 208
• With her seven assists in the opener against Stanton, Versteeg posted her 31st career game with seven-or-more assists -- all of those coming in the last two-plus seasons (a total of 68 games)
SHE GIVETH AND SHE TAKETH AWAY
• Only two schools have a player ranked among the top 15 in the nation in assists and steals (as of Nov. 17) as Sacramento State's duo of Versteeg (t12th in assists) and Picton (t12th in steals) is joined by Florida's Liv McGill (t12th in assists and t9th in steals)
