SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Championship season begins in earnest this weekend for the Sacramento State women's basketball team, which heads to Boise, Idaho, for the 2025 Big Sky Conference Tournament presented by Idaho Central Credit Union at the Idaho Central Arena. Action begins on Saturday (March 8) and runs through the championship on Wednesday (March 12).
The Hornets enter this year's postseason as the No. 8 seed for the second straight year, opening tournament play against No. 7-seeded Eastern Washington on Saturday (March 8) at 1:30 p.m. PT. The winner advances to face No. 2 Northern Arizona on Sunday (March 9), also at 1:30 p.m. PT
GAME #32
BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
WHAT: No. 8 Sacramento State (14-17, 7-11) vs. No. 7 Eastern Washington (11-19, 7-11)
WHEN: Saturday, March 8, 2025
TIME: 1:30 p.m. PT
WHERE: Boise, Idaho
VENUE: Idaho Central Arena
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: BigSkyConf.com
BUY TICKETS: All-Session | Single-Session
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Big Sky Conference
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Eastern Washington | Big Sky Conference
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Saturday, March 8 (First Round)
G1: #9 Northern Colorado vs. #10 Portland State, 11 AM (TV: ESPN+)
G2: #7 Eastern Washington vs. #8 Sacramento State, 1:30 PM (TV: ESPN+)
Sunday, March 9 (Second Round)
G3: #1 Montana State vs. UNC/PSU, 11 AM (TV: ESPN+)
G4: #2 Northern Arizona vs. EWU/SAC, 1:30 PM (TV: ESPN+)
Monday, March 10 (Third Round)
G5: #4 Weber State vs. #5 Idaho State, 11 AM (TV: ESPN+)
G6: #3 Idaho vs. #6 Montana, 1:30 PM (TV: ESPN+)
Tuesday, March 11 (Semifinals)
G7: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 11 AM (TV: ESPN+)
G8: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 1:30 PM (TV: ESPN+)
Wednesday, March 12 (Finals)
G9: Championship Game, 2 PM (TV: ESPNU)
WE'LL DO IT LIVE!
• Every game of the Big Sky Tournament will be streamed live on the ESPN+ platform, with the championship game shown live on ESPNU
• Live stats will also be available for all conference tournament games
• Links will be available on the women's basketball schedule page as soon as they are available
HORNETS IN THE TOURNEY
• Sacramento State has qualified for the Big Sky's postseason event for the 14th consecutive season and the 18th time since joining the league in 1996-97
• The Hornets are a combined 9-16 in Big Sky Tournament play and have won four of their last five after sweeping through the field in 2023 en route to the title and defeating Idaho State in their opener in 2024 before falling to Northern Arizona
• Sacramento State is 3-5 in opening round games, last falling to Weber State, 74-64, in 2022
• The Hornets are 4-7 in the quarterfinal round, 1-3 in the semifinals (winning its first in 2023), and made its first championship appearance two years ago
HOW "SEED" IT IS
• Sacramento State is a No. 8 for the second consecutive year and is its lowest since coming in as a No. 11 seed in 2021 before upsetting Montana, 65-58, in the opening round that year
• The Hornets have been a top-three seed only three times: No. 3 in 2010 (lost in the quarterfinals to No. 6 Montana State, 89-66), No. 2 in 2015 (defeating No. 7 Montana State before falling to No. 4 Northern Colorado), and No. 3 in 2023 en route to the tournament championship
HORNETS AGAINST THE FIELD
• Sacramento State swept Portland State and split with Idaho, Northern Colorado, Idaho State, Weber State, and Montana State
• The Hornets were swept by Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona, and Montana
• Sacramento State has faced all nine of the league's other schools after first-ever postseason meetings with Idaho and Portland State in 2023
• Saturday's meeting marks the third meeting between the Hornets and the Eagles in the conference tournament, but the first since the 2016 quarterfinals
• Sacramento State posted a 71-61 victory over No. 3-seeded EWU in the 2012 quarterfinals, while the No. 2-seeded Eagles answered with a 100-97 win in that 2016 meeting
• All time, the Hornets are 2-2 against Idaho State, 1-3 against Montana State and Northern Arizona, 1-2 against Montana, 1-0 against Idaho and Portland State, and 0-2 against Northern Colorado and Weber State
• Sacramento State is also 1-1 in tournament play against former member Southern Utah
ABOUT THE EAGLES
• Eastern Washington enters the tournament with an 11-19 overall record and a 7-11 mark in Big Sky play, earning the higher seed over the Hornets by virtue of their regular season series sweep
• The Eagles' 80-77 win over Montana on the regular season's final day snapped a four-game skid heading into the postseason
• Five of EWU's last seven games have been decided by seven points or fewer
• Eastern Washington was 9-6 at home, 2-12 on the road, and 0-1 in its only neutral site contest -- a 59-57 loss to Saint Mary's at the Bank of Hawai'i Classic in late November
• Graduate guard Peyton Howard (14.1 ppg) and freshman forward Kourtney Grossman (10.4 ppg) are both averaging double figures, while Grossman is averaging 10.4 rpg
SERIES NOTABLES
• Eastern Washington leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 41-23
• The Eagles have won the last five meetings following their regular season sweep this year, posting an 89-80 win in Cheney on Jan. 11 and a 68-53 win in California on Feb. 6
• The Hornets' last win in the series came on Jan. 7, 2023 at home with an 82-74 victory -- the last in a run of three-straight wins
• Sacramento State and EWU have met on a neutral floor four times: the first in a tournament in Oregon in 1992 (W, 73-62), the second in a tournament hosted by Stanford in 1996 (L, 53-39), and the two aforementioned Big Sky Tournament meetings in 2012 and 2016
VERSTEEG EARNS BIG SKY WEEKLY HONORS
• Junior guard Benthe Versteeg earned a share of the league's final player of the week award on Tuesday (March 4), sharing the honor with Montana's Mack Konig
• It is the first weekly award of Versteeg's career and the third by a Hornet this year after Jaydia Martin took home the award on Dec. 10 and Fatoumata Jaiteh was the winner on Jan. 7
• Versteeg averaged 15.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg, and 11.0 apg in the three games last week against Montana, Montana State, and Portland State, shooting .594 (19-for-32) from the field and .900 (9-of-10) from the line
I'LL TAKE A DOUBLE-DOUBLE, VERSTEEG STYLE
• There may be no hotter player entering this weekend's Big Sky Tournament than Versteeg
• The native of The Netherlands is riding a streak of four-straight double-doubles -- one of those with some extra "meat" thanks to what is believed to be the program's first-ever triple double (14 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assist) at Montana on Feb. 27
• She missed a second triple-double by an assist against Idaho State (Feb. 22) and another by three rebounds at Montana State (March 1)
• Versteeg's four straight double-doubles is the longest streak by a Hornet since Isnelle Natabou did so against UTEP, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Cal State Bakersfield from Nov. 26 to Dec. 10, 2022
• During her current run, Versteeg is averaging 15.5 ppg, 8.8 rpg, and 10.5 apg, while shooting .521 (24-for-46), hitting .875 (14-for-16) from the line, and averaging 39.3 minutes per game
• With her triple-double against Montana, Versteeg is one of only 25 players in the NCAA to notch a triple-double (as of March 3), trailing Notre Dame's Olivia Miles, who leads the nation with three
RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN
• And with 17 more assists this year, Versteeg will prove that adage
• Versteeg enters the Big Sky Tournament needing that many to surpass her own school single-season record of 208 assists set just last year
• Versteeg's 192 assists this season are fourth on the single-season list entering the postseason, needing just three to match Fantasia Hilliard's 2013-14 total for third and five more to equal Hilliard's 2014-15 total for second
FALK THIS WAY
• After scoring just nine points in her previous three games, sophomore Lina Falk's 15 points at Montana State were a welcome addition to the scoring column
• It was even more welcoming to have her finish with a game-high 19 points against Portland State in the regular season finale, helping power the Hornets to back-to-back wins for only the fourth time this year
• Falk hit 8-of-13 (.615) from the field in 38 minutes, tying her career high for field goals made while draining a pair of three-pointers, grabbing five rebounds, and notching two steals
• Her 19 points marked her second-highest total of the year, trailing only her career-high 20 points against Long Beach State on Nov. 17
MARTIN MAKES HER POINT(S)
• After missing games against Idaho State and Montana due to injury, senior Jaydia Martin returned to the lineup and added two more double-digit scoring performances to her ledger, finishing with 14 at Montana State and 11 more in the finale against Portland State
• Martin has now scored in double figures in eight-straight games, averaging 15.3 ppg and 6.3 rpg in that stretch dating back to her 16-point night against Montana at home on Feb. 1
• She is also shooting .402 (39-for-97) from the field and .447 (21-for-47) from beyond the arc during her recent run
• Earlier in the year, Martin also scored in double figures in 13 consecutive games from Nov. 29 to Jan. 23
• Her 20 points at Northern Colorado (Feb. 13) marked her fifth game with 20-or-more points and her highest since scoring 20 against Northern Arizona (Jan. 16)
• Her five 20-plus point games rank tied for fifth in the Big Sky entering the week
• Martin enters the week ranked tied for No. 4 in the Big Sky in scoring and has reached double figures in 21 of her last 23, and a team-high 23 games overall
• During her run of 13 straight double-digit games, Martin averaged 17.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg, and 3.23 apg, while shooting .471 (89-for-189)
• During that time, Martin topped the 20-point plateau four times -- including a 31-point effort against Kansas City on Dec. 4 that remains tied for the most points by a Big Sky player entering the week
DELICIOUS DISH
• The Big Sky leader in both total assists and assists per game a season ago, Versteeg has 145 assists in her last 20 games, averaging 7.25 apg in that span
• She now has 192 assists this season -- leading the Big Sky in both overall and assists per game (6.40 apg) -- and ranks No. 3 and No. 4 in the nation in those two categories, respectively
• Versteeg enters the postseason with 430 for her career, trailing only career record-holder Fantasia Hilliard (726 from 2011-15) and Heather Baker (453 from 1989-93) on the all-time chart
• Versteeg is the first Hornet to post 100 assists in back-to-back seasons since Fantasia Hilliard led the team in all four of her seasons in the green and gold (2011-15) and would become the first Hornet to post back-to-back 200-assist seasons with eight more helpers this year
• Thanks to her 12 assists against Portland State, Versteeg has the most assists among active players in the Big Sky entering the week
• Versteeg's 12 assists against Northern Arizona (Feb. 15) and Portland State (March 3) are one of 11 double-digit assist performances by a Big Sky player this year and are the most in the league entering the week, surpassing the 11 assists by Montana's Mack Konig against South Dakota State on Dec. 7
• Versteeg has accounted for a conference-high five of those 11 double-digit performances in the league
KEEPING IT 100 (AND FOUR)
• With her five blocked shots against Portland State on Monday night, senior Katie Peneueta became the sixth player in program history to surpass the century mark in career blocks, entering the tournament with 104 to her name
• She becomes the first Hornet to reach 100 career blocks since Kennedy Nicholas finished her career with 173 from 2016-20
• The five swats also gave her 41 for season, placing her just two shy of breaking into the school's single-season list
• Megan Kirtscher is 10th with 43 in 2011-12, while Kennedy Nicholas is ninth with 44 in 2019-20
• Peneueta's 41 blocks would stand second in the Big Sky while her 1.78 bpg would lead the league if she met the minimums for games played
• She has collected at least one block in 16 of her 23 games this year, including 10 with multiple swats
• Entering the postseason, Peneueta has 30 career games with multiple blocks, including four with four-or-more blocks -- three of those coming this year
• Peneueta finished with six blocks in the team's meeting with Abilene Christian on Dec. 20 -- still tied for the most by a Big Sky player this year
• The total, however, was not a career high as the Vancouver, Wash., native had seven swats -- and nearly a triple-double -- in a win over Idaho on Jan. 5, 2023, adding 11 points and 11 rebounds against the Vandals
• Peneueta's six blocks against Abilene Christian rank tied for eighth on the school's single-game list, four off the record of 10 set by Heidi Carroll against San Francisco State on Feb. 21, 1983
BENTHE VERSTEEG AND THE FORTY MINUTES
• When it comes to minutes, there is nothing "minute" (my-NOOT) about it for Benthe Versteeg
• In what is becoming a regular thing, the Hornets' point guard went the distance for the seventh time this season by playing all 40 minutes at Montana on Feb. 27
• After playing 38 minutes or more just twice in her first 14 games, Versteeg has now done so in 14 of her last 16 games
• All told, Versteeg has played a full 40 minutes on 19 different occasions in 91 career games as a Hornet, while playing at least 39 minutes in 17 other contests
MINUTE WOMEN
• Speaking of minutes, the Hornets have three of the top four players in the league in the category
• Versteeg is second in the Big Sky at 34.81 mpg -- trailing only Portland State's Layla Torres-Kahapea (35.77 mpg) -- followed by Jaydia Martin (33.40 mpg) in third and Lina Falk in fourth (33.32 mpg)
• With 1,044 minutes played, Versteeg is the first -- and only -- Big Sky player to have played in at least 1,000 minutes this season (as of March 3)
• Sacramento State is the only school with three players among the top 10, with Portland State and Idaho logging two apiece
• Since the start of Big Sky play, no other player in the league has played more than Versteeg, who is averaging 37.35 mpg in 18 contests, while Falk is second (36.40 mpg) and Martin is fourth (34.69 mpg)
NOT GONNA WASTE MY SHOT
• Sacramento State wrapped up the regular season shooting better than 40 percent from the field in each of its last three games, hitting 75-of-168 (.446) combined in that stretch
• It marked the third time this season that the Hornets have shot better than 40 percent in three straight games, joining a run of three straight from Nov. 10-17 (.472, 64-for-178) and four straight from Dec. 1-15 (.490, 102-for-208)
• On the flip side, the Sacramento State has held the opposition to under 40 percent in two of those three games -- and five of the last six overall -- limiting opponents to a .378 (65-for-172) field goal percentage
THE "PEN"-EUETA IS MIGHTIER
• In 74 career games with the Hornets, Peneueta has made a living from long distance, sinking 167 of 206 career field goals (81 percent) from distance
• Thanks to those 167 three-point makes, Peneueta now ranks among the school's top 10 in the category, passing Emily Christensen (152 from 2007-12) for ninth
• She needs one more to tie Sami Fields-Polisso (2007-11) and Erika Edwards (2006-10) for seventh with 168
• Her career .439 (167-for-380) three-point percentage would also be a record -- by a wide margin (Solape Amusan is second on the list at .382)
• Peneueta holds the top two single-season three-point marks in school history (minimum 25 three-pointers made), shooting a school-record .463 (56-for-121) as a freshman in 2021-22 and a second-best mark of .455 (71-for-156) as a sophomore
• If the season ended today, her .388 from beyond the arc this year would rank seventh
START ME UP
• The Sacramento State starting five has accounted for nearly 87 percent of the team's scoring (955 of 1,100 points) over the Hornets' last 18 games
• Hornet starters accounted for 61 of the team's 69 points in the victory over Portland State to end the regular season
• In its win at Montana State on March 1, the Sacramento State starting five accounted for all but two of the team's winning point total, scoring 71 of the team's 73 points
• Those 71 points marked the third time this year that the Hornet starters have accumulated at least 70 points, joining the 74 points at Eastern Washington (Jan. 11) and the 72 in an overtime win at Portland State on Jan. 4
• The 74 points against the Eagles are the most since the Sacramento State starting five finished with 75 points at Northern Arizona on Feb. 15 of last year (an 82-66 win)
• On the flip side, the 18 points scored by the bench against Weber State (Feb. 20) were the most since they scored 19 against Montana State on Jan. 30
SWIPER, NO SWIPING!
• Sacramento State is third in the Big Sky in both steals (269) and steals per game (8.68 spg) entering the week
• The Hornets' 269 steals this season easily surpassed last year's total of 207 over 31 contests -- which were the most by a Hornet squad since the 2019-20 team finished with 282
• Sacramento State has four ranked in the top 15 in the league in steals: Fatoumata Jaiteh (8th, 1.61 spg), Benthe Versteeg (9th, 1.53 spg), Jaydia Martin (t15th, 1.41 spg), and Lina Falk (t15th, 1.41 spg)
• Versteeg leads the team with 14 multi-steal games -- including tying a season high with four against Portland State on March 3 -- followed by Falk with 13 and Martin and Jaiteh with 12 games apiece
SEARCHING FOR THE RIGHT COMBINATION
• The injury bug has stung the Hornets once again, forcing Sacramento State into using its 13th different starting lineup of the year at Montana on Feb. 27
• Prior to that, the lineup of Versteeg, Falk, Martin, Peneueta, and Jaiteh had combined to start 11 of the team's previous 14 games
• Sacramento State opened the year by putting the same five players (Versteeg, Gray, Falk, Martin & Jaiteh) on the floor to tip-off the first five games of the season
• However, between that and the team's most recent run, illness and injury joined forces to throw a wrench into the lineup as Sacramento State used seven different starting five's over its next eight games
