SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Winners of back-to-back games to close out a Big Sky-opening three-game homestand, the Sacramento State women's basketball hits the road for the first time in league play, heading to Flagstaff, Ariz., to take on Northern Arizona on Thursday (Jan. 15) at 5 pm PT. Looking ahead, the Hornets leave Flagstaff for Greeley, Colo., on Friday before closing out the road trip against Northern Colorado on Saturday (Jan. 17) at 1 p.m. PT.
GAME #17
WHAT: Sacramento State (8-8, 2-1 Big Sky) at Northern Arizona (6-11, 2-2 Big Sky)
WHEN: Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026
TIME: 5 PM PT
WHERE: Flagstaff, Ariz.
ARENA: Findlay Toyota Court
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: NAUAthletics.com
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Northern Arizona | Big Sky Conference
THE COACHES
• Sacramento State's Aaron Kallhoff enters his third year at the helm of the Hornets' program, posting a 29-51 mark and a 107-127 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
• Laura Dinkins is in her first year as head coach at Northern Arizona, announced as the 13th head coach in program history last April
• A former Lumberjack player, Dinkins spent the last two seasons as an associate head coach at in-state rival Grand Canyon
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 has faced four of its future league rivals this year: UC San Diego (Nov. 12), Long Beach State (Nov. 15), Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 21), and California Baptist (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 LUMBERJACKS
• Northern Arizona enters the week with a 6-11 overall record and a 2-2 mark in Big Sky play
• The Lumberjacks split their league contests last week on the road, defeating Weber State, 71-58, before falling at Idaho State, 59-46
• NAU also split with the Montana schools to open conference play at home, defeating Montana before falling to first-place Montana State
• Northern Arizona is 3-3 at home this season, having alternated wins and losses over the course of those six games
• Freshman guard Naomi White, a transfer from Grand Canyon, leads the Big Sky in scoring at 22.8 ppg -- the only Lumberjack averaging double figures this season
• She is also averaging 5.0 rpg and shooting .425 from the field overall and .415 from three-point range
• Sophomore guard Madison Watts paces the team on the glass at 6.7 rpg to go with 8.1 ppg
• NAU averages 71.9 ppg and shoots .414 from the field as a team, allowing 73.3 ppg and a .421 field goal percentage
SERIES NOTABLES
• Northern Arizona leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 45-19
• The Lumberjacks have won the last four consecutive meetings -- and 16 of the last 20 overall -- with the Hornets dating back to an, 82-66, Sacramento State win on Feb. 15, 2024
• Two of the last three meetings have been decided by five points or fewer
• The Hornets are just 8-22 on the road against the Lumberjacks, having not won in Flagstaff since the aforementioned victory in 2024, and have won just three of the last 10 trips there
• These two programs have met in the Big Sky Tournament in each of the last three seasons
START ME UP
• With wins in two of the their first three Big Sky games, the Hornets are off to their best conference start since the 2022-23 season
• Sacramento State has opened league with a perfect 3-0 record only twice since joining the Big Sky in 1996-97: winning its first three games in 2022-23 and 2013-14
• This year's 2-1 start is only the seventh such beginning to conference play since joining the Big Sky: 1996-97 (2-1), 2011-12 (2-1), 2013-14 (3-0), 2014-15 (2-1), 2015-16 (2-1), 2022-23 (3-0)
KEEPING IT 1,000
• Senior guard Benthe Versteeg enters this week's contest continuing to inch her way toward a milestone, needing just 32 more points to reach 1,000 for her career
• Should she reach the mark, Versteeg would be the 19th Hornet to accomplish the feat and the first since Summer Menke did it in 2022
• Versteeg's 968 career points rank second among active Big Sky student-athletes as of Jan. 11, trailing only Montana's Mack Konig (1,233)
PLAYING FROM AHEAD
• In winning back-to-back games for the first time since mid-November, the Hornets have not trailed in the last two contests, leading Weber State in wire-to-wire fashion on Jan. 3 before not giving up a lead against Portland State last week
• The two victories marked the fourth and fifth times this year that the Hornets have never trailed in a game -- something that happened only three times all of last season
• The four wire-to-wire wins are the most in a single campaign since the NCAA Tournament team of 2022-23 did so nine times en route to 25 wins
PUNCHING FIRST
• Sacramento State has outscored the opposition by a combined 89 points in the first half this season -- including a 69-point advantage in the first quarter alone
• The Hornets are averaging 17.8 ppg in the opening 10 minutes this season, outscoring the opposition by more than four points per quarter
HOME, SWEET HOME
• The Hornets have certainly adjusted well to their new digs at Hornet Pavilion, winning six of their eight home contests thus far
• Over the last two seasons, Sacramento State is a combined 15-8 at home, already matching its win total from the previous two years (15-14) with six home games remaining
ALL TAKE, NO GIVE
• You couldn't do much better taking care of the ball than Sacramento State did in its win over Portland State
• The Hornets committed a season-low nine turnovers against the Vikings -- its fewest since posting six miscues against Northern Arizona in the second round of the 2024 Big Sky Tournament
• Meanwhile, Sacramento State forced Portland State into 19 turnovers (leading to 21 points) on the day -- the eighth time that the Hornets' defense has forced at least that many in a game this season
DE-FENSE (CLAP, CLAP)...
• Sacramento State hasn't given up much this season, entering the week leading the Big Sky in three-point percentage defense (.267) -- which also ranks No. 37 in the NCAA (as of Jan. 11) -- while standing second in the Big Sky in scoring defense (58.8 ppg), second in field goal percentage defense (.377), and third in rebounding defense (35.6 rpg)
• It's a continuation of a trend that has seen the Hornets post two of the stingiest scoring defenses in school history in the last three years as they allowed 59.9 ppg in 2022-23 (second in school history) and gave up 63.6 ppg in 2024-25 (fourth in school history)
• The all-time school record is 56.8 ppg allowed over 23 games in 1984-85
THE STREAK STARTS ANEW
• After being held to single digits for the first time since the first week of the season, sophomore guard Rubi Gray was back to her scoring ways against Portland State
• The Tasmanian finished with 18 points to go with six rebounds and a pair of steals in the win over Portland State -- one of three Hornets to finish in double figures
• She has now scored in double figures in 12 of her last 13 contests and ranks among the top 10 in the Big Sky in points and scoring average
• Her 18 points were the most for Gray since she finished with 24 at Pacific back on Dec. 4
• Gray has led, or shared the team lead, in scoring in nine of the team's 16 contests
NO QUIT IN MANDAQUIT
• After giving the Hornets a lift as a reserve off the bench for most of the season, redshirt freshman Jaety Mandaquit has impressed in each of the Hornets' last two victories, earning starts in wins over Weber State and Portland State
• Mandaquit has topped her career-high point totals in each of those games, following up an eight-point outing against the Wildcats with a career-high 10 points against the Vikings -- including a pair of clutch three-pointers to break a tie in the waining moments of the fourth quarter
• She has averaged 37.5 minutes per game over the last two contests, hitting 7-of-9 (.778) from the field and all four of her three-point attempts, while swiping four steals on the defensive -- including a career-high tying three against Portland State
WINDEX WOMAN
• Junior forward Elizabeth Abiara went to work in the paint for the Hornets in the win over Portland State, setting a new Sacramento State career high with 12 rebounds against the Vikings
• Five of the 12 boards came on the offensive end, helping the Hornets to a 21-14 lead in that category -- its highest offensive rebound total against a Division I opponent this year and the most since grabbing 22 against Eastern Washington on Jan. 30, 2021
• It was the second double-digit rebounding performance of the year for Abiara, who grabbed 10 boards at Pacific on Dec. 4, and the sixth by a Hornet player this season
HISTORIC HELPING HANDS
• With her 84 assists over 16 games this season, Versteeg now has 530 for her career, placing her second on the school's all-time list, trailing only record-holder Fantasia Hilliard (726 from 2011-15), on that chart
• That total also puts her among the top 15 in Big Sky history, moving her into 11th past Eastern Washington's Chene Cooper (525 from 2008-12) and coming up quick on Portland State's Kylie Jimenez (534 in 2017-21) in 10th
DELICIOUS DISH
• Versteeg has posted five-or-more assists in 13 of the team's 16 games
• Her total of 84 assists and her 5.25 assists per game puts her atop the Big Sky in both categories entering this week, while ranking No. 40 and No. 31 in the nation, respectively, as of Jan. 11
• With her seven assists against Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 21 -- which tied her season high -- Versteeg posted her 32nd career game with seven-or-more assists with all of those coming in the last two-plus seasons (a total of 80 games)
"PIC"-POCKET
• Picton has been in the pockets of opposing offenses all season, posting multiple steals in 13 of the team's 16 games -- including six games with three or more
• After setting her Hornet career high with five in the regular season opener against Stanton, Picton finished with back-to-back five-steal performances against San Jose State (Dec. 21) and Idaho State (Jan. 1)
• Picton's 41 steals rank tied for fourth in the Big Sky standings in that category as of Jan. 11 and she is fifth in the league at 2.56 spg
• Her 41 swipes are eight shy of teammate Benthe Versteeg's team-high total of 49 at the end of last season
• As a team, the Hornets have posted 20-or-more steals twice against Stanton (26) and Simpson (20) and stand as one of only four schools in the Big Sky averaging double-digit steals this year (third at 10.25 spg)
• 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
• Individually, Fatoumata Jaiteh's seven steals against Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 21) are tied for the most by a Big Sky player in a game entering the week, while Versteeg's six swipes against Weber State are tied for fifth
A "KEY" INGREDIENT
• Thanks to her double-double against Weber State, Salave'a posted double-digit points for the fourth time in her last five games, while her 13 rebounds were the most by a Hornet this year -- surpassing Benthe Versteeg's 12 against UC Davis on Nov. 24
• Salave'a is averaging 11.2 ppg and 8.6 rpg over her last five contests, setting new Sacramento State career high's in both categories while shooting .511 (23-for-45) from the field
• In addition, 20 of her 43 total rebounds in that stretch have come on the offensive glass, including six of her 13 boards against Weber State which are second only to her seven offensive rebounds against Stanton in the season opener
• The 13 caroms also marked her sixth game with eight-or-more rebounds this year, while her performance on Saturday was her 12th with five or more caroms in 15 games
• Salave'a has led or shared the team lead in rebounding eight times this year
• She is averaging a team-best 6.7 rpg, standing as one of only seven players to reach the century mark in rebounds in the league entering the week while ranking in the top 10 in the Big Sky in rebounding (10th), total rebounds (7th), and offensive rebounds (t3rd)
• Her work on the offensive end (45 rebounds) accounts for nearly half of her rebound total (100)
RIM PROTECTORS
• Sacramento State enters the week ranking second in the league in total blocks (66) and blocks per game (4.13), while standing No. 68 in the nation in the latter category
• Individually, Keanna Salave'a ranking tied for fourth in the league with 14 by herself
• The Hornets have blocked multiple shots in 14 of their 16 games this season, including five-or-more blocks eight times
• The team's seven blocks at San Francisco were a season high and tied for the second-most in a game by a Big Sky squad this year
• The seven blocks were the most for the Hornets since they had seven against Northern Arizona in the second round of last year's Big Sky Tournament on March 9
TIME IS ON THEIR SIDE
• Three of the top 10 players in the Big Sky in terms of minutes played sport the green and gold as Picton (second), Versteeg (third), and Gray (eighth) are among the toughest to get off the court
• Picton has played just over 87 percent of the team's minutes (558 of 640) -- including four games with 40-or-more minutes -- with Versteeg close behind at 84 percent (540 of 640) and Gray at just over 80 percent (515 of 640)
• Picton's 34.87 mpg trails only Northern Arizona's Naomi White (37.37 mpg), while Versteeg is third at 33.75 mpg
• Versteeg is fifth on the all-time minutes list with 3,451 and, if she's able to replicate her total from each of the last two seasons, would break Kylie Kuhns' school career record of 3,804 minutes
• Meanwhile, for Picton, her time on the court is a big step up from last season when she played a total of 497 minutes in 31 games at Montana State, and is well above her average of 29.1 mpg in 29 games during her freshman season with the Bobcats in 2023-24
IN THE MARGINS
• Sacramento State's 60-point margin of victory over Simpson on Dec. 15 is the fourth-largest in the program's history, trailing the school-record 85-point win over Stanton earlier this year, a 71-point win over San Francisco State in 1974 and a 64-point victory against Stanislaus State in 1979
• Six of the Hornets' eight victories this year have come by double-digits
• Five of the six have been by 20-or-more points: Stanton (+85), Nevada (+20), Cal State Fullerton (+20), Simpson (+60), and Weber State (+21)
• On the other side, four of the team's eight defeats have been by six points or fewer, including a three-point overtime loss
FINDING THE RIGHT COMBINATION
• After opening the year with the same starting five in each of the team's first seven games, injuries have had the Hornets' lineup in a near constant state of flux as of late
• Sacramento State has used seven different starting lineups in it's last nine games
• Tali Fa'i (vs. Chattanooga), Keanna Salave'a (at Pacific), Pinja Paananen (vs. Simpson), Jaety Mandaquit (Weber State), and Ajong Lual (Portland State) each earned their first career starts as Hornets, while Brooklyn Taylor picked up her first start of the year -- and her second career -- at CBU
NOT HALF BAD
• Sacramento State is 7-1 this season when leading at the half and a combined 20-5 when winning the first 20 minutes under Head Coach Aaron Kallhoff over the last two-plus seasons
• Last season, the Hornets were 10-1 when leading at the break
• The 58 first-half points on Dec. 15 against Simpson were the second most in a single half this year, trailing only the 71-point opening half against Stanton, and the third half with at least 50 points
ATTACKING THE PAINT
• Sacramento State is a combined 7-1 this year when outscoring its opponents in the paint
• The Hornets have scored 30-or-more points in the key in all seven of those wins, including 86 points in the season opener in a lop-sided win over Stanton, 54 against Simpson on Dec. 15, and 44 more in a 20-point victory against Cal State Fullerton
HITS OF THE 70s
• During the Aaron Kallhoff era, 70 points seems to be the magic number for the Hornets
• Over the last two-plus seasons, Sacramento State is 16-3 when scoring 70-or-more points, while winning just 11 times when held under that mark since 2023-24
HORNETS SIGN OREGON TEAMMATES
• Sacramento State added a pair of high school standouts during the November signing period, welcoming forward Dyllyn Howell and guard Jordan Barlow from South Medford HS in Oregon
• Howell is a two-time all-conference pick and was an all-state selection as a junior, helping her team to a state title as a sophomore
• Barlow was also a member of that state title-winning squad, picking up all-conference honors as a junior
• Once they arrive on campus, the duo would be the ninth and 10th Hornets to hail from the "Beaver State," and the first since Kylie Kuhns and Natasha Torgerson played for the Hornets from 2009-13
