SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State women's basketball team closes out its brief two-game homestand on Saturday (Jan. 24) at 2 p.m., welcoming Eastern Washington for the first meeting this year between the two programs.
GAME #20
WHAT: Eastern Washington (10-9, 3-3 Big Sky) at Sacramento State (9-10, 3-3 Big Sky)
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026
TIME: 2 PM PT
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
ARENA: Hornet Pavilion
WATCH: ESPN+ (https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/b12ae76a-9ec3-43e5-881d-9dae9b7803c4)
LIVE STATS: HornetSports.com (https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=617111)
TICKETS: HornetSports.com (https://hornetsports.com/sports/2025/9/24/wbb-tickets.aspx)
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State (https://hornetsports.com/documents/2026/1/23/25-26-WBB-notes-EWU-012426.pdf) | Eastern Washington (https://goeags.com/sports/womens-basketball) | Big Sky Conference (https://bigskyconf.com/sports/wbball)
THE COACHES
• Sacramento State's Aaron Kallhoff enters his third year at the helm of the Hornets' program, posting a 30-53 mark and a 108-129 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
• Joddie Gleason is in her fifth season in charge at Eastern Washington, posting a 78-67 record and was named the 2024 Big Sky Coach of the Year
ABOUT THE EAGLES
• Eastern Washington enters the weekend with a 10-9 overall record and a 3-3 mark in Big Sky Conference play after defeating Portland State, 81-63, on Thursday
• The Eagles have won three of their last four, adding wins over Montana and Weber State
• EWU is 4-6 on the road this year, winning its last two and nearly making it three straight save for a two-point overtime loss at Montana State in the second game of league play
• Senior guard Ella Gallatin leads the team in scoring at 14.4 ppg while averaging 5.5 rpg and shooting .415 from the field
• She is one of four Eagles in double figures this year as part of a top-heavy offense, joined by Elyn Bowers (13.9 ppg), Kourtney Grossman (13.2 ppg), and Jaecy Eggers (12.0 ppg)
• Grossman leads the team, the Big Sky, and the NCAA in rebounding at 13.3 rpg
• She holds six of the top seven single-game rebounding totals in the Big Sky this year, including 23 rebounds against Denver back on Dec. 3 and 22 more against Idaho on Jan. 3
• As a team, EWU is averaging 68.7 ppg and shooting .380 from the field, while opponents average 66.3 ppg and shoot .386 overall
SERIES NOTABLES
• Eastern Washington leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 41-24
• The Eagles have swept the regular season series in each of the last two years, but the Hornets ended 2025 with a win when it counted, upending EWU in the opening round of the Big Sky Tournament, 71-67
• Last year's tournament win snapped a five-game skid against the Eagles dating back to an 82-74 win in 2023
• Sacramento State is 11-21 at home against EWU, losing the last two games on its own court dating back to that 2023 victory
• Seven of the last nine meetings between the two have been decided by double digits
• Last year's four-point win by the Hornets was the closest in the series since a 73-70 victory by Sacramento State in 2019
THE HORNETS' NEWEST MILLENNIAL
• Senior guard Benthe Versteeg became the 19th Hornet to collect 1,000 career points on Thursday against Idaho after entering the match-up needing just two points to reach the plateau
• Versteeg became the first Sacramento State women's basketball player to accomplish the feat since Summer Menke did so in 2022
• The senior reached the mark on a right-handed floater with 3:06 remaining in the second quarter against the Vandals
ALREADY CLIMBING
• The two points that Versteeg needed to reach 1,000 for her career were just a small part of her night against Idaho, finishing with a career-high tying 26 points -- 21 of those coming in the second half
• Her total from Thursday gives her 1,024 points for her career, boosting her past both Shelby Boudreaux (1,013 points from 1992-96) and Teresa Hampton (1,023 from 1988-92) for No. 17 on the all-time scoring list
• Versteeg now has her sights set on Menke, who had 1,078 points from 2018-22 for 16th and Hannah Friend, who had 1,079 points from 2016-18, for a spot in the top 15
• Reaching double figures for the 11th time this season, Versteeg collected her sixth 20-point game of her career and posted her highest single-game point total since scoring 26 against both Northern Arizona (Jan. 20) and Weber State (Feb. 10) in 2024
MORE MARKS AHEAD
• The all-time scoring list isn't the only one that Versteeg has her sights set on
• Her 392 field goals are 38 back of Alle Moreno (2010-14) and Julie Wastell (1995-99) for 10th on that list
• Versteeg's 152 steals are 11 behind Kris Karley (1994-97) for 10th
• With 113 games played, Versteeg is two behind Erika Edwards (2006-10) for 10th
• Her 95 starts are already fourth and she needs seven more starts to match Wastell and Kristy Ryan (1990-94) for second
• With 3,551 minutes, Versteeg is fifth on the all-time list, needing one more to match Wastell for fourth and 29 to match Fantasia Hilliard (2011-15) for third
HISTORIC HELPING HANDS
• With four assists on Thursday against Idaho, Versteeg solidified her hold on 10th on the Big Sky all-time list with 540 to her name
• The total remains second on the Sacramento State all-time list, trailing only record-holder Fantasia Hilliard -- whose 726 career assists from 2011-15 rank second in league history -- on that chart
• Versteeg needs 34 more helpers to catch Weber State's Tonya Schnibbe (574 from 2006-10) for ninth and 47 assists to move into a tie for seventh alongside the Montana duo of Skyla Sisco (587 from 1994-98) and Mandy Morales (587 from 2005-09)
DELICIOUS DISH
• Versteeg has posted five-or-more assists in 13 of the team's 19 games
• Her total of 94 assists and her 4.95 assists per game puts her atop the Big Sky in both categories entering this week, while ranking No. 43 and No. 44 in the nation, respectively, as of Jan. 22
• 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 81 games)
HELPING HERSELF
• When she's not dishing to her teammates for easy buckets, Versteeg has been finding her own ways to score as of late, hitting for double-digit points in four of her last five games
• In that stretch, the senior has averaged 16.4 ppg while shooting .440 (33-for-75) from the field -- including a season-high nine makes against Idaho on Thursday -- and dishing out 4.20 apg
• While tying her career high, Versteeg's 26 points against Idaho surpassed her previous season high of 18 points set against Weber State and Northern Arizona during her recent run
POINTS FOR "PIC"
• Playing all but 57 seconds of Thursday night's game against Idaho, junior guard Natalie Picton went for 18 points against the Vandals -- her 13th double-digit scoring performance of the year and her highest since putting up 21 against Portland State on Jan. 10
• Picton has now reached double figures in four of her last five contests, averaging 14.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg, and 2.4 spg in that stretch
• Her seven rebounds at Northern Colorado on Jan. 17 were a collegiate high, while her eight field goals against the Vikings were tied for the second-most in a game this season
"PIC"-POCKET
• Doing it at both ends for the Hornets, Picton has been in the pockets of opposing offenses all season, posting multiple steals in 16 of the team's 19 games -- including eight games with three or more
• Her four steals at Northern Arizona (Jan. 15), marked her fifth game with at least four swipes in a game, and she added three more at Northern Colorado two days later
• Picton's 50 steals rank fourth in the Big Sky standings in that category as of Jan. 22 and she is also fourth in the league at 2.63 spg, while standing No. 41 and No. 44 nationally
• Her 50 swipes are more than teammate Benthe Versteeg's team-high total of 49 at the end of last season and are the most since Versteeg had 58 in 2023-24
• 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)
SHUT IT DOWN
• Although they came out on the wrong end of a 62-55 defeat against Idaho, the Hornets' effort on the defensive end was there
• Sacramento State limited the Vandals to nearly 20 points under their season average (80.7 ppg entering the night) while stymieing Idaho's shooting touch to the tune of a .277 field goal percentage overall and a .263 mark from beyond the arc
• It marked the third time this year that the Hornets have held an opponent to under 30 percent from the field and it's lowest against a Division I opponent since Weber State hit on just 21 percent from the field on Feb. 20 of last season
• Meanwhile, the 26 percent from distance was the 13th time that a Sacramento State opponent shot less than 30 percent from three-point range and the lowest since the Wildcats hit just 3-of-16 (.188) on Jan. 3
HOME, SWEET HOME
• The Hornets have certainly adjusted well to their new digs at Hornet Pavilion, winning six of their nine home contests thus far
• Over the last two seasons, Sacramento State is a combined 15-9 at home, already matching its win total from the previous two years (15-14) with five home games remaining
IN THE MARGINS
• When Sacramento State wins this season, it usually wins big
• The Hornets posted a 19-point win at Northern Arizona -- their largest since a 31-point win over the Lumberjacks in 2023 and their largest in Flagstaff since a 32-point victory a month earlier that same year
• Of the team's nine victories this season, seven of those have now come by double-digits
• Five of the seven 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, five of the team's 10 defeats have been by seven points or fewer, including a three-point overtime loss
• 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
WINDEX WOMAN
• Junior forward Elizabeth Abiara has put in the work in the paint for the Hornets over the last month-plus, accumulating 64 of her 104 total rebounds in her last nine games
• Abiara is averaging 7.3 rpg in that stretch -- compared to just 4.4 rpg over her first nine contests as a Hornet -- including a Sacramento State career-high 12 boards against Portland State on Jan. 10 and 10 more at Pacific back on Dec. 4
• In addition, 26 of her 39 offense rebounds this year have come during the last six weeks, setting season high's with five on the offensive end against both the Tigers and Vikings
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 (.269) -- which also ranks No. 35 in the NCAA (as of Jan. 22) -- while standing second in the Big Sky in scoring defense (59.5 ppg), second in field goal percentage defense (.372), and third in rebounding defense (36.2 rpg)
• Northern Arizona became the eighth Hornet opponent this year to be held under 60 points in a game on Jan. 15, with Sacramento State winning seven of those eight contests
• Sacramento State held eight opponents to fewer than 60 points this year, trailing only Idaho State (10 times) and Northern Colorado (nine times)
• 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
RIM PROTECTORS
• Sacramento State enters the week ranking third in the league in both total blocks (74) and blocks per game (3.89), while standing No. 88 in the nation in the latter category
• Individually, Keanna Salave'a ranks tied for 11th with 15 blocks by herself, while Elizabeth Abiara is 15th with 13 swats
• The Hornets have blocked multiple shots in 16 of their 19 games this season, including five-or-more blocks nine times -- the last coming Thursday night against Idaho
• The team's seven blocks at San Francisco were a season high and tied for the fourth-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
THIS IS NEW
• Sophomore guard Rubi Gray was held to single digits for only the fifth time this season on Thursday against Idaho, snapping a run of three-straight games in double digits
• It's a hiccup in an otherwise outstanding run that has seen Gray reach double figures in 14 of her last 16 contests dating back to a 24-point night at UC San Diego on Nov. 12
• Of those 14 double-digit performances, Gray has reached 20 points four times, including a career-high 26 points against Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 21 and 26 more (to go with 11 rebounds for her first double-double) at Northern Arizona on Jan. 15
• Gray has led, or shared the team lead, in scoring in 11 of the team's 19 contests this year
THREEEEEE-CO-LA
• The Hornets have seemingly found their touch from beyond the arc over the course of the last three games, finishing with double-digit makes from distance in two of those contests
• Sacramento State's 11 three-pointers in the win at Northern Arizona on Jan. 15 were a season high and the most since it finished with 12 at Montana State on March 1 of last season
• The Hornets followed that performance up with 10 makes from long range on Thursday against Idaho -- the third time this season that they have reached double figures in three-pointers made
• Over the last three contests, Sacramento State is shooting .338 (26-for-77) from three-point range, compared to just .290 at the start of that stretch of games
• Sophomore guard Rubi Gray finished with six makes in the game at Northern Arizona, matching Natalie Picton's six triples against UC Davis on Nov. 24 for the most by a Hornet this year
• Those two performances are tied for fourth on the Big Sky's single-game list
PUNCHING FIRST
• Sacramento State has outscored the opposition by a combined 85 points in the first half this season -- including a 61-point advantage in the first quarter alone
• The Hornets are averaging 16.6 ppg in the opening 10 minutes this season, outscoring the opposition by nearly four points per quarter
• Sacramento State is "winning" all but the fourth quarter this season (albeit by a single point in the final 10 minutes, 309-308), holding a 34-point lead in the second and a 29-point lead in the third
NOT HALF BAD
• Sacramento State is 8-1 this season when leading at the half and a combined 21-5 when winning the first 20 minutes under Head Coach Aaron Kallhoff over the last two-plus years
• 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 8-1 this year when outscoring its opponents in the paint
• The Hornets have scored 30-or-more points in the key in all eight 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 17-3 when scoring 70-or-more points, while winning just 11 times when held under that mark since 2023-24
