SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Fresh off its first Big Sky Conference victory of the season, the Sacramento State women's basketball team closes out a three-game homestand to start league play on Saturday (Jan. 10), hosting Portland State at 1 p.m. at Hornet Pavilion.
GAME #16
WHAT: Portland State (5-9, 1-1 Big Sky) at Sacramento State (7-8, 1-1 Big Sky)
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026
TIME: 1 PM PT
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
ARENA: Hornet Pavilion
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetSports.com
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Portland State | Big Sky Conference
THE COACHES
• Sacramento State's Aaron Kallhoff enters his third year at the helm of the Hornets' program, posting a 28-51 mark and a 106-127 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
• Karlie Burris is in her first season as head coach at Portland State after spending the last four seasons as an assistant coach at UNLV, helping the Rebels to four Mountain West Conference titles
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 VIKINGS
• Portland State enters the week with a 5-9 overall record and a 1-1 mark in Big Sky play after splitting its league openers against Weber State (W, 68-58) and Idaho State (L, 72-63)
• Four of Portland State's five wins have come at home this year as the Vikings are just 1-5 away from the confines of their home court
• Saturday marks the first road game for PSU since a loss at Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 13
• The Vikings' lone road win came at Kansas City on Dec. 6 in overtime
• Sophomore guard Kyleigh Brown leads the team in scoring at 18.6 ppg while shooting .428 from the field and averaging 4.3 rpg
• Freshman forward Hannah Chicken is also in double figures at 11.2 ppg, coming off the bench in 13 of the team's 14 games, while shooting .504 from the field and averaging 6.0 rpg
• Chicken is one of three Vikings to average better than six rebounds per game along with teammates Ajae Yoakum (6.3 rpg) and Cici Ellington (6.2 rpg)
• As a team, Portland State is averaging 66.1 ppg and shooting .388 from the field while opponents are averaging 37.2 ppg and shooting .434 from the floor for the year
SERIES NOTABLES
• Portland State leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 34-27
• The Hornets, however, have won eight of the last nine meetings overall after sweeping the regular season series from the Vikings in 2024-25 with a 76-74 overtime win in Portland and a 69-57 victory at home
• Prior to a, 57-51, Portland State win in 2024, Sacramento State had won six straight in the series -- its longest string of consecutive victories in the head-to-head series
• Of the Hornets' 27 wins in the series, 14 of those have come at home where they are 14-16
• Sacramento State has won the last four meetings between the two programs on its home floor dating back to 2022
• Portland State's last win in Sacramento came on Jan. 9, 2021, by a 74-64 score
KEEPING IT 1,000
• Versteeg enters this week's contest continuing to inch her way toward a milestone, needing just 40 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
• Versteeg's 960 career points rank second among active Big Sky student-athletes as of Jan. 3, trailing only Montana's Mack Konig (1,233)
DOUBLE-DOUBLE VISION
• For the first time since a win over Eastern Washington in last year's Big Sky Tournament, the Hornets had two players finish with double-doubles in the same game in Saturday's win over Weber State
• Senior Benthe Versteeg finished with a season-high 18 points and 10 rebounds, while junior Keanna Salave'a added 13 points and 13 more rebounds in the victory
• Both notched their second double-doubles of the season as Versteeg posted the 12th of her career and Salave'a notched her second in the team's last three games
• Versteeg was also a part of the last time the Hornets had two double-doubles in a game, along with former teammate Jaydia Martin in the aforementioned win over the Eagles last year
FRUSTRATION
• It was a rough day for the Weber State offense in the Hornets' 21-point victory on Saturday as Sacramento State stymied the Wildcats to the tune of 13 second-half points, 39 points overall, and just 29 percent shooting
• The 39 points were tied for the fewest allowed to an opponent this year (39 vs. Stanton in the season opener) and were the fewest allowed to a Division I opponent since a 66-39 win over San Jose State last season
• The 13 second-half points were the fewest by a Hornet opponent since Northern Colorado managed only 12 in the second half of a, 51-48, Sacramento State win on Jan. 18 of last season
• Weber State managed only six third-quarter points and seven in the fourth against the Hornet defense -- the eighth and ninth times that Sacramento State has held an opponent to less than 10 points in a period this year
• The .286 field goal percentage by the Wildcats was the second-lowest by a Hornet opponent this year (.264 vs. Simpson) and the 10th time in 15 games that an opponent has shot less than 40 percent from the field
• Meanwhile, the 14 field goals by Weber State were tied for the fewest by an opponent this year and the fewest since the Wildcats made only 12 against the Hornets on Feb. 20 of last 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 (.266) -- which also ranks No. 40 in the NCAA (as of Jan. 4) -- while standing second in the Big Sky in scoring defense (58.5 ppg), second in field goal percentage defense (.373), and third in rebounding defense (35.3 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
PUNCHING FIRST
• Saturday's win over Weber State marked the fourth time 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
SWIPER, NO SWIPING
• After turning Idaho State over 23 times in its Big Sky opener on Jan. 1, the Sacramento State defense was one better against Weber State, forcing the Wildcats into 24 turnovers on 12 steals and averaging 14.5 steals per game in the opening weekend of league play
• The 17 swipes against the Bengals are tied for the third-most in a game (26 vs. Stanton and 20 vs. Simpson) and tied for the most against a Division I opponent (17 vs. Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 21) this season
• Those two marks against the Titans and the Bengals are also the most against a Division I opponent since Sacramento State finished with 17 at Weber State on Jan. 11, 2020
• Meanwhile, it also marked the fourth time in the last five games that the Hornets finished with 10-or-more steals in a game while turning the opposition over 20-or-more times in each of those contests
• Sacramento State has posted seven games with double-digit steals this season, nearing last year's total of 11 games with 10-or-more swipes
BENTHE VER-"STEAL"
• Of the 12 steals against Weber State last week, Versteeg's quick hands accounted for half of that total, setting a new career high-bar in the process
• The six steals are tied for the third-most by a player in a game in the Big Sky this season and fell just one shy of breaking into the school's single-game top five in the category
• Versteeg's total was just one short of the seven swipes by teammate Fatoumata Jaiteh against Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 21, which DOES rank tied for fifth on the school's single-game list and is tied for the most in the league this year along with Northern Colorado's Tatum West
HISTORIC HELPING HANDS
• With her 78 assists over 15 games this season, Versteeg now has 524 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 12th past Montana's Margaret Williams (511 from 1982-87) and closing in on Eastern Washington's Chene Cooper in 11th (525 from 2008-12) and Portland State's Kylie Jimenez (534 in 2017-21) in 10th
DELICIOUS DISH
• Versteeg has posted five-or-more assists in 12 of the team's 15 games
• Her total of 78 assists and her 5.20 assists per game puts her atop the Big Sky in both categories entering this week, while ranking No. 33 and No. 32 in the nation, respectively, as of Jan. 4
• 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 79 games)
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)
SHADES OF GRAY
• For the first time since the third game of the season against California, someone finally figured out how to corral sophomore Rubi Gray
• The Hornets' high-scoring guard had posted 11 consecutive double-digit scoring performances until Saturday's game against Weber State, which limited the Tasmanian to nine points
• It was her lowest scoring output since she had seven against the Golden Bears on Nov. 9 in Berkeley, Calif., prior to her averaging 17.3 ppg and shooting .486 (72-for-148) from the field over the next two months
• The run included a trio of 20-plus point performances: a career-high 26 against Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 21) and a pair of 24-point games at UC San Diego (Nov. 12) and Pacific (Dec. 4)
• Following a slow start to the year, Gray has shot better than 40 percent from the field in nine of her last 12 games
• She has led, or shared the team lead, in scoring in nine of those 12 contests
• Of her team-high 218 points, all but 28 of those have come during her 11-game scoring run
• She ranks among the top 10 in the Big Sky in nine different categories including scoring (7th), total points (5th), and field goals made (6th)
NO QUIT IN MANDAQUIT
• Playing in a career-high 37 minutes, redshirt freshman Jaety Mandaquit gave the Hornets quite a lift in her first career start
• Mandaquit finished with a career-high eight points on 3-of-3 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, adding two rebounds, an assist, and a steal to finish a team-best plus-30 in the win over Weber State
• That performance came just two days after finishing with a career-high six rebounds and three steals against Idaho State
HOLD THE LINE
• The duo of Natalie Picton (.875) and Rubi Gray (.833) have been nearly automatic from the line this season
• Picton had a run of 15 consecutive free throws without a miss until her first went astray at San Francisco on Dec. 17 -- her first miss since Nov. 12 at UC San Diego
• Meanwhile, Gray had her run of 20 straight makes come to an end on Saturday against Weber State, making her first two chances in the first quarter against the Wildcats before going 0-for-2 in the final minute of the game
• It was her first misfire from the line since missing her first against Chattanooga on Nov. 28
• The 20 consecutive makes by Gray is tied for the 12th-longest streak in the program's Division I era and were the most since former Hornet Sofia Alonso opened with 22 straight makes last year
"PIC"-POCKET
• Picton has been in the pockets of opposing offenses all season, posting multiple steals in 13 of the team's 15 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 40 steals rank second in the Big Sky standings in that category as of Jan. 3 and she is third in the league at 2.67 spg
• Her 40 swipes are nine 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 three schools in the Big Sky averaging double-digit steals this year (10.33 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
RIM PROTECTORS
• Sacramento State enters the week sharing the league lead in total blocks (63) and ranking second in blocks per game (4.20), while standing No. 69 in the nation in blocks per game
• Individually, Keanna Salave'a is one of 12 players in the Big Sky with double-digit swats, ranking third in the league with 14
• The Hornets have blocked multiple shots in 13 of their 15 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
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' seven 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 six different starting lineups in it's last eight games, scuffling to a 2-6 record in those contests
• Tali Fa'i (vs. Chattanooga), Keanna Salave'a (at Pacific), Pinja Paananen (Simpson, San Francisco, and San Jose State), and Jaety Mandaquit (Weber 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
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 under 87 percent of the team's minutes (520 of 600) -- including four games with 40-or-more minutes -- with Versteeg close behind at 85 percent (507 of 600) and Gray at just under 80 percent (478 of 600)
• Picton's 34.7 mpg trails only NAU's Naomi White (37.3 mpg), while Versteeg is third at 33.8 mpg
• Thanks to those minutes, Versteeg has moved into fifth on the all-time minutes played list with 3,419 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 from 2009-13
• 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
BENCH BOOST
• Sacramento State's second unit has come on to outscore its counterparts in nine of the team's 15 games this season
• Hornet reserves have combined for 20-or-more points six times
• Saturday's game against Weber State marked the first time this season -- and the first time since last year's Big Sky Tournament game against Northern Arizona -- that the starters accounted for 100 percent of the team's points
NOT HALF BAD
• Sacramento State is 6-1 this season when leading at the half and a combined 19-5 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
