SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The final game of the 2025-26 regular season will be played on the road as the Sacramento State women's basketball team heads to Pocatello, Idaho, on Monday (March 2) to take on Idaho State at 6 p.m. PT.
This is the third game in five days and the final tune-up for the Hornets before the start of next week's Big Sky Conference Tournament, which begins on Saturday (March 7) at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.
GAME #31
WHAT: Sacramento State (13-17, 7-10 Big Sky) at Idaho State (19-9, 12-5 Big Sky)
WHEN: Monday, March 2, 2026
TIME: 6 PM PT
WHERE: Pocatello, Idaho
ARENA: Reed Gym
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: ISUBengals.com
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Idaho State | Big Sky Conference
THE COACHES
• Sacramento State's Aaron Kallhoff enters his third year at the helm of the Hornets' program, posting a 34-60 mark and a 112-136 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
• Seton Sobolewski is in his 19th year as head coach at Idaho State, posting a 305-252 record with the Bengals
BIG SKY BIG PICTURE
• The race for seeding will come down to the final game of the regular season as the Hornets are gunning for a bye into the quarterfinals with one game remaining
• Sacramento State is currently tied with Eastern Washington for fifth in the standings with a 7-10 record, but the Hornets hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Eagles by virtue of their regular season sweep, essentially placing them as the No. 5 seed entering the final game
• That means Sacramento State wouldn't open tournament play until Monday (March 9) against the No. 4 seed -- which, right now, is either going to be Idaho State or Northern Colorado
• The Hornets and Eagles lead seventh-place Northern Arizona (6-11) by a game
• Should the three (Sacramento State, EWU, and NAU) tie at the end of the regular season, the Hornets would be the higher seed by virtue of their 3-1 record against the other two
ABOUT THE BENGALS
• Idaho State enters the regular season finale with a 19-9 overall record and a 12-5 mark in Big Sky play, tied for third in the standings with Northern Colorado
• The Bengals defeated Weber State on Saturday (Feb. 28) by a 59-54 score in Ogden, Utah, to end a run of three-straight on the road
• Idaho State, which is 8-4 at home in Reed Gym this year, is playing at home for the first time since falling to Idaho on Valentine's Day and has won three of its last four on its home court
• The Bengals sport the league's best scoring defense (59.7 ppg) and rebounding defense (.310 rpg) while standing second in field goal percentage defense (.369) and three-point percentage defense (.292), as well as forcing the third-most turnovers per game (18.5 pg) in the league
• Graduate guard Tasia Jordan is averaging a team-high 15.1 ppg while shooting .434 from the field and averaging 5.3 rpg
• Junior forward Piper Carlson is also in double figures at 11.0 ppg and leads the team at 8.0 rpg while shooting .518 from the floor
• Senior guard Kacey Spink is averaging 9.4 ppg and 7.2 rpg while leading the team with 4.04 apg and 3.14 spg
SERIES NOTABLES
• Idaho State leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 48-13
• The Bengals have won the last two meetings with the Hornets following a 61-46 win in Sacramento back on New Year's Day
• Prior to that, Sacramento State had won six of the previous eight head-to-head meetings from 2022-25, including three-straight wins at one point in that run
• That followed a stretch that saw Idaho State win nine straight games in the series from 2017-21
• The Bengals won the first 27 games in the series from 1997-2009 before the Hornets posted their first-ever win, 80-71, on Jan. 30, 2010
• Only four of Sacramento State's wins (4-24) in the series have come in Pocatello -- the last on Jan. 23, 2025 with a 72-63 triumph
• The Hornets have won three of their last four games on Idaho State's home court after losing four straight
• Since losing the first 19 trips to Pocatello, Sacramento State is 4-5 on the road against the Bengals since 2016
LAST TIME OUT
• Sophomore Rubi Gray led the team with 19 points on eight made baskets and had second-place Montana State in a one possession game in the final three minutes before falling, 61-54, in the team's home finale
• Senior Fatoumata Jaiteh added 10 rebounds and senior Benthe Versteeg added nine assists in the final home appearance of their careers
• The Hornets trailed by 13 at the start of the fourth and used a 10-0 run to claw back to within three with 6:02 left
• Later in the period, a clutch three-pointer by Natalie Picton had the Hornets with 52-50 with 3:40 to go and were within that margin a minute later, but could not find the tying score
• Montana State got a three-pointer by Jamison Philip for some breathing room and spark a 7-2 run to close the game
