BOISE, Idaho — The Sacramento State women's basketball team is into the Big Sky Conference Tournament semifinals for only the fifth time in school history following Monday's win over Idaho State, setting up a showdown with regular season champion and top-seeded Idaho on Tuesday (March 10) at 11 a.m. PT at Idaho Central Arena In Boise, Idaho.
GAME #33
BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS
WHAT: No. 5 Sacramento State (15-17 overall) vs. No. 1 Idaho (27-5 overall)
WHEN: Tuesday, March 10, 2025
TIME: 11 AM PT
WHERE: Boise, Idaho
VENUE: Idaho Central Arena
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: Big Sky Conference
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Big Sky Conference
GAME NOTES: Idaho | Big Sky Conference
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Saturday, March 7 (First Round)
G1: #9 Weber State 76, #10 Portland State 53
G2: #8 Montana 61, #7 Northern Arizona 60
Sunday, March 8 (Second Round)
G3: #1 Idaho 66, #9 Weber State 52
G4: #2 Montana State 78, #8 Montana 57
Monday, March 9 (Quarterfinals)
G5: #5 Sacramento State 62, #4 Idaho State 53
G6: #6 Eastern Washington 55, #3 Northern Colorado 53
Tuesday, March 10 (Semifinals)
G7: #5 Sacramento State vs. #1 Idaho, 11 AM PT (TV: ESPN+)
G8: #6 Eastern Washington vs. #2 Montana State, 1:30 PM PT (TV: ESPN+)
Wednesday, March 11 (Finals)
G9: Championship Game, 2 PM PT (TV: ESPNU)
SCOUTING IDAHO
• The Vandals enter Tuesday's semifinals with a 27-5 overall record and winners of their last 16 consecutive games, claiming the Big Sky regular season crown outright with a 17-1 league mark
• Idaho played its first tournament game on Sunday, defeating ninth-seeded Weber State to earn its second-ever Big Sky semifinal berth
• Three starters and four players overall average double-digit points for the Vandals led by junior guard Hope Hassmann and her 14.3 ppg
• Senior guard Kyra Gardner (13.1 ppg), senior forward Debora dos Santos (11.3 ppg), and sophomore guard Ana Pinheiro (10.7 ppg) are also in double figures, while dos Santos (8.2 rpg) and Gardner (7.1 rpg) lead the way on the boards
• Thanks to that quartet, Idaho boasts the best offense in the Big Sky (78.2 ppg) — which also ranks No. 21 in the nation, outscores opponents by an average of 13.2 points per game (second in the league), and leads the Big Sky with a .424 field goal percentage
• They also rank first in the conference with 47.4 rebounds per game, while standing No. 3 in the NCAA in defensive rebounds per game (31.8), fourth in total rebounds per game, and fifth in rebound margin (+11.6)
• Defensively, the Vandals rank fifth in points allowed (65.1 ppg) and leads the league in opponent field goal percentage (.365)
SERIES NOTABLES
• Idaho leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 21-9, dating back to the first meeting in 1993
• The Vandals swept the regular season series from the Hornets this year with a 62-55 win in Sacramento on Jan. 22 and a 75-60 victory in Moscow, Idaho, on Feb. 21
• Overall, Idaho has won five of the last six following a run that saw Sacramento State win four of five
• Tuesday marks only the second-ever meeting between the two schools at the Big Sky Conference Tournament with the Hornets posting a 73-58 victory over the sixth-seeded Vandals in the 2023 quarterfinals en route to the tournament title
• Sacramento State has not fared well against Idaho away from home, posting a 2-13 record on the Vandals' home court and a 1-1 mark in neutral site games
TIME TO UPDATE THE RECORD BOOKS
• Senior Benthe Versteeg's six assists in the win over Idaho State are tied for 10th in school history in a Big Sky Tournament game
• The 11-for-13 (.846) from the line against the Bengals ranks as the fifth-highest single-game percentage for a tournament game
• The team's 15 assists were tied for the sixth most in a Big Sky Tournament game in school history
HORNET TIP-INS
• With its win in the quarterfinals, Sacramento State improved to 15-17 overall which matches last season's win total and gives the Hornets back-to-back seasons with 15-or-more wins for the first time since 2013-14 (18-12) and 2014-15 (18-16)
• The victory was only the fifth by nine points or fewer for Sacramento State this season while the remaining nine wins have come by 11 points or more — seven of those by 20-or-more points
• Although they earned a bye into the Monday's quarterfinal against Idaho State for only the second time in school history, the Hornets are now into the semifinal round of the Big Sky Tournament for only the fifth time in school history, joining the 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2023 squads
• Sacramento State fell to Idaho State, Montana State, and Northern Colorado in each of the first three of those seasons before defeating Portland State in its last trip
• A win on Tuesday gives the Hornets only their second-ever berth in the tournament championship game and the first since the Hornets won it all in 2023
• It would also give Sacramento State its most wins in a season since the 2022-23 Hornets set a school record with a 25-8 mark
• With Monday's win over the Bengals, Sacramento State improved to 11-17 in Big Sky Tournament play, having won six of its last eight tournament games dating back to its championship year in 2023
• Head Coach Aaron Kallhoff won his first game in the conference tournament for the third consecutive year, but did so outside of a first-round match up in his three seasons at the helm
• Kallhoff's teams posted wins over Idaho State (2023-24) and Eastern Washington (2024-25) in the first round in each of the last two years before falling to Northern Arizona in the second round on both occasions
• The Hornets have now posted double-digit wins in four of their last five seasons after doing so just twice in the previous five years
• Finishing 8-10 in league play, Sacramento State posted the most league wins since the 2022-23 Big Sky Championship squad finished 13-5
• With her seven rebounds on Monday against Idaho State, Versteeg became the seventh player in the program's Division I history to score 1,000 career points and grab 500 career rebounds
• After dishing out six helpers on Monday, Versteeg needs just one more assist to reach 600 for her career, a total that already ranks her seventh in Big Sky Conference history
• Her total from Monday gives Versteeg 18 games with five-or-more helpers this year
• Following her 19-point outburst on Monday, junior guard Natalie Picton needs only 144 more points to reach 1,000 for her collegiate career
• Picton and Versteeg are just three and 16 points away, respectively, from reaching 400 points this season which, along with sophomore guard Rubi Gray's 465 points, would give the Hornets three players with 400-or-more points for the first time in school history
• With two steals on Monday, Versteeg now has 174 for her career, moving her into a tie with Sarah Stapp (1992-96) for sixth on the school's all-time list and leaving her five shy of All-American Kristy Ryan (1990-94) for fifth
• Monday's game also marked her 126th career game for the Hornets, moving her into a tie with Fantasia Hilliard (2011-15) for the most in school history
• Gray was held to only eight points against Idaho State — only the eighth time this season she has been limited to double figures with the Hornets going 4-4 in those contests
• Her 465 points this year are still the most by a sophomore since Hannah Friend finished with 525 in 2017-18
• Thanks to her game-high eight rebounds against Idaho State, junior Keanna Salave'a has now grabbed six-or-more rebounds in each of her last seven games, averaging 7.3 rpg in that stretch (5.9 rpg overall entering Tuesday)
• Gray has now made 76 three-pointers on the year — the most by a Hornet since Kahlaijah Dean drained 78 in 2022-23
• One more three-pointer puts Gray into a four-way tie for ninth on the school's all-time single-season list, while four more would make her only the fourth different Hornet to finish with at least 80 three-pointers in a season along with Maranne Johnson (93 in 2016-17), Brianna Burgos (86 in 2015-16), and Hallie Gennett (86 in 2014-15 and 85 in 2013-14)
