SACRAMENTO — The non-conference schedule comes to a close on the road in Orange County on Wednesday afternoon (Dec. 21) as Sacramento State takes on its third consecutive Big West Conference opponent in Cal State Fullerton at Titan Gym. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. in the first game of a doubleheader featuring the Hornets’ and Titans’ men’s teams, which tip-off at 6 p.m.
GAME #11
WHAT: Sacramento State (8-2) at Cal State Fullerton (5-3)
WHEN: Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022
TIME: 3 p.m.
WHERE: Fullerton, Calif.
VENUE: Titan Gym
WATCH: ESPN+ (https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/eventCalendarId/401494379?gameId=401494379&sourceLang=en)
LIVE STATS: FullertonTitans.com (https://fullertontitans.com/sports/w-baskbl/2022-23/boxscores/20221221_maes.xml)
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IN THE RANKINGS: Neither Sacramento State, nor Cal State Fullerton, are ranked nationally. However, the Hornets are listed among those receiving votes in the College Insider Mid-Major poll for the fourth consecutive week, picking up 20 votes in this week’s rankings released on Dec. 20.
LOOKING AHEAD: Following Wednesday’s afternoon clash with the Titans, the Hornets won’t play until they open their Big Sky Conference schedule on the road on New Year’s Eve at Portland State. Tip-off in the Rose City is scheduled for 2 p.m.
NATABOU ON MID-MAJOR AWARD WATCH LIST: One season after showing she’s one of the best in the West, junior post Isnelle Natabou is garnering national attention heading into the 2022-23 campaign, named as one of 25 players to the watch list for the 2023 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats on Oct. 19. The first Big Sky Conference student-athlete ever to be named to the list for this particular award, Natabou is joined by 24 of her peers on the initial watch list and is only one of four from the West Coast named to the list along with Gonzaga’s Brynna Maxwell, Portland’s Alex Fowler, and San Francisco’s Ioanna Kimili. For more details, read the complete release on HornetSports.com.
NATABOU NAMED TO BIG SKY’S PRESEASON HONOR ROLL: In addition to her national honor, Natabou was also named to the seven-member preseason all-conference team, joining Montana State’s Darian White (who also was selected the MVP), Idaho’s Beyonce Bea, Montana’s Carmen Gfeller, Northern Colorado’s Hannah Simental, Montana State’s Kola Bad Bear, and Weber State’s Daryn Hickock. The native of the Czech Republic became only the third Hornet to earn preseason all-league honors in the process, joining former standouts Kennedy Nicholas (2019-20) and Brianna Burgos (2016-17).
BUT WAIT… THERE’S MORE!: The accolades continued to roll in for Natabou, who was also named the Big Sky’s Preseason Player of the Year according to ESPN.com, which made its picks for all 32 Division I conferences on Oct. 25.
NATABOU PICKS UP SECOND BIG SKY WEEKLY HONOR: For the third time in the last four weeks, the Big Sky Conference player of the week in women’s basketball resides in Sacramento as Hornet junior Isnelle Natabou picked up weekly honors from the league office for the second time this season and the fourth time in her career on Dec. 13. It is the second such award for Natabou in the last three weeks after she shared the honor back on Nov. 29, and the third time in the last four weeks that a Sacramento State player has been named player of the week following Kahlaijah Dean’s award back on Nov. 22. The nation’s leader in field goal percentage entering the week, Natabou averaged a double-double in head-to-head clashes with San Diego State and CSU Bakersfield, putting up 21.0 points and grabbing 12.0 rebounds per game in the two contests, shooting .679 (19-for-28) from the field and hitting all four of her attempts from the field. Read the complete details at HornetSports.com.
ABOUT THE TITANS: Cal State Fullerton enters Wednesday’s game with a 5-3 overall record, having won four of its last five following a 78-72 overtime win over California Baptist on Dec. 17… Wednesday’s meeting marks the Titans’ non-conference finale as they open Big West play at UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 29… Fullerton is a perfect 3-0 at Titan Gym this year, posting wins over Pepperdine (64-55), Pacific (80-66), and the Lancers around a road loss to UCLA… Senior guard Fujika Nimmo, a transfer from Florida International, is one of four Titans in double figures, leading the team at 16.4 ppg while shooting 39 percent from the field… Junior center Ashlee Lewis leads the team on the glass at 7.5 rpg to go with 10.3 ppg, while sophomore Una Jovanovic is averaging 15.5 ppg to go with 3.4 apg.
SERIES NOTES: Cal State Fullerton holds a commanding 8-1 lead in the all-time series with Sacramento State, winning the last four consecutive meetings… Wednesday marks the first meeting between the two programs since Nov. 11, 2012, when the Titans posted a 94-75 win over the Hornets in Fullerton… Sacramento State’s lone win in the series came on Dec. 30, 1997, in a 79-75 win in Orange County… The Hornets are 1-3 on the road against the Titans, losing their last two trips to Fullerton in 2010 and 2012.
EIGHT IS GREAT, BUT NINE WOULD BE FINE: Sacramento State’s win at CSUN on Monday afternoon continued one of the best starts in the program’s Division I history, improving the Hornets to 8-2 on the year. The eight non-conference victories are tied for the most in the program’s history, matching the 2013-14 squad’s 8-2 start en route to an 18-win season, while a win at Fullerton on Wednesday would give this year’s Sacramento State squad the record all by itself.
MIND IF WE JOIN YOU?: Sacramento State may not only be challenging for a Big Sky Conference title this season, but the Hornets may also be making a play for a Big West crown as well if it were possible. Monday’s win over CSUN improved Sacramento State to 5-1 against Big West schools, suffering its only loss on a buzzer beater to UC Irvine in the regular season opener.
START ME UP: Despite having its six-game winning streak snapped with last week’s loss at San Diego State, the Hornets are still off to its second-best start in the program’s Division I history with eight wins in their first 10 contests, trailing only the 9-1 start — one that eventually ballooned into an 11-1 start — to open 2013-14.
FIT TO BE TIED: The Hornets have taken a lead into the lockerroom eight times in their first nine games this season, but had never been tied after the first 20 minutes until Monday in Northridge when they were knotted up with the Matadors at 28 points apiece.
TOO CLOSE: Sacramento State’s two-point win at CSUN marked the team’s third win by two or fewer points this season, its fourth victory by single digits, and its fifth game overall decided by nine or fewer points.
OFF AND RUNNING: Through nine games, Sacramento State has put opponents in a hole quickly, shooting 51 percent (68-for-134) from the field in the first quarter and 46 percent (60-for-131) in the second en route to halftime advantages in eight of its 10 contests. The Hornets are shooting a combined .483 from the field in the first half compared to “just” .426 after the break.
DEEP THOUGHTS: By Katie Peneueta. The Hornet sharpshooter had only three-pointers on her mind in Sacramento State’s win at CSUN on Monday, draining 6-of-11 from distance — including three of those during the decisive third quarter — in the Hornets’ two-point win. The six makes (overall and from distance) were both season high’s, while the six three’s tied Peneueta’s career high set at Northern Arizona on Feb. 3, 2022. The six makes from distance are also tied for the third-most in a single-game by a Big Sky player this year as Peneueta is one of only five to hit at least six in a game.
THREE IS MORE THAN TWO: Trust us… Peneueta has certainly done the math. In 31 career games with the Hornets, the Vancouver, Wash., native has made a living from long distance, sinking 84 of her 89 career field goals from behind the three-point line. At the media timeout of the second quarter on Nov. 22 against UC Davis, Peneueta’s last 30 makes from the field had all been three-pointers until she posted up and found room inside for a lay-up at the four-minute mark of the period — her first two-point basket since scoring inside at Northern Arizona with 21 seconds left in a 76-62 victory on Feb. 3 last year. Her last 17 consecutive makes have all been from three-point range entering Wednesday.
IZZY DOES IT: Natabou’s bid for her fifth consecutive double-double fell just short on Monday at CSUN, but the junior still managed to lead all scorers with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-12 from the field and 6-of-8 from the line, adding five rebounds and a blocked shot. Entering Wednesday’s game ranked fourth in the nation in field goal percentage (.689), Natabou posted her third 20-point performance of the season, joining her 23-point games at Santa Clara and at San Diego State, and extended her double-digit scoring streak to 16 consecutive games (see below).
16 AND COUNTING: Natabou’s 20 points at CSUN gave her double-digit points in her last 16 consecutive games dating back to last season, averaging 17.0 ppg (272 total) in that stretch while shooting .698 (113-for-162) from the field.
I DOUBLE DOUBLE-DOUBLE DARE YOU: Keep on eye on your box scores. If Isnelle Natabou has a double-double, you may be in trouble. Thanks to her 19-point, 14-rebound effort in the win over CSU Bakersfield, Natabou collected her fourth-straight double-double and her sixth of the season overall — ranking tied for eighth in the NCAA in that category as of Dec. 20 and tied with Idaho’s Beyonce Bea for the most in the Big Sky. Despite her run ending on Monday at CSUN, Natabou is averaging 19.0 ppg and 10.8 rpg while shooting .722 (39-for-54) from the floor and 17-for-19 (.895) from the line during that stretch. In her six double-double performances this year, the native of the Czech Republic is averaging 17.8 ppg, 13.8 rpg, and shooting 45-for-62 (.726) from the floor.
BOXING OUT AND CLOSING IN: Following a year in which she grabbed the fourth-most rebounds in a single Hornet season, Natabou has her sights set on both the school’s all-time and Division I top-10 lists for career rebounds during her second season in the green and gold. Entering the week with 435 boards to her name, Natabou stands 135 rebounds shy of the all-time top-10 list (Linda Simmons is 10th with 570 from 1977-81) and only 94 back of the Division I list (Emily Christensen is 10th with 529 from 2007-12).
THE GIVING SEASON: Sacramento State has handed out more assists than the opposition in every game this season — including allowing just seven assists in each of its last two games against CSU Bakersfield (Dec. 10) and CSUN (Dec. 19), marking the fourth and fifth times this year that an opponent has been held to fewer than 10 in a game.
HELP ME, HELP YOU: Senior Kahlaijah Dean did a little bit of everything in the Hornets’ win at CSUN, finishnig with 16 points (her ninth double-digit scoring performance in 10 games) to go with a team-high seven rebounds, six assists, and a pair of steals. The six assists are tied for her second-highest total of the season and the most since she had a Sacramento State career-high nine helpers at Santa Clara on Nov. 14. Dean enters the non-conference finale ranked second in the Big Sky at 5.00 assists per game, while posting five or more assists in a game five times.
THE DEAN OF SCORING: Dean brings with her a pedigree of knowing where the basket is, reaching the 1,000 career point milestone as only a junior at Oakland University and finishing her four years with the Golden Grizzlies with 1,425 points to her name. Following her first nine performances in the green and gold, the Bakersfield, Calif., native has brought her total up to 1,603 career points, ranking No. 31 among active scorers across the country as of Dec. 20 and posting a total that would rank fourth on Sacramento State’s all-time scoring list, just 24 points back of Maranne Johnson’s third-place total of 1,627 points from 2014-18.
BLOCKING IT OUT: Boasting the Big Sky Conference’s second-best scoring defense at 58.6 ppg allowed, the Hornets have also done work in the defensive glass, holding opponents to a league-best 30.0 rebounds per game. The 28 rebounds by the Roadrunners on Dec. 10 are tied for the third fewest surrendered by Sacramento State this season, while the 29 rebounds by CSUN on Dec. 19 marked the seventh time in 10 games that the Hornets have allowed fewer than 30 rebounds in a game this season.
“HARNESS. ENERGY. BLOCK. BAD.”: Sophomore Katie Peneueta is feeling the flow at the defensive end of the court, swatting a career high-tying three blocks in the win over Cal Poly on Nov. 25 and blocking at least one shots in all but one game this season. Her lone block at CSUN brought her season total to 16 — just five shy of her 22-game total of 21 blocks last year — while she enters the week sharing the Big Sky Conference lead with teammate Isnelle Natabou in both total blocks and blocks per game (1.60).
THE THEME FROM SWAT: The paint has not been a pleasant place to be for opposing shooters as of late as the Hornets have collected 34 of their 47 total blocks on the year in their last six contests, averaging 5.67 blocks per game as a team in that stretch. Sacramento State leads the Big Sky in both blocks and blocks per game and ranks No. 39 in the nation in the latter.
MINUTE WOMEN: There haven’t been many players in the Big Sky — let alone the entire country — who have seen more time on the court to start the year than the Hornets’ Isnelle Natabou (35.63 mpg — including all 40 minutes against UTEP on Nov. 26), Kahlaijah Dean (35.56 mpg), and Katie Peneueta (35.13 mpg — including all 45 minutes against UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 19). The trio ranks fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively, in the league in minutes.
PASSING THE CRASH TEST: Another 14 rebounds in the win over CSU Bakersfield (Dec. 10) is nothing new for Natabou, who owns four of the top six single-game rebounding performances in the Big Sky this season, along with her 20 against UC Irvine (more on that in a minute) and the 14 against both UC Davis and UTEP. Natabou ranks among the top 30 in the nation in three of the four major rebounding categories: rebounds per game (14th), offensive rebounds per game (18th), and total rebounds (28th).
ARE YOU BOARD?: Natabou clearly wasn’t in the Hornets’ opener against UC Irvine, as her 20 rebounds were the most since she had 22 against Idaho in an overtime win on Jan. 22 last year and was her third career game with 20-or-more rebounds. Nationally, the 20-rebound performance is tied for the ninth-highest in the NCAA for a single-game — and the most of any Big Sky player — as of Dec. 20, and stands as one of only seventeen 20-rebound games in the NCAA entering the week.
THIS IS PERFECT! PERFECT, PERFECT, PERFECT!: They say that nobody’s perfect, but junior Isnelle Natabou was just that against Fresno State on Dec. 3, finishing 7-of-7 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line en route to sharing team-high honors with 16 points in the win. The shooting performance is the best of the season by a Hornet, surpassing teammate Kahlaijah Dean’s 5-for-5 showing against UTEP on Nov. 26, and is the best single-game showing in the program’s Division I history, besting Margaret Huntington’s 6-for-6 from the floor against Montana on Feb. 16, 2017.
MIND THE GAP: The 22-point margin of victory over Causeway rival UC Davis on Nov. 22 marked the largest against an NCAA Division I opponent in head coach Mark Campbell’s tenure at the helm of the Sacramento State program and was the largest since a 23-point win over Sonoma State on Nov. 16 of last year.
HORNETS GO GLOBAL WITH SIGNEES: Head Coach Mark Campbell racked up the frequent flier miles to sign four student-athletes during the recent NCAA signing period, welcoming post Paula Haw and guard Lina Falk from Germany, forward Summah Hanson from Australia, and guard Sofia Alonso from Spain.
