SACRAMENTO — After ringing in the New Year with a victory, the Sacramento State women’s basketball team carries a four-game winning streak into the weekend, welcoming Big Sky Conference rivals Idaho and Eastern Washington into The Nest. The Hornets and Vandals tip-off on Thursday (Jan. 5) at 7 p.m., while the Eagles fly in for a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday (Jan. 7).
GAME #13
WHAT: Idaho (6-7, 2-0 Big Sky) at Sacramento State (10-2, 1-0 Big Sky)
WHEN: Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023
TIME: 7 p.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
VENUE: The Nest
WATCH: ESPN+ (https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/eventCalendarId/401473972?gameId=401473972)
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com (https://statb.us/b/430465)
BUY TICKETS: HornetSports.com (https://hornetsports.com/sports/2022/10/21/2022-23-womens-basketball-single-game-tickets.aspx)
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IN THE RANKINGS: For the first time since late in the 2013-14 campaign, Sacramento State stands among the top 25 in College Insider’s Mid-Major poll (https://collegeinsider.com/womens-mid-major-top-25), making its season debut at No. 24 after earning votes over the past five weeks — including a season-high 30 votes on Dec. 27. The Hornets have faced, or will face, four teams listed in this week’s poll this season in No. 19 UC Irvine, Eastern Washington, UC Santa Barbara, and Montana State — the latter three all among those receiving votes. During that 2013-14 season, the Hornets were ranked in the top 25 for eight consecutive weeks following an 8-1 start, reaching as high as No. 13 in early January.
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 TEAM: 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 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.
WHAT IS THE “JOUEUR DE LA SEMAINE?”: It’s the player of the week. That’s sounds good, we’ll have that. Thanks to Kahlaijah Dean’s award on Dec. 27, a Hornet has now been named Big Sky Player of the Week four times in the last seven weeks (Isnelle Natabou took home honors on Nov. 29 and Dec. 13, while Dean won her first on Nov. 22) — the most of any school in the league this season. The four awards matches the team’s total from all of last year and marks the most since the 2013-14 squad had five players of the week.
ABOUT THE VANDALS: Idaho enters the week with a 6-7 overall record and a 2-0 mark in Big Sky play to stand as one of three unbeaten teams at the start of league… The Vandals swept past Montana State (W, 72-53) and Montana (W, 79-71) at home last week and have won four of their last five… Senior Beyonce Bea leads the league in scoring at 22.8 ppg and stands as one of three Idaho players in double figures along with Sydney Gandy (12.2 ppg) and Tiana Johnson (10.0 ppg)… Bea also paces Vandal regulars in rebounding (9.2 rpg) and blocked shots (19), while standing second in field goal (.488) and free throw percentage (.808).
SERIES NOTES: Idaho leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by a 16-5 count after the two programs split the regular season series last year, each team winning on its respective home floor… The Hornets’ 76-73 overtime win on Jan. 22 snapped a seven-game skid against the Vandals, who won in Moscow by a 73-68 score on Feb. 24… Four of Sacramento State’s five wins in the series have come at home.
HOME, SWEET HOME: Finally! We don’t have to pack a bag. When Sacramento State takes the floor against Idaho on Thursday, it will be the team’s first game at The Nest in nearly a month since a Dec. 10 victory against CSU Bakersfield. The Hornets have won their last three straight at home following a season-opening heartbreaker to UC Irvine, which was the last in a five-game losing skid at The Nest dating back to last year.
ROAD WARRIORS: The win at Portland State last week improved the Hornets to 7-1 in games played away from the friendly confines of The Nest and 5-1 in true road games this season. The five road wins are just two shy of last year’s total (7-7), which were the most since the 2015-16 team also won seven games away from home.
NOT IF, BUT WIN: Sacramento State earned its 10th triumph of the season with its victory at Portland State, moving to within four wins of last year’s overall total. The 10 wins in their first 12 games is the Hornets’ best since the 2013-14 squad opened 11-1 before suffering its second defeat of the year.
SKY’S THE LIMIT: A win Thursday against Idaho and the Hornets will start Big Sky play with a 2-0 record for the only the second time in program history and the first since the 2011-12 squad opened with wins over Northern Arizona and Weber State.
STOPPER: Last week’s win put an end to a couple of streaks for the Hornets, who won their Big Sky opener for the first time since a record-setting win against Portland State in 2016 (ending a six-game losing streak) and snapped a six-game skid in road conference openers dating back to a 69-65 win at Montana State in 2012.
NINE TIMES? NIIIIINE TIMES.: Wake up and smell the coffee, Hornet fans, it’s already a record-setting season and we’re only halfway done. Sacramento State clinched its ninth non-conference victory of the season on Dec. 21 at Cal State Fullerton, breaking a tie with the 2013-14 squad (8-2 in non-conference games) for the most in the history of the program. Of the Hornets’ 11 non-conference opponents, seven finished with winning records and were a combined 64-50 (.561) in non-conference play. That kind of start bodes well for the Hornets, who won 18 games in 2013-14 — ranking tied for the third on the school’s single-season list.
ONE IS THE LONLIEST NUMBER: But 60 is the winningest number for the Hornets. Thanks to its 65 points in the win at Portland State, Sacramento State improved to 10-0 this season when scoring 60-or-more points.
AHEAD OF THE GAME: The Hornets’ win at Portland State marked the third time this season — and the first since a win at Cal Poly on Nov. 25 — that they have gone wire-to-wire in a victory, never trailing in their 65-56 triumph. Sacramento State has not trailed by more than two points in each of its last four wins, with none of those deficits coming later than the second quarter.
FOLLOW OUR LEAD: Sacramento State’s 20-point halftime advantage at Portland State was it’s largest of the year as the Hornets have now led at the break 10 times in 12 games. The 20-point lead eclipsed the 18-point halftime advantage against UC Davis at the Golden 1 Center back on Nov. 22, and marked the eighth time that they have led by 10-or-more points at the break.
I SECOND THAT: Sacramento State was able to put some distance between itself and Portland State in the second quarter of its win, outscoring the Vikings by a 24-11 count while hitting 10-of-16 from the field. It was the highest-scoring second quarter of the year for the Hornets, surpassing the 22-point periods against UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara earlier this season, while the 10 field goals were tied for the most in a quarter with the 10 makes against Fresno State in the first quarter. Of those 10 baskets, Sacramento State posted assists on nine of them, the most in any quarter this year (the Hornets had six against the Anteaters and Santa Clara) with a single-quarter season-high four of those from the hands of Dean.
SHE’S HEATING UP: Fresh off a Sacramento State career-high 28-point performance at Cal State Fullerton in the non-conference finale, Kahlaijah Dean’s hot streak continued into the start of Big Sky play as the senior narrowly missed out on her fifth 20-point performance of the season with 19 in the win at Portland State. Dean has now reached double figures in each of her last three games since being held to a season-low nine points against CSU Bakersfield, averaging 21.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, and 4.3 apg, while shooting 40 percent from the floor and 86 percent from the line in that stretch.
THAT’S OFFENSIVE: And we mean that in a good way. Of Isnelle Natabou’s eight rebounds in the win at Portland State, six of those came on the offensive glass, upping her Big Sky-leading total to 48 offensive rebounds for the year (Idaho State’s Laura Bello is second with 35). It marked the sixth time in 12 games that Natabou has grabbed at least five offensive rebounds in a game and the fourth time she has had more offensive rebounds that defensive rebounds in a contest.
HERE’S A QUARTER: Of Dean’s 19 points against the Vikings, 11 of those came in the first quarter alone, marking the sixth time that the senior has posted double-digit points in a single quarter this season — including a 14-point third period at Santa Clara — and the third time she has gotten off to a strong start with a double-digit first quarter.
18 AND COUNTING: And the beat goes on. Natabou’s 17 points at Portland State gave her double-digit points in her last 18 games dating back to last season, averaging 16.9 ppg (287 total) in that stretch while shooting .681 (126-for-185) from the field.
FOUR!: One of the most consistent and reliable shot-makers in the nation, Natabou enters this week’s contests ranked No. 4 in the NCAA in field goal percentage, shooting .667 on the season to trail only Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry (.712), Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes (.682), and Liberty’s Mya Berkman (.680).
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 15-point, 10-rebound effort in the win over Cal State Fullerton, Natabou collected her fifth double-double in her last seven games and her seventh of the season overall — ranking No. 14 in the NCAA in that category as of Jan. 3. In her seven double-double performances this year, the native of the Czech Republic is averaging 17.4 ppg, 13.3 rpg, and shooting 51-for-72 (.708) from the floor.
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. Following her first 12 performances in the green and gold, the Bakersfield, Calif., native has brought her total up to 1,650 career points, ranking No. 29 among active scorers across the country as of Jan. 3 and posting a total that would rank third on Sacramento State’s all-time scoring list, passing Maranne Johnson’s 1,627 points from 2014-18 and trailing Heidi Carroll’s second-place total of 1,733 from 1982-86.
LINE ‘EM UP… KNOCK ‘EM DOWN: A good part of Dean’s 28-point outburst against the Titans on Dec. 19 came from the line, where she finished the day a perfect 8-for-8 from the stripe in the win. The performance is tied for the 10th best single-game showing from the line by an individual in Sacramento State’s Division I history alongside 21 other such performances. The single-game record is held by Shelby Boudreaux, who was a flawless 14-of-14 from the line against Shippensburg on Jan. 5, 1996.
DEEP THOUGHTS: By Katie Peneueta. The Hornet sharpshooter has been torching the nets from beyond the arc in that stretch, hitting a combined 17-of-34 (.500) and shooting better than 43 percent during Sacramento State’s current win streak. Her six three’s in the win at CSUN on Dec. 17 tied her career high set at Northern Arizona on Feb. 3, 2022, and are tied for the third most by a Big Sky player in a single game this year — one of only six players in the league to hit at least six in a game.
THREE IS MORE THAN TWO: Trust us… Peneueta has certainly done the math. In 33 career games with the Hornets, the Vancouver, Wash., native has made a living from long distance, sinking 90 of her 95 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 previous 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. Entering this week’s games, her last 23 consecutive makes have all been from three-point range.
NO SLEEP TILL…: No rest for the weary in the Hornets’ win at Portland State as Natabou became the latest to go all 40 minutes in a game this season — her third game this year playing all 40 minutes (or more) when you include the 43-minute performance in overtime against UC Santa Barbara and her 40 minutes against UTEP. It is the eighth time a Sacramento State player has played every minute, joining Benthe Versteeg’s 40-minute performance at Cal State Fullerton and Peneueta’s four games of 40 minutes or more (at Santa Clara, vs. UC Santa Barbara, vs. UTEP, at Cal State Fullerton).
MINUTE WOMEN: Speaking of minutes, there haven’t been many players in the Big Sky — let alone the entire country — who have seen more time on the court this year than the Hornets’ Natabou (36.2 mpg), Peneueta (35.7 mpg), and Dean (35.6). The trio ranks second, third, and fourth, respectively, in the league in minutes entering the week and rank among the top 40 in the nation at 22nd, 31st, and 32nd, respectively.
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 year in the green and gold. Entering the week with 453 boards to her name, Natabou stands 117 shy of the all-time top-10 (Linda Simmons is 10th with 570 from 1977-81) and only 76 back of the Division I list (Emily Christensen is 10th with 529 from 2007-12).
BLOCKING IT OUT: Boasting the Big Sky Conference’s second-best scoring defense at 58.1 ppg allowed, the Hornets have also done work on the glass, holding opponents to a league-best 29.7 rebounds per game. The 27 rebounds by Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 21 are the third fewest surrendered by Sacramento State this season (25 allowed to Cal Poly and Fresno State are the fewest), while the 29 rebounds by Portland State on New Year’s Eve marked the ninth time in 12 games — and the fourth straight — that the Hornets have allowed fewer than 30 rebounds in a game this season.
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 seven single-game rebounding performances in the Big Sky this season, along with her 20 against UC Irvine (more on that in a minute) and 14 more against both UC Davis and UTEP. Natabou ranks among the top 50 in the nation in three of the four major rebounding categories: rebounds per game (18th), offensive rebounds per game (14th), and total rebounds (45th).
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. Nationally, the 20-rebound performance is tied for the 14th-highest in the NCAA for a single-game — and the most of any Big Sky player — as of Jan. 3, and stands as one of only twenty-six 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 performance is the best of the season by a Hornet, surpassing teammate Kahlaijah Dean’s 5-for-5 against UTEP on Nov. 26, and is the best single-game showing in the program’s Division I history, topping 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.
