SACRAMENTO — Riding back-to-back wins into a busy week, the Sacramento State women’s basketball team “hits the road” to open a stretch of three games in five days, taking on Causeway rival UC Davis on Tuesday (Nov. 22) at the Golden 1 Center — home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings — for the second straight season. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
THIS WEEK…
GAME #4
WHAT: Sacramento State (2-1) vs. UC Davis (2-1)
WHEN: Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022
TIME: 5 p.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: Golden 1 Center
WATCH: No live stream
LIVE STATS: UCDavisLiveStats.com (https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=437283&vislive=cssa)
TICKETS: Ticketmaster (https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1C005D5A9CEF408A)
BE A FOLLOWER: Fans can keep up with the latest in Sacramento State athletics by following us on Facebook (/SacramentoStateAthletics), Twitter (@HornetSports), and Instagram (@sacstateathletics). You can also follow the Hornets’ women’s basketball program on all three platforms at the handle @SacStateWBB.
IN THE RANKINGS: Neither Sacramento State, nor UC Davis are ranked nationally entering the 2022-23 season.
HORNETS PICKED FIFTH TO START 2022-23: Sacramento State was picked to finish fifth in the Big Sky Conference standings according to a vote of both the league’s head coaches and the media released by the conference office on Oct. 26. The Hornets, who finished seventh a season ago, received 146 points and a first-place vote in the media poll, while picking up 46 points in the coaches’ poll. Montana State, which finished tied for second in the regular season and won the Big Sky Tournament title, was picked atop both polls, earning nine of the 10 first-place votes from the coaches, and 24 first-place votes from the media that cover the league.
BIG SKY HIGH: The Hornets’ fifth-place prediction is the highest for the program since Sacramento State was picked to finish third in both the coaches and media polls prior to the 2015-16 campaign, after winning 18 games and advancing to the third round of the WNIT the season prior. The Hornets actually finished tied for second in the 2015-16 coaches poll with former member North Dakota, but the Fighting Hawks received one first-place vote to win the “tiebreaker.”
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.
ABOUT THE AGGIES: UC Davis enters the week with a 2-1 overall record following a seven-point win over Boise State at home in its only game last week… The Aggies opened the year with a win over Bethel College before falling at Washington… Senior guard Evanne Turner leads the team in scoring at 21.0 ppg, adding 4.0 rpg, shooting .467 from the field, and .441 from three-point range… She scored a career-high 26 points in the win over the Broncos… Junior transfer Tova Sabel is the only other Aggie in double figures at 10.0 ppg, while freshman Megan Norris is averaging a team-high 5.3 rpg.
SERIES NOTES: UC Davis holds a narrow 34-31 lead in the all-time series according to records that date back to 1970, but the Aggies have won the last five meetings since 2016… Sacramento State’s last win in the series came in 2015, posting a 92-77 victory at UC Davis… Only two of the last five meetings have been decided by single digits: a 79-72 decision in 2017 and a two-point double-overtime decision in 2019… The Hornets won 11 straight in the series from 1974-77, while the Aggies’ longest streak is seven consecutive wins from 1989-2005.
A “GOLDEN” OPPORTUNITY: For the second consecutive season, the Causeway battle with rival UC Davis will have a slightly different look to it as the Hornets and the Aggies will take the floor at the Golden 1 Center in the first game of a doubleheader with the two school’s men’s teams. Last year, UC Davis took the first-ever meeting, 75-46.
JUST FIVE MORE MINUTES, MOM: Sacramento State and UC Santa Barbara needed five more minutes to decide their back-and-forth clash at The Nest on Saturday (Nov. 19) — the first overtime game for the Hornets since a 76-73 win over Idaho on Jan. 22 of last season. It was the second-straight overtime win for Sacramento State, which had lost its previous four extra-time contests before its triumph over the Vandals.
COMEBACK KIDS: Slowly, but surely, the Hornets chipped away at an 11-point second-half deficit against the Gauchos en route to their overtime win, posting their largest comeback since trailing by 18 in the third quarter against San Jose State on Nov. 14 last season, eventually sinking the Spartans, 75-65, for the first win in the Mark Campbell era.
DIALED IN FROM DISTANCE: Sacramento State’s 13 three-pointers in the win over UC Santa Barbara marked the Hornets’ first double-digit make performance from beyond the arc since sinking 11 (for 20) against Northern Colorado on Jan. 24 last season and the most since draining 15 from distance in a victory at Eastern Washington on Feb. 1, 2020
TAKE IT AWAY, TAKE IT AWAY, TAKE IT AWAY NOW: The “giving season” may be upon it, but the Hornets were in a taking mood against the Gauchos, posting a season-high 12 steals — including three apiece by Benthe Versteeg and Katie Peneueta. The 12 steals were the most since Sacramento State had the same number against Sonoma State last season and the most against a Division I opponent since the Hornets finished with 13 against Eastern Washington on Jan. 30, 2021.
WHO SHOT OUT THE LIGHTS?: Sacramento State continues to shine from the field, hitting just over 47 percent from the field in the win over UC Santa Barbara on Saturday — marking the seventh time in the team’s last eight contests dating back to last year that the Hornets have shot better than 40 percent from the floor as a team.
LET IT FLY: Sacramento State enters the week leading the Big Sky in field goal percentage (.497) and ranking No. 11 in the NCAA in that category as of Nov. 21, while the Hornets’ sharpshooters also stand atop the league rankings, pacing the conference by shooting .426 from three-point range, standing No. 12 in the country.
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’ Katie Peneueta (40.42 mpg — including all 45 minutes against UC Santa Barbara on Saturday), Kahlaijah Dean (38.53 mpg), and Isnelle Natabou (37.91 mpg). The trio ranks first, third, and fourth, respectively, in the league in minutes while all standing among the top 25 in the NCAA: Peneueta ranks third in the nation, Dean ranks 10th in the country, and Natabou ranks 24th in the NCAA.
HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE KAHLAIJAH?: A Rubik’s Cube has 27 blocks that one has to maneuver in order to solve the puzzle. Senior Kahlaijah Dean has proven to pose a similar problem to opposing defenses over the last two games, scoring 27 points in each of her last two games to help the Hornets to victory. Dean has hit 22-of-37 (.595) from the field en route to those two performances, including 7-of-11 from three-point range, leading the Big Sky in scoring and ranking No. 20 in the nation at 22.7 ppg entering this week’s contests.
GIVING NO QUARTER: Of Dean’s 27 points against UC Santa Barbara, 10 of those — en route to 16 first-half points — came in the first quarter alone, marking the second time this season that she has gone for double-digits in a single quarter along with her 16 point third quarter at Santa Clara. Isnelle Natabou joins her in that double-digit club, finishing with 10 in the first period against UC Irvine on Nov. 12 and adding 11 more in the opening 10 minutes against the Broncos on Nov. 14.
SHE SLICES, SHE DICES, SHE DISHES, SHE SCORES: Does she julienne? We don’t know, but when she’s not putting the ball in the basket, Kahlaijah Dean is doing her best trying to help her teammates do so, averaging 6.7 assists per game — standing second in the league and No. 16 in nation entering the week. She is one of only two players in the nation averaging at least 22.7 ppg and 6.7 assists, joined in that select group by Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who is fifth in the NCAA at 26.8 ppg and No. 14 at 6.8 apg.
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 three performances in the green and gold, the Bakersfield, Calif., native has brought her total up to 1,493 career points, ranking tied for No. 31 among active scorers across the country entering the week and posting a total that would rank fifth on Sacramento State’s all-time scoring list.
GOING BIG IN THE BIG SKY: Dean’s two 27-point performances are the most by a Big Sky Conference player entering the week (as of Nov. 21), while Natabou’s 23 at Santa Clara stand sixth. In addition, Dean’s two games with 11 makes from the field against the Broncos and UC Santa Barbara — along with Natabou’s 10 makes against Santa Clara — hold down the top three spots in the conference, while Dean’s nine assists against the Broncos are the second-most in the league.
RIDING WITH RANDHAWA: The senior transfer from Utah State made her presence known in a big way against UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 19, posting her Sacramento State career high with 17 points to go with three rebounds and a pair of assists. She hit 6-of-11 from the field — including five from beyond the arc — en route to her total, nine of which came in the fourth quarter as the Hornets rallied to tie the Gauchos at 60 and force overtime.
THREE IS MORE THAN TWO: And Katie Peneueta has certainly done the math. In 25 career games with the Hornets, the Vancouver, Wash., native has made a living from long distance, sinking 65 of her 69 career field goals from behind the three-point line — her last coming as the game-tying triple with two seconds remaining in regulation against UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 19. Entering the week, Peneueta’s last 28 makes from the field have all been three-pointers as her last two-pointer came at Northern Arizona with 21 seconds left in a 76-62 Sacramento State victory on Feb. 3 last year, finishing 7-of-10 from the floor overall and 6-of-8 from three-point range.
THE PENEUETA IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD: Peneueta enters the week ranked among the top five in the Big Sky in five different categories, leading the league in minutes (see above) and blocks per game (2.00), standing third in three-point percentage (.529) and three-pointers per game (3.00), and fourth in rebounding (7.0 rpg) to go along with her 9.7 ppg.
ALMOST AUTOMATIC: Get her close and Isnelle Natabou rarely misses. The junior from the Czech Republic is a combined 23-for-32 on the year, ranking fifth in the NCAA in field goal percentage at .719 through the team’s first three games and standing as one of only seven players across the country to enter the week shooting better than 70 percent overall from the field. It’s right where Natabou left off in 2021-22, when she shot .643 (182-283) from the field in her first year with the Hornets, ranking second on the school’s all-time single-season list (Sue Digitale shot .651 in 1976-77).
ARE YOU BOARD?: Natabou clearly wasn’t in the Hornets’ season opener against UC Irvine, as her 20 rebounds were the most since she had 22 against Idaho in an overtime win on Jan. 22 of last year and was her third career game with 20-or-more rebounds. Nationally, the 20-rebound performance is tied for the fourth-highest in the NCAA for a single-game — and the most of any Big Sky Conference player — as of Nov. 21, and stands as one of only ten 20-rebound games across the country entering the week.
