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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BEGINS SEASON-ENDING THREE GAME HOMESTAND AGAINST IDAHO STATE 2/25/2009     After recording a milestone fifth Big Sky Conference victory against Northern Arizona, Sacramento State returns home to attempt to erase Idaho State’s perfect lifetime record against the Hornets.     Earlier this season in Pocatello, the Bengals held on for a seven point victory, as the Hornets trimmed what was a 14 point lead down to six points on three occasions, but could get no closer. Oana Iacovita (pronounced WAH-na ya-ko-VEETS-a), led the Bengals with 19 points, while Jenna Brown added a near triple-double with 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.     The Bengals enter the contest losers of their last two games, falling to Montana State (81-72) and Montana (73-39) on the road. They have lost three of their last four, picking up a win at Eastern Washington (69-59) on Feb. 14. LOOKING BACK: SACRAMENTO STATE 83, NORTHERN ARIZONA 80 (OT)     Sophomores Jasmine Cannady (Sacramento, Calif.) and Emily Christensen (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) each scored 16 points off the bench to lead the Sacramento State women’s basketball team to a 83-80 victory over Northern Arizona on Saturday, Feb. 21 at the Walkup Skydome.     With the win, the Hornets improve to 7-19 overall, 5-8 inside of the Big Sky Conference, while the Lumberjacks fall to 7-19, 5-8 in Big Sky play. The five conference wins mark the most in school history since joining the Division I ranks.     In a back and forth contest, Northern Arizona held a six point lead early, but the two team’s would be separated by four points or less the remainder of the first half. The Hornets took their first lead of the game, 23-22, on a three-pointer by sophomore Tika Koshiyama-Diaz (San Jose, Calif.) with 6:30 remaining in the half. The Lumberjacks took a 36-35 lead into intermission.     The team’s traded the lead to start the second half of play, with Cannady nailing a three-pointer with 13:03 remaining in regulation to give the Hornets a three-point lead at 47-44. The Hornets would continue to hold a slim lead, 53-51, with 10:05 remaining before NAU went on a 10-2 run over the next 2:34 to take a 61-55 lead with 7:31 remaining. The lead would grow to 66-58 with 5:43 remaining before the Hornets would mount a run of their own, starting with back-to-back three-pointers by freshman Nneka Payne (Auburn, Wash.) and sophomore Sami Field-Polisso (Mountain View, Calif.) to pull the Hornets back to within two at 66-64 with 4:33 remaining.     With the score 70-67 in favor of the Lumberjacks with :55 seconds remaining, junior Erika Edwards (Redmond, Wash.) drove the paint, laying the ball in while being fouled. She converted on the foul shot, tying the score at 70-70. Following a missed jumper by NAU point guard Sade Cunningham, the Hornets had a final chance to end it in regulation, but junior Charday Hunt (Portland, Ore.) left her free throw jumper short, and the game went to overtime.     In the extra session, Edwards scored five straight points on a pair of free throws and a deep corner three-pointer, giving the Hornets a 75-70 lead with 4:08 remaining. Northern Arizona cut the lead to one point at 79-78 before Christensen converted on a driving layup to once again push the lead to three. The Lumberjacks cut it to one once again on a jumper from Katie Schafer, and then got the ball right back as the Hornets turned it over.     NAU had three chances to retake the lead, but they could not convert, and Edwards pulled down the third miss. She hit the first of two free throws to make it a two-point game, 82-80, with five seconds remaining, but Christensen was able to corral the second missed foul shot, feeding the ball to Payne, who made the second of two foul shots to make the score 83-80 with three seconds remaining. Cannady stole the full court inbound, and the Hornets sealed the victory in the Skydome, their second win in the dome in as many seasons.     Edwards finished with 15 points, with all of her points coming in the second half and overtime. Field-Polisso added 11 points, while senior Atty Boyer (Sacramento, Calif.) pitched in seven. The Lumberjacks held Hornet leading scorer Hunt, who averaged 14.5 points per game entering the contest, to just three-points on 1-of-10 shooting.     The Hornets outrebounded the Lumberjacks 45-34, including 15 offensive rebounds that led to 13 second chance points. Sacramento State’s bench outscored NAU 43-11, while Northern Arizona led the Hornets in points in the paint 36-18.     BOYER AND EDWARDS ENTER 500 REBOUND CLUB     Senior Atty Boyer grabbed her 500th career rebound against Northern Colorado on Jan. 29, becoming just the seventh member of the school’s 500 rebound club. Boyer, who has 866 career points and 523 rebounds, is just the fifth player in Hornet history to record 800 points and 500 rebounds. She needs just two more points to enter the school’s all-time top 10 scoring list.     She has 12 career double-doubles including five this season, and has posted 42 career double-figure scoring games.     Junior Erika Edwards became the eighth member of the 500 rebound club on Feb. 21 against Northern Arizona. Edwards has now collected 506 rebounds during her three-year career. UNCHARTERED WATERS     For the first time since entering the Division I ranks, the Hornets have collected five conference victories on the seasons. Previously, the Hornets had won four conference games an amazing nine times without picking up the elusive fifth win. The three conference road wins also mark the most since joining Division I. CLEANING UP THE GLASS     Sacramento State junior Erika Edwards and senior Atty Boyer rank fourth and seventh in the Big Sky conference in rebounding. Edwards, who is averaging 8.0 boards per game, also ranks third in the Big Sky in defensive rebounds (5.4 per game), and first in double-digit rebounding games with 10. Boyer (6.7 rpg) has had eight 10-rebound games during the season, which ranks third in the conference. SHE’S BACK...     Following offseason knee surgery, sophomore Emily Christensen made her season debut against San Diego State on Dec. 28. The school’s all-time leader in career and single-season three-point field goal percentage, Christensen has hit 8-of-19 from beyond the three-point arc since her return. HUNT’S MULTIFACETED GAME HEADING HORNET CHARGE     Junior Charday Hunt, a native of Portland, Ore., is having a breakout season during her second year in the Green and Gold. Hunt, who stands 5-foot-10, leads the team in scoring (14.0 ppg) and steals (34), is second on the team in blocked shots (14). Hunt has cracked the top ten in school history in career free throw percentage, as her 80.3 percent career mark ranks third in school history.     On the season, Hunt ranks third in the Big Sky in scoring, second in free-throw percentage (82.0 percent), 13th in steals (1.28 spg), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (38.1 percent), eighth in three-point field goals per game (1.54) and 11th in minutes played (32.4 mpg).     Inside of Big Sky play, Hunt ranks fourth in the conference in scoring, averaging 15.6 points per game, while ranking second in three-point field goal percentage (43.4), sixth in free throw percentage (81.2), and sixth in three-pointers made per game (1.77). CONFERENCE FREE THROW SUCCESS     Sacramento State is fourth in the Big Sky during conference play in free throw percentage, hitting free throws at a 74.5 percent clip during conference play. Sophomore Tika Koshiyama-Diaz (16-of-18, 88.9 percent) and junior Charday Hunt (56-of-69, 81.2 percent) leading the Hornet charge. RECORD SETTERS     Sacramento State hit a school record 14 three-pointers in the team’s 88-86 overtime victory over Montana State on Jan. 8. The Hornets led at the half 44-32, after shooting 9-of-13 from beyond the three-point arc in the first half. They finished the game 14-of-24 from three-point distance (58.3 percent), and made one more three-pointer than traditional field goals over the course of the game. FIELD-POLISSO CLIMBING UP THREE-POINT CHARTS     Sophomore Sami Field-Polisso has cracked the top 10 in Hornet history in career three-pointers made in less than two seasons in the Green and Gold. Field-Polisso has hit 46 three’s so far this season, giving her 97 career three-pointers, placing her in sixth place all-time, with her sights set on fifth place (Stephanie Cherry, 2003-07, 98) and fourth place (Julie Wastell, 1995-99, 99). Field-Polisso is also on the all-time list for three-point attempts, and is currently in fifth place in school history with 332 career attempts. INJURY REPORT     Freshman Alex White is questionable with a recurring foot injury. Junior Kelli Davis continues to deal with post-concussion issues, and is out indefinitely. She is likely to make her return during the 2009-10 season.     Junior Erika Edwards has also been playing through a number of injuries, including a broken nose from earlier in the season that was reinjured at Pacific on Dec. 22. She wore a protective face mask for the first time this season against Montana State on Jan. 8, and will wear the mask the rest of the season. PINK ZONE The WBCA Pink Zone™ initiative is a global, unified effort for the WBCA’s nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. The week set aside for this year’s initiative is February 13-22, however many schools are participating outside of that window due to scheduling conflicts.  HORNETS ON THE AIR     22 of the Hornets 29 contests will be broadcast on www.hornetsports.com. Assistant Media Relations Director J.D. Fox will have the call on road contests, while Media Relations Director Brian Berger will handle home contests this season. BIG SKY TV...FREE AS FREE CAN BE     Every Hornet home contest, as well as every Big Sky road contest will be broadcast on Big Sky TV, located on the web at www.bigskytv.org. After two years as a pay service, Broadcast International and the Big Sky Conference will be broadcasting the games free of charge.