Junior Samantha Miller

After enduring an 0-13 record through its non-conference portion of the schedule, the Sacramento State women’s basketball will look for a fresh start as the team opens up Big Sky Conference play this week. The Hornets, who have dropped each of their last 23 games dating back to last season, welcome both Idaho State (Friday, Jan. 11, 7:05 p.m.) and Weber State (Saturday, Jan. 12, 7:05 p.m.) into Hornet Gym.

The team played three times last week, falling at home to Army (64-59) and Gonzaga (89-55) before closing the week with a loss at Saint Mary’s (88-51). Sacramento State’s five-point loss against Army was the team’s smallest margin of defeat this season. The Hornets’ previous victory of any kind came at home on Jan. 27 of last season against Portland State.

Idaho State will enter Friday’s contest with a 7-6 overall record. The Bengals, who will also be playing their first Big Sky game of the season, have won four of their last six games after opening the year with a 2-4 mark. Last week, ISU played twice at home, defeating Cal Poly, 73-59, before falling to Wyoming, 74-59. Earlier this season, Sacramento State lost on the road to Wyoming, 101-47. Since joining the Div. I ranks, the Hornets are 0-10 against Idaho State.

Weber State (10-5, 2-0 Big Sky) enters the week having won each of its last five games including home victories over conference-foes Portland State (95-74) and Eastern Washington (73-56). The Wildcats are 3-1 on the road this season including wins over Boise State, Kansas and San Jose State. Weber State has won nine of the 10 meetings between the two teams with the Hornets’ only victory coming at home, 66-44, two seasons ago.

Head Coach Carolyn Jenkins

On May 30, 2000, Carolyn Jenkins became the fifth Sacramento State women’s basketball coach in the program’s 35-year history. Jenkins, now in her second season, owns a career 3-36 record. The Fresno, Calif., native came to the Hornets after serving four years (1996-2000) as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Michigan State. Prior to the that, the 32-year old Fresno Basketball Hall of Fame electee was an assistant at Stanford from 1991-95.

While at Michigan State, the 1990 graduate of UC Berkeley spearheaded a recruiting class that was ranked among the top-25 in the country on three occasions (1996-97 through 1998-99). During her stint at Stanford, the team reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament all four years including two Final Four appearances (1991-92 and 1994-95) and a national championship in 1991-92.

In addition to her eight years of coaching at the intercollegiate level, she was also a floor coach for both the U.S. Pan American team (1993) and the U.S. Senior National Team (1994).

A Look at Last Week

Sacramento State opened the week on New Year’s Eve with a 64-59 loss to Army in Hornet Gym. The Black Knights, who trailed just once (11-9 at the 15:02 mark of the first half), were led by Katie Macfarlane’s team-high 22 points and 13 rebounds. The Hornets went on a late 7-0 run to slice the Army lead to five (62-57) with 36 seconds remaining, but could get no closer the rest of the way. Kendra Yancey recorded a career and team season-best 28 points as the junior finished 9-of-18 from the floor. Sophomore Alyson Thurman added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Wednesday, Ashley Burke (22) and Jessica Malone (21) combined for 43 points to lead Gonzaga to an 89-55 victory in Hornet Gym. After a Yancey jumper put Sacramento State ahead, 2-0, Gonzaga ran off the next 10 points and never looked back. The Hornets would get no closer than three points of the Bulldog lead the rest of the way as Gonzaga opened up a lead as large as 37 points during the second half. Yancey again led the team in scoring with 18 points while sophomore Sydney Gatson recorded career highs in both points (17) and rebounds (eight).

Saturday, Sacramento State dropped to 0-11 against Saint Mary’s in the Div. I era after losing to the Gaels, 88-51, in McKeon Pavilion. Jermisha and Jerkisha Dosty scored 19 points apiece to lead four Gaels in double figures. The Hornets jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead before Saint Mary’s used an 18-0 run to go up, 20-6, and take control of the game. The Hornets, who were whistled for a season-high 23 fouls, were led by Danielle Iceman’s 16 points. Yancey added eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

Tough Times

It’s no secret that the Hornets are in a rebuilding process and have struggled to find their form this season. The team has lost each of its 13 games and has dropped 23-straight dating back to last season. The 0-13 start and the losing streak are both program worsts as the team has not won since defeating Portland State at home on Jan. 27, 2001. Sacramento State has lost by an average of 34.4 points per game and has yet to eclipse the 60-point barrier. The Hornets’ largest lead of the season (five points) came in the first half against Air Force. Besides a five-point loss to Army and an 11-point loss to UC Riverside, the Hornets have been outscored by at least 21 points in every other game.

Sacramento State currently ranks last in the Big Sky in 11 categories including scoring offense (49.1 ppg), scoring defense (83.5 ppg), field goal percentage (.301), rebounding margin (-5.9) and turnover margin (-13.23). The Hornets’ most glaring weaknesses have been field goal percentage and turnovers. The team has converted on just 212 of its 705 field goal attempts. Sacramento State has shot above .400 once (.421 at San Diego on Dec. 19) and has recorded more than 20 field goals on only two occasions (24 vs. both San Diego and Army). Additionally, the team has turned the ball over 382 times, which breaks down to an average of 29.4 miscues per game. In fact, the team has yet to commit less than 20 turnovers in any game this season.

Breakout Week For Yancey

After struggling through the first 10 games of the season, junior guard Kendra Yancey broke out last week. In three games, the Fresno, Calif., native averaged 18.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.7 trips to the free throw line per game. Yancey knocked down 15-of-20 shots from the free throw line and went 7-of-23 from the three-point line.

Against Army on Monday, the transfer from Fresno City Community College scored a career and team season-high 28 points, including four three-pointers, five assists and three steals. Yancey almost single-handedly brought the Hornets back, scoring all seven points of a 7-0 run that sliced the Army lead from 12 to five points with 36 seconds remaining. In fact, Yancey scored the team’s final 11 points and 28 of the team’s 59-point output.

Against Gonzaga on Wednesday, Yancey again led the team in scoring, finishing with 18 points, two assists, one steal and one blocked shot. She followed up that effort on Saturday against Saint Mary’s with eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds. It marked the first time all season in which Yancey had led the team in rebounding.

Through 13 games this year, Yancey, who has led the Hornets in scoring four times, is averaging 9.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

Crossing Over To The Hardwood

After spending the entire fall with the Sacramento State soccer team, senior Lori Kerswell was added to the basketball roster prior to the San Jose State game on Nov. 30. The Citrus Heights, Calif., native, who was a two-time all-Big Sky Conference soccer selection and is second in program history in career assists (12), is averaging 5.1 points in 20.3 minutes per game. Earlier this year against Air Force, she led the team with 17 points.

Fresh Faces

Unbelievably, the Hornets return zero players from last season’s roster as the 2001-02 team features a school-record 10 newcomers. Sophomore guard Sydney Gatson, who redshirted last year after back surgery, returns to the active roster after playing all 27 games during the 1999-00 campaign. Sophomore forward Tola Tallman will take a medical redshirt this year after averaging 7.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last season.

Of the 10 newcomers, six are junior college transfers, two are freshmen and two are crossover athletes. The current roster features six guards, three forwards and two centers. Besides the two freshmen, the team is also comprised of two redshirts, three sophomores, three juniors and two seniors.

Gatson is Back

After redshirting last year and missing the entire offseason (including fall practices) with a bad back, sophomore point guard Sydney Gatson has started all but one game and is averaging a team-leading 32.0 minutes per game. The Concord, Calif., native didn’t play in the Hornets’ exhibition game against Holy Names and hadn’t played in any organized game since March 4, 2000. She is currently fourth on the team in points (85, 6.5 per game) and has gone to the free throw line 51 times (an average of 3.9 trips per game), converting on 34 of those opportunities. Gatson recorded career highs in points (17) and rebounds (eight) against Gonzaga last week. She had never scored more than 10 points in a game prior to that effort.

Cleaning The Glass

After leading the team in rebounding just once through the first five games, sophomore forward Alyson Thurman has become a monster on the glass of late. The Carson City, Nev., native has paced the team in rebounding in seven of the last eight games while averaging 8.5 rebounds per contest over that span. She had a streak of seven-consecutive games as the team’s leading rebounder come to a close against Saint Mary’s after Kendra Yancey grabbed 11 boards. Overall, Thurman leads the team with 6.9 rebounds per game, a mark that ranks her seventh in the Big Sky Conference. Thurman, whose 16 rebounds against San Jose State were the most by a Hornet this season, has grabbed at least five rebounds in all but two games this year.

Notables

Sophomore power forward Danielle Iceman currently leads the team in scoring (10.5 points per game), field goal percentage (.447), free throws made (52) and attempted (70), offensive rebounds (28) and field goals made (42)...freshman Kristine Knowlton is first on the team and tied for fourth in the Big Sky with 1.46 blocked shots per game...junior Crystal Conley has been cleared to play after missing the past four games with walking pneumonia...Ebonie Kerley quit the team prior to the Nov. 30 game against San Jose State...Iceman and Yancey are the only two players to start all 13 games this season...Sacramento State is going to the free throw line an average of 20.2 times per game, converting on 67.6 percent of its opportunities (177-262)...freshman Tamica Estrella picked up her first start of the season against Gonzaga...Yancey ranks eighth in the Big Sky in assists (2.85 per game) and tied for eighth in steals (1.46 per game).