Junior Dolores Olivarez

The Sacramento State women’s basketball team (2-15, 0-4 Big Sky Conference) returns home this week after dropping road games to Idaho State and Weber State last week. The Hornets are in the midst of a five-game losing streak and have not won since defeating San Jose Christian on Jan. 9. Sacramento State welcomes Montana State (Thursday, Jan. 30, 7:05 p.m.) and Montana (Saturday, Feb. 1, 7:05 p.m.) to the Hornet Nest this week.

Both Sacramento State victories this season have come at home over Notre Dame de Namur and San Jose Christian. The Hornets are 2-8 at home and have played seven of their last 10 games in the Hornet Nest. Sacramento State will look to snap a pair of losing streaks this week as the team has dropped 14-consecutive games against Big Sky competition at home and 28-straight games to conference opposition overall.

The Hornets, who are 0-15 when being outscored in the first half and 0-11 when the opponent scores first, are a combined 2-23 against the Montana schools since joining the Div. I ranks.

Montana State has won three-consecutive games and will enter Thursday’s contest with a 12-4 overall record and a 3-0 mark in the Big Sky. The first-place Bobcats have defeated Weber State, Idaho State and Montana (all at home) for its three victories in conference play. Since joining the Div. I ranks in 1991-92, Sacramento State is 2-11 against Montana State and the Bobcats have won each of the last five meetings between the two teams.

Montana enters the week with a 10-6 overall record and a 1-2 mark in the Big Sky. After opening conference play with a victory over Idaho State, the Grizzlies have lost at home to Weber State and on the road to Montana State. Montana travels to Northern Arizona on Thursday before facing the Hornets Saturday night. Sacramento State has never defeated Montana (0-12) as the Grizzlies have won 11 of the 12 meetings by at least 10 points.

Head Coach Carolyn Jenkins

Carolyn Jenkins is currently in her third season as head coach at Sacramento State. Jenkins, who became the fifth Sacramento State women’s basketball coach in the program’s 35-year history, 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 Fresno, Calif., native and 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.

The Hornets’ women’s basketball team currently has 10 players averaging a 3.0 gpa or better. Four members of last year’s team (Crystal Conley, Danielle Iceman, Lori Kerswell and Kristine Knowlton) were named to the Big Sky Conference all-academic team.

One Down, Two To Go

Entering the season, Sacramento State set its sights on erasing three dubious losing streaks. The Hornets took care of one of them, snapping a 44-game losing streak with a 77-55 victory over Notre Dame de Namur on Dec. 21. The streak was the second-longest in NCAA Div. I history as Long Island University holds the all-time mark with a 58-game losing streak that lasted from 1986-89. Prior to the win over Notre Dame de Namur, the team’s last victory came at home against Portland State (75-56) on Jan. 27, 2001.

The Hornets will now focus their attention on snapping a 24-game road losing streak and a 28-game losing streak against Big Sky Conference competition. The team’s last victory on the road came in an 89-83 win at UC Riverside on Jan. 20, 2001. Since that time, the closest the Hornets have come to victory on the road was a 64-60 setback at Montana State on Feb. 9, 2001. The win over Portland State on Jan. 27, 2001, was also the last time the Hornets defeated a Big Sky team.

Halftime Tells The Tale

Through 17 games this season, Sacramento State is 2-0 when leading at halftime and 0-15 when trailing at the break. The Hornets held halftime leads against both Notre Dame de Namur and San Jose Christian, and were victorious in both games.

In the team’s 15 losses, Sacramento State is being outscored by an average of 14.0 points in the first half. Besides the Hornets’ game against UC Riverside (where the team trailed, 27-26), Sacramento State has been outscored by at least five points in the first half of every loss. The team has been down double figures at the half seven times, including a 53-17 halftime deficit against UCLA.

Overall this season, Sacramento State is being outscored by an average of 9.3 points in the first half and 6.4 in the second half. Compared to last year, the Hornets were outscored by 18.4 points in the first stanza and 13.1 points in the second.

Hardaway Is Back

After a two-year hiatus away from basketball, junior Nichole Hardaway has returned in fine fashion. Hardaway, who had been academically ineligible since Jan. 6, 2001, returned to action against Saint Mary’s (Jan. 2) after her fall grades were released. In that game against the Gaels, Hardaway posted a double-double, tallying 11 points and a team-leading 13 rebounds. She followed up that effort against Southern Utah with four points and a team-best 12 rebounds.

Hardaway posted her second double-double of the season against San Diego State with a career-high 15 points to go along with 13 rebounds. Against Eastern Washington, Hardaway posted her fourth double-figure rebounding game with 11. The Berkeley, Calif., native has led the team in rebounding in five of the eight games she has appeared and is currently posting an 8.1 rebounds-per-game average.

The Berkeley, Calif., native played all 26 games, including 18 starts, as a freshman during the 1999-00 season. She appeared in 10 games (seven starts) as a sophomore during the 2000-01 campaign until being deemed ineligible midway through the season. Hardaway combined to average 5.7 points and a 6.3 rebounds per game over a season and a half. She was the team’s leading rebounder and ranked eighth in the Big Sky Conference as a freshman with 6.7 rebounds per game.

Iceman Heating Up

After averaging 7.7 points per game and shooting just 29.1 percent from the field through the first 12 games of the season, junior power forward Danielle Iceman has begun to heat up. Iceman, who led the Hornets and was 14th in the conference with 10.6 points per game last season, has averaged 11.4 points while shooting 58.3 percent from the field over her last five contests. The Redding, Calif., native matched her season high with 16 points against both San Diego State and Idaho State. Against Eastern Washington, Iceman tallied the second double-double of her career with 11 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds. Over the five-game span, Iceman has led or tied for the team lead in scoring four times.

Injuries Affecting the Starting Lineup

Various injuries and factors have caused Sacramento State players to miss a combined 53 games this season. Despite the fact the Hornets have used the same starting lineup each of the last games (Sydney Gatson, Diane Peterson, Sarah Craig, Danielle Iceman and Kristine Knowlton), head coach Carolyn Jenkins has been forced to use nine different starting lineups this year.

The only constant in the starting five has been Peterson, who is the only Hornet to start all 17 games this season. Other than Peterson, only Iceman (14), Gatson (13) and Craig (12) have started at least 10 games.

Freshman power forward Katelyn Ciampi started the first seven games of the season before suffering a stress fracture that has kept her out of action for the past 10 contests. Junior forward Alyson Thurman, who was the Hornets’ top rebounder and third-leading scorer last year, will miss the 2002-03 season with a back injury. The injury is so severe, doctors still aren’t sure if she will be able to play basketball again.

Junior power forward/center Nichole Hardaway, who sat out nearly two years because of academics, missed the first nine games of the season until being reinstated prior to the game against Saint Mary’s. Junior guard Dolores Olivarez, who redshirted last season because of an ACL injury, sat out four games this year with a sprained foot.

Junior guard Sydney Gatson missed the first three games of the year with a back injury and freshman guard Sarah Craig sat out two games because of religious convictions. Gatson broke her nose this past Saturday at Weber State in the early stages of the second half. The injury will not cause her to miss any games, but she will probably be fitted with a protective mask.

Freshman guard Tess Thompson suffered an ACL injury in practice two weeks ago and will miss the rest of the season while freshman guard Kate Conarroe has missed the past two games due to illness.

Double-Digit Craig

Freshman Sarah Craig, who along with freshman Megan Moon became the first two Canadians to appear in a Sacramento State uniform since the program joined the Div. I ranks for the 1991-92 season, has started her intercollegiate career in impressive fashion.

Among team leaders, the Calgary, Alberta, native is currently first in scoring (13.3 points per game), field-goal percentage (.427), minutes (34.9 per game), offensive rebounds (41 total, 2.7 per game) and steals (26, 1.7 per game), and second in rebounding (5.7 per game). Despite scoring a season-low six points this past Saturday at Weber State, Craig has still scored in double figures in all but two games she has appeared. She posted a season-high 20 against both Hawai’i and Air Force. She has scored 199 points this season, 57 points more than the Hornets’ second-leading scorer (Danielle Iceman with 142 points), despite missing two games earlier in the year because of religious convictions (Sunday games against UCLA and Nevada).

Craig has led the team in scoring six times and rebounding four times. Among Big Sky Conference leaders, she currently ranks seventh in scoring, tied for eighth in steals, and 10th in rebounding. Craig and Eastern Washington’s Kathleen Nygaard are the only two players in the Big Sky to rank among the top 10 in steals, points and rebounds.

Team/Player Notes

Freshman Megan Moon converted on a career-high four three-pointers at Idaho State...junor Diane Peterson failed to knock down at least one three-pointer for just the second time this season in the Hornets’ loss to Idaho State...after averaging 10.5 points through the first 14 games of the season, junior Sydney Gatson has combined for just six points over the last three games...among conference leaders, Sacramento State is tied with Weber State for the least three-pointers allowed (58).