Sacramento State will begin its quest with two homes game this week, beginning with Eastern Washington on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 7:05 p.m. The squad will complete the week against Portland State on Saturday, Feb. 14, at 7:05 p.m. The Hornets will be looking for their first Big Sky home win since defeating Portland State, 60-55, during the 2000-01 season.

The Hornets currently sit in seventh place in the Big Sky standings, one game behind Montana State for the final spot in the postseason tournament. With a loss to the Bobcats on Jan. 29, the Hornets are actually two games behind MSU due to the tiebreaker rule.

Sacramento State’s contest against Eastern Washington on Thursday and Portland State on Saturday will be broadcast live on www.hornetsports.com by clicking on the “Live Audio” link and scrolling down to the women’s basketball schedule.

In the Hornets’ last meeting against the Eagles, sophomore Katelyn Ciampi scored a team-high 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor but Sacramento State fell to EWU, 67-49, at Reese Court.

In the last contest against the Vikings, junior Tyeisha Brown scored a career-high 24 points while the Hornets shot 47.9 percent from the floor as Sacramento State earned its only victory of the season with a 56-50 win over Portland State at the Stott Center. The game marked the first win for the Hornets under first-year head coach Dan Muscatell.

A Look at the Latest Action

On Feb. 7, sophomore Katelyn Ciampi tallied a team-high 11 points and freshman Jessica Voisard grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, but Northern Arizona hit five late free throws to defeat Sacramento State, 60-51, at the Hornets Nest.

Ciampi, a native of Martinez, Calif., was the only Hornet to score in double figures after going 3-of-8 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. It marked the fourth time Ciampi led the Hornets in scoring this season. Junior Tyeisha Brown also added eight points and seven rebounds.

In the first half, NAU took a 5-0 lead at the 18:25 mark before Sacramento State used an 8-3 run to tie the contest (8-8) with 15:29 remaining. After the contest’s second tie, the Hornets took their first lead (14-13) on a pair of free throws by junior Samania Black (10:09). The Lumberjacks regained the lead, 16-14, on a three pointer by Natalie Metz (8:30) and used a 12-5 run to lead 28-19 at halftime.

In the second half, NAU increased its advantage to 32-21 (18:31) before the Hornets used an 8-3 run to make it 35-29 with 14:24 remaining. After the teams traded buckets for the next 2:16, the Lumberjacks built their biggest lead of the contest, 55-39, after a 16-6 run, with 4:10 remaining. Sacramento State made its final push with a 7-0 run to make it 55-49 (1:03) but Lacey Tolbert made 5-of-6 free throws to seal the game for the Lumberjacks.

Overall, Sacramento State went 19-for-57 (.333) from the floor while Northern Arizona ended the contest shooting 18-for-50 (.360). The Lumberjacks also finished 18-of-23 (.783) from the charity stripe compared to the Hornets’ 12-for-21 (.571) performance.

A LOOK AT THIS WEEK''S OPPONENTS

Eastern Washington is 11-9 overall and 4-3 in the Big Sky after splitting its Montana homestand with a win over Montana State (Feb. 5) and a loss to Montana (Feb. 7).

In the game against Montana State, Julie Page led the Eagles with 23 points as EWU defeated the Bobcats, 80-75, at Reese Court. Kathleen Nygaard (17 points, 13 rebounds) and Ashley Jamison (17 points) also contributed to the squad. Despite shooting only 39.2 percent from the floor (20-51), EWU converted 35-of-48 free throws. The two teams combined for 78 free throw attempts while six players fouled out of the game.

Against Montana, Brooklyn Lorenzen tallied a game-high 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field while converting 9-of-10 free throws as the Lady Griz defeated the Eagles, 67-61, at Reese Court. Nygaard led EWU with 14 points while Joanna Chad (11) and Stephanie Ulmer (11) also scored in double-figures. Montana shot only 35.0 percent from the floor (21-60) but capitalized on 21-of-24 free throws compared to EWU’s 9-of-13.

Portland State is 3-18 overall and 0-7 in the Big Sky after dropping contests to Montana (Feb. 5) and Montana State (Feb. 7).

Against Montana, Julie Deming finished with a game-high 25 points as the Lady Griz defeated the Vikings, 90-62, at the Stott Center. Sarah Hedgepeth led Portland State with 18 points while Carrie Mitchell (14), Heather Arns (13) and Tiffanie Ward (10) also cracked double digits in scoring.

Against Montana State, Arns scored a career-high 23 points and hit 5-of-6 shots from behind the arc, but Montana State defeated the Vikings, 81-75, at the Stott Center. Katie Burrows led MSU with a game-high 35 points after shooting 13-of-20 from the field and 9-of-12 from the charity stripe.

HEAD COACH DAN MUSCATELL

Dan Muscatell became the sixth Sacramento State women’s basketball head coach in the program’s 38-year history, after spending the past four seasons as an assistant at Oregon (1999-03). He earned his first win with the Hornets on Jan. 14 with a 56-50 win at Portland State.

While at Oregon, Muscatell was involved in all aspects of the program, including the coordination of recruiting efforts and the coaching of offense and defense. He also worked with both the perimeter and post players.

The Everett, Wash., native was responsible for bringing in one of the nation’s top recruiting classes in 2001, a six-member class that was ranked 17th in the nation by All-Star Girls Report. Muscatell also coached or recruited current WNBA players Edneisha Curry (Phoenix Mercury), Jenny Mowe (L.A. Sparks), Angelina Wolvert (Cleveland Rockers) and Shaquala Williams (L.A. Sparks).

During his four years at Oregon, the Ducks were ranked in the top 25 during three of those seasons, including two top-10 finishes in 2000 and 2001. The program also combined to post a record of 74-49 while capturing two NCAA Tournament berths (2000 and 2001), a National Invitational Tournament (NIT) title (2002) and a Pac-10 crown (2000).

ON RECORD PACE

Sacramento State is on pace to establish new program marks in the single-season records book, but the accomplishments are both good and bad because they pertain to the offensive and defensive side of the floor.

As of Feb. 7, the Hornets have allowed their opponents an average of 65.5 points per game with a 41.4 shooting percentage from the field. In the program season record book, the points-per game average would rank first in front of the 66.0 points allowed in 1992-93. The opponents’ shooting percentage would place third behind the 1999-2000 (34.5) and 2000-01 (36.4) squads.

Sacramento State has held its opponents to less than 40.0 percent shooting from the floor in 9-of-20 games this season.

On the offensive side, the Hornets currently average 49.7 points per contest while shooting 34.1 percent from the floor. In the season record book, the squad would place second in lowest average points per game behind the 47.9 mark set in 2001-02. The team shooting percentage would rank as the fourth lowest behind the 2001-02 (31.3), 1991-92 (32.6) and 1996-97 (32.9) squads.

AN INJURY PLAGUED CAREER ENDS FOR GATSON

Senior Sydney Gatson, arguably one of the toughest players to wear a Hornet uniform, suffered an injury to her right knee against NAU and will be forced to miss the remainder of the season. A five-year member of the Sacramento State program, Gatson’s career endured three head coaches and 36 games missed due to injury.

The Concord, Calif., native played all 27 contests in her freshman year before sitting out the 2000-01 season due to back surgery. She played in all but one game as a sophomore in 2001-02 despite missing the entire offseason and fall practices while recovering from surgery. As a junior, she missed four games with back pain before starting in 23-of-24 games. This season, Gatson started 9-of-15 games after sitting out five games with a right knee injury.

Although she played with constant back pain, Gatson ranks among the top 15 in several Hornet career categories. She ranks 10th in assists (201), three-pointers made, three-pointers attempted and free-throws attempted (247) and 11th in free-throws made (161). Gatson also registered 636 points, 221 field goals, 107 steals, and 315 rebounds.

This season, Gatson tallied a season-high 14 points at Montana State including a career-high 4-of-4 from behind the arc.

A KNACK FOR THE BALL

Freshman Jessica Voisard has made a major impact for the Sacramento State squad and the Big Sky Conference with her uncanny ability to grab rebounds.

As of Feb. 7, the 5-11 forward ranked seventh in the conference with an average of 6.6 rebounds per game (112). The Mission Viejo, Calif., native also ranks third in the Big Sky with an average of 8.2 rebounds in conference games.

Voisard collected a season-high 11 rebounds against Santa Clara on Dec. 1 and has cracked the double-digit mark in four games this season. She has led the Hornets in rebounding in 9-of-20 contests this year. Voisard has also led the squad on the boards in two-consecutive games (twice) and three-consecutive games (1/29-present).

Defensively, Voisard is ranked eighth overall (0.82 bpg) and fourth (1.80 bpg) in the Big Sky play in blocked shots per game.

HORNET NOTABLES

Junior Tyeisha Brown ranks tied for second in steals (2.14), tied for 13th in rebounding (5.9) and 16th in scoring (10.6) in Big Sky Conference games...sophomore Katelyn Ciampi is sixth in the conference with 1.86 steals per game in Big Sky play...freshman Stephanie Cherry is tied for 10th in Big Sky games with an average of 1.33 three-point field goals per contest...junior Kristine Knowlton is third in the Big Sky with 1.24 blocks per game...junior Samania Black is 10th in the conference with 1.60 steals per game...Sacramento State ranks second in the conference in steals (9.15 spg), fifth in scoring defense (65.5 ppg), three-point field goal percentage defense (.330) and blocked shots (3.35 bpg).