Despite the losses and two wins by Portland State last week, the Hornets are mathematically still in contention for a Big Sky Conference Tournament bid with five games remaining on the schedule (3 road, 2 home).

Sacramento State will begin the week at Weber State on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 6:05 p.m. PST at the Dee Events Center. The Hornets will complete the week at Idaho State on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 1:05 p.m. PST at Reed Gym. The squad will be looking for its first win ever against Idaho State.

The Hornets currently sit in eighth place in the Big Sky standings, one game behind Montana State (2-7) and Portland State (2-7) for the final spot in the postseason tournament. With a loss to the Bobcats on Jan. 29, and a Portland State win over Northern Arizona on Feb. 12, the Hornets are actually two games behind MSU and PSU due to the tiebreaker rule.

In the Hornets’ last meeting against the Wildcats, senior Danielle Iceman tallied a team-high 11 points while freshman Stephanie Cherry tied her season high with 10 points but Sacramento State eventually fell to Weber State, 47-43, on Jan. 24 at the Hornets Nest.

In the last contest against the Bengals, junior Tyeisha Brown tallied a team-high 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals but the Hornets could not overcome an early halftime deficit as Sacramento State fell to Idaho State, 65-53, on Jan. 22 at the Hornets Nest.

A LOOK AT THE LATEST ACTION

On Feb. 14, Alyson Thurman scored a season-high 12 points but a second half surge by the Vikings led Portland State to a 66-51 win over Sacramento State at the Hornets Nest.

Thurman led the Hornets in scoring for the second-consecutive game after finishing 6-of-8 from the floor. Junior Tyeisha Brown tallied 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Junior Samania Black led the squad with seven rebounds while junior Kristine Knowlton registered a game-high three blocked shots.

As a team, the Hornets shot 21-for-49 (.429) from the field and 7-of-10 (.700) from the free-throw line. The last time Sacramento State surpassed 40.0 percent shooting from the floor was at Eastern Washington on Jan. 17. Portland State finished 24-of-56 (.429) including a 13-for-23 (.565) mark from the charity stripe. Portland State also held a 38-31 rebounding advantage in the game. The Vikings also finished 5-of-11 (.455) from behind the arc compared to a 2-of-7 (.286) performance by the Hornets.

On Feb. 12, Thurman tallied a team-high 10 points but the Eagles shot 60.0 percent from the floor as Sacramento State fell to Eastern Washington, 91-54, at the Hornets Nest.

Thurman, who finished 4-of-7 from the floor, was the only Hornet to finish in double figures. Freshman Jessica Voisard led the squad with six rebounds and tied Knowlton with two blocked shots on the evening. Freshman Stephanie Cherry collected four assists and Brown led the squad with three steals. Voisard, a native of Mission Viejo, Calif., has led the squad in rebounding in four of the last five games.

As a team, the Hornets finished 20-of-59 (.339) from the floor compared to EWU’s 35-for-58 (.603) performance. The Eagles also out-rebounded the Hornets by a margin of 34-to-32. It marked the first time the Hornets have allowed an opponent to shoot over 60.0 percent this season.

A LOOK AT THIS WEEK''S OPPONENTS

Weber State is 12-10 overall and 6-3 in the Big Sky after splitting its Montana road trip with a loss to Montana (Feb. 12) and a win over Montana State (Feb. 14) last week.

In the game against Montana, four Wildcats finished with double figures but the Lady Griz shot 51.9 percent from the floor as Montana edged Weber State, 65-62, at Dahlberg Arena. Julie Gjertsen led WSU with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field (including 2-of-3 from the three-point line) and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. Angela Sampson (14), Sheila Robertson (13) and Kristen Clyder-Gardner also cracked double-digit points for the Wildcats. Sampson finished with a game-high 11 rebounds.

Against Montana State, WSU had four players finish with double figures while also shooting 50.0 percent from the floor (including an 8-of-13 effort from behind the arc) en route to a 70-56 win over the Bobcats at Worthington Arena. Sampson led all scorers with 18 points while Gjertsen (14), Robertson (14) and Becky O’Neil (13) also contributed to the Wildcat offense. In the contest, WSU held MSU to only 35.2 percent shooting from the floor (19-54).

Idaho State is 15-6 overall and 7-2 in the Big Sky after defeating Montana State (Feb. 12) and losing to Montana (Feb. 14).

Against Montana State, Annie Anderson recorded her fourth double-double of the season and Loraine Barron added 19 points and five assists to lead the Bengals to a 79-70 win over the Bobcats at Worthington Arena. Anderson finished 8-of-14 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. Lindy Whitley also chipped in 14 points to contribute to the squad.

Against Montana, five Lady Griz finished with double digits in the scoring column as Montana defeated the Bengals, 76-57, at Dahlberg Arena. Anderson finished with a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds but was the only member of the ISU squad to shoot better than 50.0 percent from the floor (9-14).

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 sides of the floor.

As of Feb. 16, the Hornets have allowed their opponents an average of 66.7 points per game with a 42.4 shooting percentage from the field. In the program season record book, the points-per game average would rank second behind the 66.0 points allowed in 1992-93. The opponents’ shooting percentage would place seventh.

Sacramento State has held its opponents to less than 40.0 percent shooting from the floor in 9-of-22 games this season.

On the offensive side, the Hornets raised their average to 50.0 points per contest while shooting 34.4 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.

INJURIES BEGINNING TO TAKE THEIR TOLL

Before their game against Eastern Washington on Feb. 12, the Hornets had to deal with the loss of senior Sydney Gatson to a knee injury. After this past weekend’s games, Sacramento State will have more injuries to deal with in the final five games of the season.

Freshman Jessica Voisard suffered her second concussion of the year in the Hornets’ game against EWU. The Mission Viejo, Calif., native missed two games earlier in the conference season after being diagnosed with a concussion during a collision at Eastern Washington on Jan. 17. Voisard will most likely sit out the remainder of the season as a precautionary measure. The forward began to make an impact in the Big Sky rankings as the seventh-best rebounder in all games (6.6 rpg) as well as placing second in blocks (1.83 bpg) and tied for fourth (7.8 rpg) in rebounding during conference play.

Junior Alyson Thurman sat out the final nine minutes of the EWU game with an injured left shoulder after battling for a rebound. She did, however, return to start in the Portland State game and recorded a season-high 12 points.

Junior Tyeisha Brown slightly sprained her ankle in the final minutes of the EWU game but played 33 minutes against the Vikings on Saturday.

THURMAN FINDS HER RANGE

Junior Alyson Thurman, who returned to action this season after sitting out the 2002-03 campaign recovering from back surgery, is beginning to pick up where she left off before her injury.

The Carson City, Nev., native had played through 20 games this year without scoring more than nine points in a game before last week. Against Eastern Washington, Thurman led the Hornets with 10 points before surpassing that mark with a team-high 12 points against Portland State. In those two games, in which she started for the first time this season, the forward combined to go 10-of-15 from the field (.667). Her last double-digit performance has been a 12-point effort at Idaho State on Feb. 9, 2002.

HORNET NOTABLES

Senior Cindy Besio played in her first games as a Hornet last week with one minute against Eastern Washington and Portland State...the Hornets’ 42.9 percent shooting performance against the Vikings was the squad’s first over 40.0 since Jan. 17 at Eastern Washington (.429)...Sacramento State ranks third in steals (9.00), fifth in blocked shots (3.41), and sixth in scoring defense (66.7 ppg) in the Big Sky Conference rankings.