A LOOK AT THIS WEEK

Coming off its first road victory in nearly two years, the

Sacramento State women''s basketball team will look to string together

its first winning streak of the season as it hosts Eastern Washington

on Thursday, Jan. 25, and Portland State on Saturday, Jan. 27. Both

games will begin at 7:05 p.m.

The Hornets defeated UC Riverside last Saturday in the team''s

final non-conference game of the season. With the win, Sacramento

State snapped a four-game losing streak while improving its record to

2-12 overall. The Hornets, who will bring an 0-4 Big Sky Conference

record into this week, finish the season with 12-straight conference

games.

Eastern Washington will enter Thursday''s contest with a 7-11

overall record and a 2-4 mark in the Big Sky. The Eagles have won two

of their last three games including a 65-62 victory over Cal State

Northridge last Saturday. The team is 2-5 on the road including an

84-71 victory over Portland State on Jan. 13.

Portland State enters the week with a 1-17 overall record

including an 0-6 mark in the Big Sky. The Vikings have lost

12-straight games after falling at home to both Cal State Northridge

and Northern Arizona last week. The team is 1-6 on the road this year

with its only win coming at Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 2.

A LOOK AT LAST WEEK

Senior Michelle St. Clair scored a career-high 36 points in

leading Sacramento State to an 89-83 victory at UC Riverside last

Saturday. Her 36 points came on 12-of-17 shooting from the field

including 9-of-13 from beyond the three-point line.

Freshman Tola Tallman added 20 points (on 10-of-11 shooting)

and a game-high 11 rebounds. Junior Sephora Scoubes rounded out the

Hornet threesome in double figures with 18 points.

UC Riverside opened the game on a 6-1 run before the Hornets

answered with a 12-0 run to take a 13-6 lead with 14:50 remaining in

the first half. Sacramento State, which led, 48-38, at halftime,

would not relinquish its lead for the remainder of the game.

After the Highlanders cut the lead to three (78-75) with 4:13

remaining in the contest, St. Clair responded with a three-pointer to

give the Hornets some breathing room. Three possessions later, St.

Clair hit another three to push the lead to seven with 2:04 left. UC

Riverside got no closer than within five points of the lead the rest

of the way.

SIZZLING ST. CLAIR

Senior guard Michelle St. Clair''s career-high 36 points

against UC Riverside included a career-high nine three pointers on

just 13 attempts, shattering both the Sacramento State and Big Sky

Conference record for most three-pointers in a game. St. Clair, who

finished the game 12-of-17 from the field, was just three treys short

of the NCAA single-game record of 12, set by LSU''s Cornelia Gayden in

1995.

The 5-5 guard is now averaging 16.6 points per game, second

in the Big Sky. She has led the Hornets in scoring in five of the

last six games and nine games overall this season. She has posted

double figures in points in all but three games while also recording

at least three three-pointers in all but four games. With 232 points

this season, St. Clair has accounted for 27 percent of the team''s 855

points.

Besides her points-per-game average, St. Clair also registers

in the top 10 of four other Big Sky categories. She is first in

three-pointers made per game (3.21), tied for fourth in free throw

percentage (.833, 35-42), fifth in three-point percentage (.388,

45-116) and seventh in steals (1.79 per game).

With 45 three-pointers made this season, she now has a career

total of 143, breaking the school record of 142, set by current

assistant coach Sarah Stapp. She is just six treys short of the

single-season school record of 51, set by Stapp during the 1995-96

season.

ROAD DROUGHT ENDS

The victory over UC Riverside snapped the Hornets'' 22-game

losing streak on the road (spanning parts of three seasons). The

team''s last road win was a 77-62 victory over Eastern Washington on

Feb. 13, 1999. Over that span, the Hornets had been outscored by an

average 21.9 points per game and had been outscored by at least 10

points in 18 of those 22 contests.

MORE FALLEN STREAKS

Besides the losing streak on the road, a few other dubious

marks came to a halt with the win at UC Riverside. This season,

Sacramento State had been 0-10 when being outrebounded by an

opponent, 0-11 when its bench was outscored by the opponents'' bench

and 0-8 when committing 20 or more turnovers. Each of those streaks

were snapped in the win over UC Riverside.

In addition, the team''s 89 points was the most by a Hornet

team since a 91-84 overtime victory over San Diego during the 1997-98

season. Also against Riverside, the Hornets set season highs in field

goals (37), field goal percentage (.627, 37-59), three pointers

(nine) and assists (21).

TALLMAN ON A ROLL

Overshadowed by Michelle St. Clair''s performance against UC

Riverside was that of Tola Tallman''s. The 6-0 small forward knocked

down 10-of-11 shots from the field, scoring 20 points and pulling

down a game-high 11 rebounds. It was her first double-double of the

season as she has now led the team in rebounding in each of the last

three games. She has 31 rebounds over her last three games (10.3 rpg)

after grabbing a combined 38 boards over her first 11 games of the

season (3.5 rpg).

SCOUBES REPORT

After getting off to a relatively slow start this season,

junior forward Sephora Scoubes has begun to look like the player that

garnered first team all-Big Sky honors last year. With her 18-point

effort against UC Riverside, she has now scored 112 points in her

last seven games (16.0 ppg) after recording only 60 points through

her first six games (10.0 ppg). She currently leads the team in field

goal percentage (.440, 59-134), three-point field goal percentage

(.500, 8-10) and is second in blocked shots (10) and points (172).

With an average of 13.2 points per game, she ranks seventh in the Big

Sky.

ROSTER AT JUST EIGHT PLAYERS

Sacramento State began the season with a roster of 11

players. Since that time, the number has dwindled to eight because of

injuries and academics. At the beginning of the season, sophomore

point guard Sydney Gatson was lost for the year after doctors decided

to operate on her ailing back. Seven games into the season, the team

lost junior forward Tracey Kenyon for the year after doctors advised

her to quit playing due to multiple injuries sustained throughout her

career. Next, sophomore forward Nichole Hardaway was deemed

academically ineligible three games ago and will miss the season. All

three players were slated to start at the beginning of the year.

Moreover, the Hornets were forced to use just seven players

in their victory over UC Riverside as sophomore center Kelly Hodges

missed the trip to attend the funeral of a friend. St. Clair, Scoubes

and Rexanne Rodriguez were each forced to play all 40 minutes of the

game. As a matter of fact, St. Clair and Rodriguez both average an

unbelievable 39.0 minutes per game. St. Clair has now played all 40

minutes in eight-consecutive games and Rodriguez played the entire 40

minutes during each of the team''s first eight contests of the season.

HORNET NOTABLES

Michelle St. Clair''s 36 points was the most by a Hornet since Kristy

Ryan dropped in 39 against UC Davis on Feb. 25, 1994...Sacramento

State''s .627 field goal percentage against UC Riverside was the first

time the team has shot above .500 in a game this year...at her

current pace, sophomore point guard Rexanne Rodriguez would finish

the season with 115 assists, a mark that would be third best in

school single-season history...senior Torilynn Boyd''s 6.8 rebounds

per game leads the Hornets and is tied for fifth in the Big

Sky...Sacramento State is second in the conference in three-point

field goal percentage (.362) and tied for third in three-pointers

made per game (4.50).