WOMEN'S BASKETBALL LOOKS FOR SEVENTH STRAIGHT AS IT HOSTS PACIFIC

2/12/2010

    Riding a six-game winning streak, the Sacramento State women’s basketball team hosts the Pacific Tigers on Saturday, Feb. 13 at the Hornets Nest.
    With the victory over the top team in the conference standings, Eastern Washington, on Feb. 6, the Hornets improved to 10-12 on the season and 6-4 in Big Sky Conference play. The 10 wins mark the most by the Hornets since the 1995-96 season, and the win streak is the longest since the 1990-91 team won 10 in a row during the Division II era.
    Pacific, who enters the contest 4-18, is coming off of its biggest victory of the season, a 74-58 triumph over UC Davis. The Aggies were in second place in the Big West Conference prior to the loss. The Tigers connected on a program best 14 three-pointers in the win over UC Davis, and the team has now poured in 27 threes during their last two games.
    The Tigers are led by Christina Thompson, who is averaging 11.8 points per game. Pacific is averaging 61.2 points per game, while allowing their opponents to score 72.2.
    Last season in Stockton, Pacific started strong, opening up a 12 point lead at 21-9 with 11:45 remaining in the first half. The Hornets rebounded, going on a 23-10 run over the next 7:58 to take a 32-31 lead with 3:47 remaining in the half. The lead would expand to two points at 36-34 on back-to-back layups from senior Atty Boyer and sophomore Tika Koshiyama-Diaz, before Pacific outscored the Hornets 7-2 to end the half, taking a 41-38 lead into intermission.
    To start the second half, the Tigers again went on a big run, outscoring the Hornets 14-2 over the first 4:52 of the half to take a 15 point lead. The Hornets would chip away late, cutting the lead to six points at 70-64 with 1:11 remaining on the heels of a 11-2 run before Pacific pulled away to win by 12.

LAST GAME: SACRAMENTO STATE 78, EASTERN WASHINGTON 69
    The Sacramento State women’s basketball team won its sixth game in a row, the most in the school’s Division I history, defeating the Eastern Washington Eagles by the score of 78-69 on Saturday, Feb. 6 at Reese Court.
    Eastern Washington led 9-4 with 18:11 remaining in the half, but Sacramento State fought back, going on a 14-0 run to take an 18-9 lead with 12:14 remaining. The Hornets also held the Eagles without a field goal from the 18:11 mark until the 9:03 mark of the first half. After Eastern Washington cut the lead to five points at 26-21 with 6:03 remaining, the Hornets went on a 11-0 run, taking their largest lead of the game at 37-21 with 2:45 remaining. But the Eagles would take the all of the momentum into the locker room, finishing the half on an 10-0 run of their own to cut the Hornet lead to 37-31 at intermission.
    Senior Charday Hunt (Portland, Ore.) led all scorers at intermission with 14 points, as she knocked down 7-of-7 from the foul line. Freshman Mallorie Franco (Fortuna, Calif.)   and senior Ashley Garcia (Antioch, Calif.) added six points apiece during the opening 20 minutes.
    The second half started with a 9-2 Hornet run, with all nine points coming on three-pointers. Garcia started the half with a three just seven seconds in, which was followed by back-to-back three-pointers from senior Erika Edwards (Redmond, Wash). Following a layup by the Eagles Julie Piper which cut the Hornet lead to 11 at 46-35, Edwards hit another three-pointer to extend the lead back to 14 points.
    Sacramento State would continue to build the lead, extending it to 19 points at 70-51 with 6:34 remaining in regulation. But Eastern Washington was not done, outscoring the Hornets 14-2 over the next 4:50 to pull to within seven points at 72-65 with 1:44 remaining. But the Eagles would draw no closer, with the contest ending with the Hornets taking home a 78-69 victory.
    “My kids played with a lot of guts and this is just a testament to what we are starting to do with this program,” head coach Jamie Craighead said following the win. “They are really starting to believe in themselves. Six in a row, I don’t even know what to say.”
    Hunt led all scorers with 21 points, although she did the majority of her damage at the line, going 12-of-15 from the charity stripe. Garcia scored 13 points, while Edwards finished with 12 points and four three-pointers. Junior Emily Christensen (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) posted her fourth double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds. Franco finished with a career-high nine points and five rebounds off the bench.

PREVIOUS GAME: SACRAMENTO STATE 83, PORTLAND STATE 78
    The Sacramento State women’s basketball team shot 60.0 percent from the field (21-of-35) in the second half, coming back from a five-point halftime deficit to defeat the Portland State Vikings by a score of 83-78 and pick up their fifth straight win.
    Trailing 55-45 with 13:26 remaining in the game, Sacramento State went on a 13-2 run over the next 2:47 to take their first lead of the second half at 58-57. The run started with a three-pointer by junior Tika Koshiyama-Diaz, which was followed by a jumper by junior Emily Christensen (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) and another three from Koshiyama-Diaz. Senior Charday Hunt (Portland, Ore.) then made a jumper in the paint, which was followed by a three-pointer by senior Ashley Garcia (Antioch, Calif.) which gave the Hornets the lead.
    Portland State had the immediate answer as Kelly Marchant knocked down a three-pointer to give the Vikings a two point lead right back with 10:08 remaining. The lead went back-and-forth between the two teams, with neither team taking more than a three point lead until just before the final buzzer. After Eryn Jones made a pair of free throws with 2:24 left to give the Vikings a 76-74 lead, Christensen took over. Three of the next four Hornet possessions resulted in Christensen layups, including the eventual game-winner with 50.7 seconds remaining that gave the Hornets an 80-78 lead.
    Portland State had several chances to tie or take the lead in the next possession, as Claire Faucher missed a fade-away 15 footer, Jones then got the offensive rebound and found Lexi Bishop in the corner who missed an open three. Erin Yankus got another Viking offensive rebound with nine seconds remaining, but had the ball stolen away by Garcia. Garcia quickly got the ball to Hunt, who was fouled and knocked down the first of two free throws to give Sacramento State a 81-78 lead with 5.1 seconds remaining. Hunt missed the second foul shot, but the Vikings Kate DePaepe, who grabbed the rebound, threw the ball out of bounds, giving the Hornets the basketball. Koshiyama-Diaz hit 2-of-2 at the foul line with 0.1 seconds, giving the Hornets an 83-78 victory.
    The Hornets struggled shooting the basketball in the first half, shooting just 31.4 percent from the field (11-of-35) to trail by five, 36-31, at the half. Senior Erika Edwards (Redmond, Wash.) kept the Hornets in the contest during the opening 20 minutes, going 4-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc to lead all scorers with 12 points at intermission. She finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, which marked her second double-double of the season and five three-pointers. She saw her perfect season at the foul line, however, end with a 1-of-2 performance. She entered the contest having made all 26 of her free throws this season.
    Christensen led all scorers with 23 points, as she finished 11-of-24 from the field and 1-of-2 from the foul line, just one point shy of tying her career-high. Koshiyama-Diaz joined Edwards in scoring 16 points, as the junior guard made 4-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc, a career-high, and knocked down 4-of-6 at the line. Garcia, the reigning Big Sky Player of the Week, once again provided a stellar contest, scoring 13 points and dishing out 10 assists for her first career double-double. Hunt, the Big Sky’s leading scorer averaging 18.4 points per game, was held to seven points, which was just her second game this season under double-figures.
    All five Hornet starters played over 30 minutes, led by Edwards who saw the floor for 38 of the 40 minutes in the contest.
    Sacramento State, who had been winning games in conference play by making more free throws than their opponents had been attempting, struggled at the foul line, going just 9-of-18 (50.0 percent). What picked them up, however, was a 10-of-20 performance from beyond the three-point arc and a 45.7 percent shooting percentage from the field (32-of-70), their second highest mark of the season.

CHRISTENSEN NAMED BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK
    Sacramento State junior forward Emily Christensen (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) has been named the Big Sky Player of the Week for games played the week of February 1st through the 7th.
    Christensen averaged 17.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game as the Hornets upset the top two teams in the Big Sky Conference, Eastern Washington and Portland State, on the road this past weekend. Christensen scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the Hornets 83-78 over Portland State on Friday night. She was 11-of-24 from the field against the Vikings, while also adding four assists and four steals. She followed up the performance with a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, in the Hornets 78-69 victory over the Eastern Washington Eagles.
    Over the two-game stretch, Christensen shot 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from the field, and also added 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
    Christensen is averaging 14.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game during conference play. Her double-double against Eastern Washington was her second in as many weeks and fourth of the season.
    The weekly honor was the first of her career and the fourth for a Hornet so far this season. Sacramento State players have won back-to-back player of the week awards for the first time in school history.

1,000 POINTS IN THREE SEASONS? NO PROBLEM
    Senior Charday Hunt scored her 1,000th career point on a free throw with 2:55 remaining in the Hornets 77-66 victory over Northern Arizona on 1/24. She now has 1,074 career points, good for sixth place on the team’s all-time charts.

SCORING AT ALL COSTS
    Head coach Jamie Craighead has implemented her full court, up-tempo offense, and it shows on the offensive side of the scoreboard, leading the Big Sky with a 77.3 ppg scoring average, which ranks 12th nationally. The Hornets are ranked 10th in the country in three-pointers made per game, knocking down 8.0 per game from beyond 19 feet 9 inches. The team also ranks 9th in the country in assists, averaging 17.2 per contest.

EDWARDS AND HUNT MARCH UP MULTIPLE CHARTS
    Senior Erika Edwards has moved up to fourth in the school’s all-time three-pointers made list, as her 48 three’s this season give her 139 for her career. She ranks fourth in career rebounds, grabbing 711 during her four year career.
    Senior Charday Hunt currently ranks in ten of the team’s all-time top ten lists. Three of the categories in which Hunt has entered the school’s all-time ranks occur at the free throw line. The Portland native ranks 3rd in school history in free throw percentage (80.1 percent), fifth in free throws made (305) and sixth in free throws attempted (381).  Hunt also ranks in the top 10 in three-point field goal percentage (5th, 35.7 percent), three-pointers made (5th, 107), points (6th, 1,074), scoring average (8th, 13.4), three-pointers attempted (9th, 301), field goals attempted (8th, 889), and field goals made (10th, 331)

INJURY REPORT
    Junior Jasmine Cannady suffered an achilles injury that will force her to miss the remainder of the 2000-10 season. She had successful surgery on Jan. 28.
    Junior Sami Field-Polisso will miss the entire 2009-10 season after suffering a knee injury that required surgery, which took place successfully on Nov. 24.
    Freshman Alex White had successful foot surgery on Jan. 15. She is out for the season.

HORNETS ON THE INTERNET AIRWAVES
    Media Relations Director Brian Berger will call all 13 home games on www.hornetsports.com, while Assistant Media Relations Director J.D. Fox will have the call for 11 road contests this season.