Winners of eight of their last nine games, the Sacramento State women’s basketball team hits the road to take on the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks and the Northern Colorado Bears.
Northern Arizona has dropped six straight games and has been eliminated from postseason contention. Their last victory came on Jan. 28, as they defeated Montana State, the only team to sweep the Hornets in Big Sky Conference play, on the road 76-64. The Lumberjacks also hold a victory over second place Portland State, an 86-80 decision in Flagstaff on Jan. 16. Sacramento State won the first contest between the clubs 77-66, although NAU freshman Amy Patton scored 31 points and pulled down 17 rebounds, both career-highs.
The Hornets contest against Northern Colorado holds a larger significance, as with a victory Sacramento State will clinch its second straight appearance in the Big Sky Tournament. The Bears are coming off of a 56-54 victory over Portland State, which gave Northern Colorado the season sweep over the Vikings. The Hornets won the earlier contest in Sacramento 72-60, despite Courtney Stoermer making NC history, posting the school’s first Division I triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
LAST GAME: SACRAMENTO STATE 100, MONTANA 83
The Sacramento State women’s basketball team poured in a school record 15 three-pointers to defeat the Montana Lady Griz for the first time in program history, 100-83, on Saturday, Feb. 20.
With the victory, the Hornets are now winners of eight of their last nine contests. Sacramento State defeated Montana in women’s basketball for the first time in 28 tries, having entered the contest 0-27 lifetime. The Hornets also tie their best win output in Big Sky play in program history, matching last year’s mark of seven victories. The Lady Griz gave up 100 points in a game for the first time in school history.
On senior day, Sacramento State’s three seniors came to play, and provided the offensive spark that allowed the team to build a 45-30 halftime lead. Seniors Charday Hunt (Portland, Ore.), Erika Edwards (Redmond, Wash.) and Ashley Garcia (Antioch, Calif.) combined for 33 of the team’s first half point total of 45.
With Montana leading 18-15 with 8:18 remaining, Edwards knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to give the Hornets a two point lead at 24-22 with 6:50 remaining before halftime. After Kenzie De Boer tied the score at 24-24 with 5:49 to play with a pair of free throws for the Lady Griz, the Hornets went on a 12-0 run over the next 2:20 to take a 36-24 advantage. During the run, Hunt scored seven points, Garcia knocked down a three-pointer, and freshman Kylie Kuhns (Salem, Ore.) contributed a layup. The Hornets would increase the lead to 15 on a pair of free throws by freshman Natasha Torgerson (Grants Pass, Ore.) right before the half, taking a 45-30 margin into the locker room.
In the first half, the Hornets were 16-of-40 from the field (40.0 percent), 8-of-22 from beyond the three-point arc (36.4 percent) and 5-of-8 from the free throw line (62.5 percent). Montana, who outrebounded the Hornets 32-25 in the opening 20 minutes, was 13-of-41 from the field (31.7 percent), 1-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc (14.3 percent) and 3-of-6 from the foul line. The biggest statistic in the half came in second chance points, were the Lady Griz converted 14 offensive rebounds into just seven points, while the Hornets were the model of efficiency, turning just eight offensive rebounds into 16 second chance points.
Sacramento State did not allow the Lady Griz back into the contest to start the second half, as the team went on a 10-2 run out of intermission to take a 55-32 lead with 16:29 remaining. Of the 10 points, eight came from the senior class, as Hunt and Edwards each knocked down a three-pointer, and Garcia made a fast break pull-up jumper.
Montana would cut the margin down to 64-47 with 12:16 remaining, but would get no closer, as the Hornets slammed the down with a 14-2 run over the next 2:48 of game time, taking a 78-49 lead with 9:28 remaining. The Hornets would eclipse the century mark for just the sixth time in program history, and first since 1996, on a three-pointer from junior Tika Koshiyama-Diaz (San Jose, Calif.) with 1:53 remaining, before taking home the 100-83 victory.
“That was the biggest win in program history, and we got to get for those three seniors,” head coach Jamie Craighead said following the victory. “I told our team that we could give our seniors a really good parting gift, beating Montana for the first time in program history.”
The Hornets were led by Hunt, who scored 28 points in 37 minutes of action. Hunt was 8-of-22 from the field, 3-of-12 from behind the three-point arc and 9-of-11 from the foul line. Edwards had a near-career day in her final home game, finishing one point shy of tying her career-high with 21 points, grabbing a career-best 16 rebounds and connecting on a personal best seven three-pointers.
Garcia finished with 14 points and eight rebounds in her final home contest, and the seniors ended up combining for 63 of the Hornets 100 points. All told, five players reached double figure for Sacramento State, as Kuhns finished with a career-high 14 points and nine rebounds, and junior Emily Christensen (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) scored 11 points.
For the game, Sacramento State was 35-of-81 from the field (43.2 percent), 15-of-39 from beyond the three-point arc (38.5 percent) and 15-of-19 from the foul line (78.9 percent). Despite being outrebounded overall 50-48, and outrebounded on the offensive glass 20-18, the Hornets scored 29 second chance points to Montana’s 14.
PREVIOUS GAME: MONTANA STATE 84, SACRAMENTO STATE 73
The Montana State Bobcats held the Sacramento State women’s basketball team to just 27 second half points in route to defeating the Hornets by a score of 84-73 to end Sacramento State’s seven game winning streak.
The first half saw the two teams battle back-and-forth to the tune of four ties and 11 lead changes. Sacramento State held its largest lead of the half early, a 19-13 advantage with 13:52 following a three-pointer by senior Erika Edwards (Redmond, Wash.). Montana State would come back to take a five point lead, 34-29, with 6:11 left on a three-pointer by Lyndi Seidensticker, before the Hornets would fight back to hold a one point halftime edge, 46-45.
Both teams show the ball well in the first half, as Montana State was 19-of-33 from the field (57.6 percent), 6-of-11 from beyond the three-point arc (54.5 percent) and 1-of-1 from the foul line. In comparison, the Hornets were 19-of-39 field (48.7 percent), 4-of-10 from beyond the three-point arc (40.0 percent), and 4-of-9 from the free throw line (44.4 percent). Hornet senior Charday Hunt (Portland, Ore.) led all scorers at the half with 18 points, which came on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting from the free-throw line. Seidensticker paced the Bobcats off the bench, scoring 11 points including a 3-of-3 performance from three-point territory.
Montana State came out of the gates scoring the first six points of the halftime to retake their largest lead of the first half at 51-46 with 18:25 remaining in regulation. The lead would grow to seven points, 62-55 with 13:03 to go before the Hornets tied it with an 8-1 run, which included a fast break three-pointer by Hunt, a deep three from Edwards and a layup by senior Ashley Garcia (Antioch, Calif.) which accounted for her lone points of the evening.
Sacramento State would end up taking a 71-67 lead with 7:38 remaining on a layup by freshman Mallorie Franco (Fortuna, Calif.), but Montana State would then go on a run to put the game away. Over the last 7:26, the Bobcats would outscore the Hornets 17-2, with the lone Hornet field goal coming with 3:31 remaining, giving Montana State an 84-73 victory. Over the 7:26 stretch of play, Sacramento State was 1-of-14 from the field and committed five turnovers, while the Bobcats were 6-of-8 from the field, 1-of-2 from three, and 4-of-9 from the foul line.
Hunt led all scorers with 26 points, beforing fouling out 2:10 remaining in the contest. The senior was 11-of-23 from the field, 1-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc and 3-of-6 from the foul line. Junior Emily Christensen (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) chipped in 14 points and six rebounds, while Edwards finished with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, marking her third double-double in the last four games. Freshman Kylie Kuhns (Salem, Ore.) scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds in 23 minutes off the Hornet bench.
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 1,148 career points, good for sixth place on the team’s all-time charts. Her scoring average of 18.8 points per game ranks 22nd nationally.
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 78.8 ppg scoring average, which ranks seventh nationally. The Hornets are ranked 6th in the country in three-pointers made per game, knocking down 8.5 per game from beyond 19 feet 9 inches. The team also ranks 8th in the country in assists, averaging 17.7 per contest. The team ranks 13th in the country in steals, averaging 11.4 per game.
EDWARDS AND HUNT MARCH UP MULTIPLE CHARTS
Senior Erika Edwards has moved up to third in the school’s all-time three-pointers made list, as her 63 three’s this season (which rank second in single-season school history) give her 154 for her career. She ranks third in career rebounds, grabbing 748 during her four year career. Edwards also ranks third in school history in free throw percentage (80.4 percent). She needs just 2 rebounds to become the third ever Hornet to score 750 points and grab 750 rebounds in their career. She is already the team’s all-time leader in fouls, committing 341 over 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 fourth in school history in free throw percentage (79.8 percent), fifth in free throws made (324) and fifth in free throws attempted (406). Hunt also ranks in the top 10 in three-point field goal percentage (10th, 34.7 percent), three-pointers made (5th, 112), points (6th, 1,148), scoring average (8th, 13.8), three-pointers attempted (8th, 323), field goals attempted (7th, 948), and field goals made (9th, 356).
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.
Winners of eight of their last nine games, the Sacramento State women’s basketball team hits the road to take on the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks and the Northern Colorado Bears.
