SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State women's basketball makes a return trip to the Bay Area this weekend, traveling to San Jose State on Sunday (Dec. 21) for a 2 p.m. tip-off. The game is the final non-conference contest for the Hornets, who open Big Sky Conference play on New Year's Day against Idaho State.
GAME #12
WHAT: Sacramento State (6-6, 0-0 Big Sky) at San Jose State (1-10, 0-0 Mountain West)
WHEN: Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025
TIME: 2 PM PT
WHERE: San Jose, Calif.
ARENA: Provident CU Event Center
WATCH: NBC Sports Bay Area & Mountain West Network
LIVE STATS: SJSUSpartans.com
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | San Jose State | Big Sky Conference
THE COACHES
• Sacramento State's Aaron Kallhoff enters his third year at the helm of the Hornets' program, posting a 27-49 mark and a 105-125 overall record in seven-plus seasons as a head coach
• Kallhoff claimed his 100th career win as a head coach in Sacramento State's 2025-26 season-opening win over Stanton University
• Jonas Chatterton is in his first year at SJSU following stints at Oklahoma, Oregon State, Colorado, BYU, and Westminster College
NEW NEST
• After spending most of its history playing at The Nest, both the Sacramento State men's and women's basketball teams transition its home contests to the Hornet Pavilion located inside The WELL, an on-campus fitness complex that has renovated a portion of the facility to serve as the new home of the Hornets
• The venue will seat approximately 3,000 fans -- nearly tripling the capacity of The Nest
• It was a giant facelift for the facility featuring (among other enhancements): re-striping of all courts to include the game court, telescopic bleachers around the center court, two new video boards, LED ribbon boards, new scoreboards, a new sound system, removal and replacement of existing lighting, new press tables and courtside seats, and new branding promoting Sacramento State and the city of Sacramento
"BIG" NEWS FOR 2026
• The 2025-26 campaign marks the 30th -- and final -- season as a member of the Big Sky Conference for the Hornets, who announced plans to move to the The Big West beginning in 2026-27
• Sacramento State has faced four of its future league rivals this year: UC San Diego (Nov. 12), Long Beach State (Nov. 15), Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 21), and California Baptist (Nov. 29)
• Another league opponent -- Causeway rival UC Davis -- is also on the schedule (Nov. 24), but the Aggies are departing for the Mountain West Conference following this year
• The Big West will be the third conference for the Hornets in their Division I history after playing in the America West Conference along with Cal Poly, CSUN, and Southern Utah from 1994-96, and then joining the Big Sky in 1996-97
ABOUT THE SPARTANS
• San Jose State has struggled out of the gate in 2025-26, opening the year with a 1-10 overall record and a 0-1 start in Mountain West play
• The Spartans have lost their last two, falling at CSUN (66-55) and at Wyoming (83-60) -- the latter kicking-off conference play
• SJSU's lone win this year came against Cal State Monterey Bay on Dec. 11
• Sophomore guard Maya Anderson leads the team in scoring at 11.2 ppg while also averaging 5.8 rebounds and shooting .339 overall
• Senior guard Amira Brown leads the Spartans on the glass at 6.3 rpg to go with 6.5 ppg
• As a team, San Jose State is averaging 57.2 ppg and shooting .337 from the field, while opponents are averaging 71.3 ppg and shooting .386
SERIES NOTABLES
• Sacramento State narrowly leads the all-time series with San Jose State, 19-18
• The Hornets have won the last two straight meetings -- both at home -- posting a 75-65 win in 2021 and a 66-38 victory last year
• Sunday marks the first meeting between the two in San Jose since the 2019-20 season with the Spartans posting a 73-67 win
• Sacramento State is just 2-10 on the road against SJSU, losing the last seven trips to San Jose dating back to a 74-56 win in 1992-93
• The Hornets' 25-point win last year was the largest by either team in the series since a 70-39 Spartan win in 2003-04
• Seven of the last nine meetings have been decided by 10 points or fewer
CONFERENCE CALL
• Sacramento State is a combined 56-90 against the current Mountain West Conference alignment, including a 1-0 record this year following a win over Nevada on Nov. 6
• The Hornets have faced every current Mountain West school except for newcomer Grand Canyon, which began play in the league this year
• Sacramento State has won two of its last three meetings with Mountain West schools when you include last year's win over San Jose State
• The Hornets are 4-6 in the last 10 against the league dating back to 2020-21
• The 26 wins over the Wolf Pack are the most by Sacramento State against any one Mountain West opponent, followed by 19 wins over SJSU and eight against Fresno State
KEEPING IT 1,000
• Versteeg enters this week's contest continuing to inch her way toward a milestone, needing just 75 more points to reach 1,000 for her career
• Should she reach the plateau, Versteeg would become the 19th Hornet to accomplish the feat and the first since Summer Menke did it in 2022
• Versteeg's 925 career points rank second among active Big Sky student-athletes as of Dec. 17, trailing only Montana's Mack Konig (1,140)
SHADES OF GRAY
• Sophomore guard Rubi Gray continued her run of double-digit scoring performances at San Francisco on Wednesday night, finishing with 14 points against the Dons
• The native of Tasmania has now reached double figures in each of her last nine games -- which includes a trio of 20-plus point performances -- averaging 17.6 ppg and 3.3 rpg while shooting .484 (60-for-124) from the field overall
• Her 24 points against Pacific (Dec. 4) matched her output against UC San Diego on Nov. 12 and were just two shy of her career high of 26 against Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 21
• Following a slow start to the year, Gray has shot better than 40 percent from the field in seven of her last nine contests
A "KEY" INGREDIENT
• Junior forward Keanna Salave'a posted her second-straight double-digit scoring performance -- and her fourth of the season -- at San Francisco, finishing with 11 points in 19 minutes
• The Vancouver, Wash., native is shooting 11-for-17 (.647) from the field in those two contests, including a 6-for-7 night against Simpson on Dec. 15
• She has also done the work on the boards, grabbing eight rebounds against the Dons -- her fourth eight-rebound performance of the season and her ninth with five-or-more boards in 12 games
• Salave'a is averaging a team-best 5.8 rpg, ranking among the top 15 in rebounding (13th), total rebounds (t6th), and offensive rebounds (t3rd)
• Her work on the offensive end (32 rebounds) accounts for nearly half of her rebound total (70)
IN THE MARGINS
• Sacramento State's 60-point margin of victory over Simpson on Dec. 15 is the fourth-largest in the program's history, trailing the school-record 85-point win over Stanton earlier this year, a 71-point win over San Francisco State in 1974 and a 64-point victory against Stanislaus State in 1979
• Five of the Hornets' six victories this year have come by double-digits
• Of those five, four have been by 20-or-more points: Stanton (+85), Nevada (+20), Cal State Fullerton (+20), and Simpson (+60)
• On the other side, three of the team's six defeats have been by six points or fewer, including a three-point overtime loss
HISTORIC HELPING HANDS
• With her 63 assists over her first 12 games this season, Versteeg now has 509 for her career, placing her second on the school's all-time list, trailing only record-holder Fantasia Hilliard (726 from 2011-15), on that chart
• That total also puts her among the top 15 in Big Sky history, moving her into 13th place following Wednesday's game at San Francisco, passing Montana State's Hannah Caudill (2014-18) and putting her within striking distance of Montana's Margaret Williams (1982-87) with 511 in 12th
DELICIOUS DISH
• Versteeg has posted five-or-more assists in nine of the team's 12 games
• Her total of 63 assists and her 5.25 assists per game puts her atop the Big Sky in both categories entering this week, while ranking No. 28 and No. 36 in the nation, respectively, as of Dec. 18
• Her 63 assists are just one back of last year's 12-game pace when she finished the campaign tying her own single-season record of 208
• With her seven assists against Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 21 -- which tied her season high -- Versteeg posted her 32nd career game with seven-or-more assists with all of those coming in the last two-plus seasons (a total of 76 games)
HOLD THE LINE
• Picton has been nearly automatic from the line this season, shooting 90 percent (18-for-20) from the stripe
• The Welland, Ontario, native drained 15 consecutive free throws without a miss until her first went astray at San Francisco on Wednesday -- her first miss since Nov. 12 at UC San Diego
• The mantle for consecutive makes now falls on the shoulders of Rubi Gray, who is 21-for-24 (.875) from the line on the year and has made her last 16 attempts from the stripe since missing her first in the Hornets' match-up with Chattanooga on Nov. 28
SHOOTING BLANKS
• Dating back to last season, Sacramento State's defense has held 12 of its last 15 opponents -- and 16 of its last 20 -- to under 40 percent from the field, including 28 percent by Northern Arizona at the 2025 Big Sky Tournament and 26 percent against Simpson on Dec. 15
• The Red Hawks' .264 field goal percentage is the lowest by a Hornet opponent this year and the lowest since Weber State shot just .211 on Feb. 20 of last season -- a program Division I era single-game record
• Nine of those 20 opponents have made 20 (or fewer) field goals in a game, including only 12 by Weber State on Feb. 20 last season
• Sacramento State has been even stingier from beyond the arc, holding 19 of its last 20 opponents dating back to last year to under 40 percent from distance -- 16 of those shooting 30 percent of less.
• Meanwhile, the Hornets' offense has shot 40 percent or better 11 times in that same span
DE-FENSE (CLAP, CLAP)...
• Sacramento State hasn't given up much this season, ranking second in the Big Sky Conference in scoring defense (59.7 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.368), third in rebounding defense (35.4 rpg), and leading the league in three-point percentage defense (.255) -- the latter ranking No. 31 in the NCAA (as of Dec. 18)
• It's a continuation of a trend that has seen the Hornets post two of the stingiest scoring defenses in school history in the last three years as they allowed 59.9 ppg in 2022-23 (second in school history) and gave up 63.6 ppg in 2024-25 (fourth in school history)
• The school record is 56.8 ppg allowed over 23 games in 1984-85
RIM PROTECTORS
• Sacramento State enters the weekend leading the Big Sky in both blocks (57) and blocks per game (4.75), while standing No. 42 in the nation in total blocks
• Individually, Salave'a is one of seven players in the Big Sky with double-digit swats, ranking tied for third in the league
• The Hornets have blocked multiple shots in 11 of their 12 games this season, including five-or-more blocks eight times
• Sacramento State's seven blocks on Wednesday at San Francisco were a season high and tied for the second-most in a game by a Big Sky squad this year
• The seven blocks were the most for the Hornets since they had seven against Northern Arizona in the second round of last year's Big Sky Tournament on March 9
MISS STEAL YOUR BALL
• Junior guard Natalie Picton has multiple steals in 10 of the team's 12 games this year
• Her 28 swipes are fifth in the Big Sky standings in that category as of Dec. 18 and sixth at 2.3 spg
• As a team, the Hornets have posted 20-or-more steals twice this year against Stanton (26) and Simpson (20)
• The 26 steals against Stanton were four shy of the program's single-game mark of 30 set against Portland State on Feb. 7, 2015
• The total was also the highest in six seasons for the Hornets, who last posted a 20-plus steal game against Cal Maritime on Nov. 13, 2019, finishing with 28 in that contest
• Individually, Fatoumata Jaiteh's seven steals against Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 21 currently stand as the most by a Big Sky player in a game
HORNETS SIGN OREGON TEAMMATES
• Sacramento State added a pair of high school standouts during the November signing period, welcoming forward Dyllyn Howell and guard Jordan Barlow from South Medford HS in Oregon
• Howell is a two-time all-conference pick and was an all-state selection as a junior, helping her team to a state title as a sophomore
• Barlow was also a member of that state title-winning squad, picking up all-conference honors as a junior
• Once they arrive on campus, the duo would be the ninth and 10th Hornets to hail from the "Beaver State," and the first since Kylie Kuhns and Natasha Torgerson played for the Hornets from 2009-13
FINDING THE RIGHT COMBINATION
• After senior Fatoumata Jaiteh went down with an injury against UC Davis on Nov. 24, the Hornets have been in search of her replacement in the starting five
• Featuring the same starting lineup in each of the team's first seven games, Sacramento State has had a different starting five in four of its last five
• Tali Fa'i (vs. Chattanooga), Keanna Salave'a (at Pacific), and Pinja Paananen (Simpson and San Francisco) earned their first career starts as Hornets, while Brooklyn Taylor picked up her first start of the year -- and the second of her career -- at California Baptist
TIME IS ON THEIR SIDE
• Three of the top five players in the Big Sky in terms of minutes played sport the green and gold as Picton (second), Versteeg (third), and Gray (fifth) are among the toughest to get off the court
• Picton has played just over 86 percent of the team's minutes (414 of 480), with Versteeg close behind at 82 percent (394 of 480) and Gray at 75 percent (362 of 480)
• Picton's 34.5 mpg trails only Northern Arizona's Naomi White (36.58 mpg), while Versteeg is third at 32.8 mpg
• Thanks to those minutes, Versteeg has moved into fifth on the all-time minutes played list with 3,305 and, if she's able to replicate her total from each of the last two seasons, would break Kylie Kuhns' school career record of 3,804 minutes from 2009-13
• Meanwhile, for Picton, her time on the court is a big step up from last season when she played a total of 497 minutes in 31 games at Montana State, and is well above her average of 29.1 mpg in 29 games during her freshman season with the Bobcats in 2023-24
BENCH BOOST
• Sacramento State's second unit has come on to outscore its counterparts in eight of the team's 12 games this season
• Hornet reserves have combined for 20-or-more points six times in 11 games this year
• Sacramento State is fourth in the Big Sky in bench points per game (23.8)
NOT HALF BAD
• Sacramento State is 5-1 this season when leading at the half and a combined 18-5 when winning the first 20 minutes under Head Coach Aaron Kallhoff over the last two-plus seasons
• Last season (2024-25), the Hornets were a near-perfect 10-1 when leading at the break
• The 58 first-half points on Dec. 15 against Simpson were the second most in a single half this year, trailing only the 71-point opening half against Stanton, and the third half with at least 50 points
ATTACKING THE PAINT
• Sacramento State is a combined 6-1 this year when outscoring its opponents in the paint
• The Hornets have scored 30-or-more points in the key in all six of those wins, including 86 points in the season opener in a lop-sided win over Stanton, 54 against Simpson on Dec. 15, and 44 more in a 20-point victory against Cal State Fullerton
HITS OF THE 70s
• During the Aaron Kallhoff era, 70 points seems to be the magic number for the Hornets
• Over the last two-plus seasons, Sacramento State is 16-3 when scoring 70-or-more points, while winning just 10 times when held under that mark since 2023-24
