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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State women’s basketball team plays in front of the hometown faithful for the first time in 2026-27, opening the year with an exhibition on Wednesday night (Oct. 28) at 6:30 p.m. against Stanislaus State at Hornet Pavilion. Admission to the game is free.
EXHIBITION GAME
WHAT: Stanislaus State (3-22, 2-20 CCAA) at Sacramento State (15-18, 8-10 Big Sky)
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026
TIME: 6:30 p.m. PT
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
ARENA: Hornet Pavilion
WATCH: No Live Stream
LIVE STATS: No Live Stats
ABOUT THE HORNETS
• Head Coach Aaron Kallhoff is entering his fourth season as head coach of the program, having led the Hornets to back-to-back 15-win seasons in each of the last two years
• Sacramento State is coming off a 2025-26 campaign that saw it finish 15-18 overall and 8-10 in its final season in the Big Sky Conference
• The Hornets were fifth in the regular season standings and advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament for only the fifth time in school history
• Sacramento State returns seven letter winners, a pair of starters, and welcomes seven new faces for the 2026-27 season
• Senior guard Natalie Picton was an All-Big Sky Tournament Team selection in her first year as a Hornet, averaging 13.4 ppg and 3.7 rpg whie dishing out 2.1 assists and leading the team with 2.2 steals per game
• Senior forward Elizabeth Abiara started 17 of 31 games last year, shooting 51 percent from the field and ranking third on the team in rebounding at 4.1 boards per contest
ABOUT THE WARRIORS
• Stanislaus State enters the 2026-27 season looking to improve on last year’s campaign that saw the Warriors finish 3-22 overall and 2-20 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association
• Winless in its final seven games to close out the season, the Warriors were 2-9 at home and 0-13 on the road while winning once on a neutral floor
• Wednesday’s contest against Sacramento State is the first of three exhibitions against Division I programs for Stanislaus State, which also faces Fresno State on Oct. 30 and Cal State Bakersfield on Nov. 3 — both on the road
• The Warriors officially open the year on Nov. 9 against Dominican University on the road and will not play a home game until Jessup comes to Turlock, Calif., on Nov. 24
• Stanislaus State is led by Interim Head Coach Riley Holladay, a Warrior women’s basketball alum who has been an assistant with the program since the summer of 2023 before being elevated to interim status this past September
• Senior forward Eryn Gardner, an All-CCAA honorable mention selection last year after transferring from Sonoma State, is one of six returning players from last years roster and is the leading returning scorer for Stanislaus State after averaging 9.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game while shooting .386 from the field in nearly 33 minutes per game
SERIES NOTABLES
• Sacramento State has won 19 of the 20 all-time meetings with Stanislaus State, including the last two straight
• The two schools, however, have not met in an official game since the 2016 campaign when the Hornets posted a 102-72 victory at home
• Sacramento State won the first 17 consecutive meetings with the Warriors from 1978-87 until Stanislaus State snapped the string with a 78-60 win in 1988
• The Hornets are a perfect 11-0 at home against the Warriors in the history of the series
TRADING THE “SKY” FOR THE “WEST”
• When the Hornets officially tip-off the 2026-27 campaign next week on the road at UT Arlington, Sacramento State will do so as full-fledged members of The Big West after spending the previous 30 years as a member of the Big Sky Conference.
• The Big West is the third conference for the Hornets in their Division I history after playing in the America West along with Cal Poly, CSUN, and Southern Utah from 1994-96, and then joining the Big Sky in 1996-97
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
• In their first year as members of The Big West, the Hornets are already making an impression in the league, picked to finish fifth and earning one first-place vote according to a vote of the conference’s head coaches released on Oct. 15
• Sacramento State received 88 points overall to finish in the top half of the league, ahead of fellow newcomer Utah Valley (70) and just five points back of another new face in the conference, California Baptist (93)
• UC San Diego finished with 120 points and 10 first-place votes to top the poll followed by UC Irvine (108, 1 first-place vote) and UC Santa Barbara (94) in the top three
• Last season, the Hornets were picked fifth by the coaches in their final season in the Big Sky Conference and finished the year in fifth
PRESEASON PICKS TO CLICK
• Senior guard Natalie Picton and junior forward Jenessa Cotton were two of seven players named to the preseason All-Big West squad in the program’s first year in the league
• Sacramento State was one of only two schools with multiple selections to the preseason all-league team, joining preseason league favorite UC San Diego, which had three
A MAJOR MID-MAJOR HONOR
• Sacramento State’s six-woman transfer class for 2026-27 was named as one of the best in the nation among mid-major schools according to the website On3.com
• The Hornets ranked ninth along with the likes of Grand Canyon, South Florida, Fairfield, Green Bay, High Point, Miami (Ohio), Toledo, Colorado State, Utah State
IRON SHARPENS IRON
• Sacramento State will face four teams who reached some level of postseason play a season ago, including three of those teams who will be rivals in The Big West
• UC San Diego, which tied for the regular season title and won the league’s tournament crown, was a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost to TCU in the opening round
• UC Irvine, which matched the Tritons atop the Big West standings at 17-3, was selected for the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, falling to San Diego State in the first round
• San Francisco advanced the furthest of the four, gaining the second round of the WNIT following a win over another of this year’s opponents in Utah Valley and a loss to Montana State
NOT A MATTER OF IF, BUT “WIN”
• Sacramento State’s eight conference wins last season were the most in Head Coach Aaron Kallhoff‘s tenure and the most since the Hornets finished 13-5 in 2022-23 en route to a share of the Big Sky regular season title
• The 15 wins overall matched the total from 2024-25 and gave Sacramento State back-to-back seasons with at least that many wins for the first time since the 2013-14 (18-12) and 2014-15 (18-16) campaigns
ROAD TRIPPING
• Sacramento State will play games in five different states during non-conference play before settling down and playing all but one Big West game in its home state of California
• The Hornets will pay visits to Texas (UT Arlington), Nevada (University of Nevada), New York (Buffalo and Niagara), Arizona (University of Arizona), and Idaho (Boise State) during the non-conference segment while taking a late season jaunt to Orem, Utah (Utah Valley) in league play
• Sacramento State’s season opener at UT Arlington will be the first trip to Texas for the Hornets since they faced Texas Tech in Lubbock in 2008
• They are 6-11 all time against Texas schools, but just 1-7 in games played in Texas
• Sacramento State and long-time rival Nevada have a series that dates back to 1972, but the two are playing in Reno for the first time since the 2023-24 season
• The Hornets are a combined 26-31 against Nevada schools, but just 8-18 on the road in the “Silver State”
• This year marks the first-ever meetings with Buffalo and Niagara and will be Sacramento State’s first-ever games in the state of New York
• The Hornets have faced four New York-based schools: Army West Point, Fordham, Hofstra, and Wagner, posting a 4-1 record against those schools but all played either at home or on a neutral court
• The Nov. 29 game at Arizona is the Hornets’ first trip to Tucson since 1994
• Sacramento State has played only three non-conference games against Arizona schools when you include games versus Arizona State in 1992 and 2017
• The Dec. 11 trip to Boise State is the first against the Broncos in Idaho’s capital since 2010
• Three of the four all-time meetings between Sacramento State and Boise State have been played in Boise (2005, 2007, 2010)
THINGS ARE LOOKING UP
• Junior center Achol Magot stands at 6-foot-7 and is the tallest player in school history according to available records
• Previously, the record had been shared by Alicja Falkowska (2021-22), Isnelle Natabou (2021-23), Paula Haw (2023-25), and her current teammate (and cousin) Ajong Lual, who were all listed at 6-foot-5
• According to a preseason survey of schools nationwide (as of Oct. 27), there are only four Division I players on 2026-27 rosters that are taller than Magot: Texas Tech’s Stephanie Okechukwu (7-foot-1), Middle Tennessee’s Nicole Dominguez (6-foot-10), Charleston Southern’s Celina Vilcinskas (6-foot-9), and TCU’s Sarah Portlock (6-foot-8)
• She is one of 10 players nationally who are listed at 6-foot-7 entering the year according to the same survey
A TALL ORDER
• This year’s Sacramento State squad is among the tallest in the program’s Division I history, featuring seven players standing six feet or taller
• That number is tied for the second most in school history, trailing only the record eight six-footers on the 2025-26 roster
• The average height for this year’s squad is 71.07 inches (roughly five feet, 11 and 1/16 inches… if you’re into fractions), while is the third tallest behind last year’s roster that averaged 71.13 inches (roughly five feet, 11 and 1/8 inches) and the 2023-24 squad that averaged 71.43 inches (roughly five feet, 11 13/32 inches)
EVERYDAY IS FATHER’S DAY
• There will be a pair of Picton’s on the floor this season for the Hornets as senior guard Natalie will be joined by her father, David, who is entering his first year as an assistant coach with the program in 2026-27
• They are one of only two such father-daughter duos in the country in 2026-27, joining Kentucky head coach Kenny Brooks and his daughter, Gabby, who is a senior entering her third year playing for her dad with the Wildcats
TERVEISIÄ SUOMESTA!
• Emme puhu kovin hyvin suomea (loosely Google translated: We don’t speak Finnish very well), but we do know that Hornet junior Pinja Paananen is one of a handful of Finnish players in Division I women’s basketball entering the 2026-27 campaign
• According to a preseason survey of schools across the nation (as of Oct. 22), Paananen is one of 11 “Suomalaiset” (“Finns”) on NCAA rosters and the only one of those 11 to hail from Laukaa — a city located approximately 176 miles from the nation’s capital, Helsinki
SHE CAN DO BOTH
• Guard Jaety Mandaquit enters her second season with the Sacramento State women’s basketball team in 2026-27 and will join the squad once her duties with the Hornets’ women’s soccer program are complete
• A walk-on to the program last year, Mandaquit appeared in 31 games and made 11 starts on the court for Sacramento State, averaging 3.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game while averaging 20.7 mpg
• When she made her debut in the season opener against Stanton on Nov. 3, 2025, Mandaquit became only the third two-sport student-athlete in the women’s basketball program’s Division I history, the first since 2001-02, and only the second women’s soccer player to make the jump
• The other two student-athletes were: Allison Espinosa, a two-time All-American (1989-90) in volleyball who played women’s basketball in 1990-91 and 1991-92 (42 career games, 3.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, .477 FG%), and Lori Kerswell, a two-time All-Big Sky selection who played four years with the women’s soccer team and joined the women’s basketball team for one year in 2001-02 (22 games, nine starts, 4.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg).
• Trading her cleats for sneakers, this year’s debut for Mandaquit marked her first organized basketball contest since her junior year of high school
• Hailing from Hilo, Hawai’i, Mandaquit is only the second Hornet to come from the “Aloha State” and the first since Jordan Kealoha (Honolulu) played two seasons for Sacramento State in 2010-12
SHE, TOO, CAN DO BOTH
• The women’s basketball team features a pair of two-sport Hornets as, in addition to Mandaquit, senior forward Elizabeth Abiara traded in her basketball sneakers for track spikes at the end of last year, competing in the high jump in three meets
• She cleared at least 5-03.75 in all three competition and set a new collegiate best of 5-05.25 to place second in the high jump at the annual Causeway Dual with UC Davis
• Abiara also competed in the high jump at Central Arkansas as a freshman in 2023-24, setting her then-career best with a 5-05.00 at the Little Rock Invitational, finishing sixth
A RARE BREED
• According to a preseason survey of schools across the country (as of Oct. 22), Mandaquit and Abiara are two of only five two-sport women’s basketball student-athletes active at the Division I level this year
• The Hornet duo is joined by Lamar’s Molly Powell (women’s basketball and softball), Chattanooga’s Aaliyah Story (track & field [high jump & long jump] and women’s basketball), and Notre Dame’s Isabella Sangha (volleyball and women’s basketball)
HORNETS IN THE PROS (all information as of Oct. 23)
• Following a stellar collegiate career at Sacramento State, guard Benthe Versteeg (2022-26) signed with Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv in Israel’s Division A, averaging 6.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.8 steals per game
• Emily Enochs (2018-22) plays for BBC Osnabrueck in the German 2.Bundesliga, averaging 4.3 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game
• Fatoumata Jaiteh (2024-26) has signed a contract with GDRAR in Portugal’s Liga Feminina
• Lianna Tillman (2021-22) plays for Freseras in Mexico’s LNBPF
• Kahlaijah Dean (2022-23) plays for Beirut FC in Lebanon’s WLBL
• Elisa Leghissa (2025-26) signed with Ragusa in Italy’s Serie A2
• Kaylin Randhawa (2022-23), who is in her first year as an assistant coach at Big West rival Long Beach State, plays for the Bay City Blaze in the WPBA
THE WORLDWIDE LEADER
• Of Sacramento State’s 15-member roster for 2026-27, only three of those hail from outside the United States — a stark departure from recent years where nearly half the team was international
• Those three players represent Canada (Natalie Picton), Finland (Pinja Paananen), and Australia (Jelena Savic)
• Savic is the 22nd international player in the program’s Division I history — 20 of those coming in the last nine years
• Australia leads the way with five current/former Hornets, followed by three from Germany and Canada, two from Spain and France, and one each from Italy, Finland, the Netherlands, Czechia, Poland, Hungary, and Brazil
• Paananen is the first student-athletes from her respective nation to represent Sacramento State, while Picton is the first Canadian Hornet since Sarah Craig (Calgary, Alberta) in 2003-04
UNITED STATES OF SACRAMENTO
• In addition to the student-athletes from three different countries, this year’s edition of the Hornets also hail from seven different states
• Alongside five native Californians (Jeniece Harmon, Jamiah Fontenberry, Tali Fa’i, Koko Akridge, and Jenessa Cotton), Sacramento State also features natives of Texas (Elizabeth Abiara), Colorado (Brooklyn Charlo), Hawai’i (Jaety Mandaquit), Oregon (Jordan Barlow), Arizona (Ajong Lual and Achol Magot), and Pennsylvania (Alexis Hess)
• Abiara is only the third Texan to play for the Hornets since 1988-89
• Mandaquit is only the second Hornet to hail from the “Aloha State” and the first since Jordan Kealoha (Honolulu) played two seasons for Sacramento State in 2010-12
• Charlo is the fourth Coloradan and the first since Anna Weibel and Raegen Rohn in 2018-19
• Barlow is the 10th Oregonian to suit up for the Hornets and the first since Kylie Kuhns and Natasha Torgerson in 2012-13
• Lual and Magot are among a group of seven Arizonans who have played for the Hornets, and the first since Summer Menke and Neysa Munguia in 2021-22
• Hess is the first-ever Hornet to hail from Pennsylvania
• In the program’s Division I era, Hornets have called 26 states home
BENCH BOSSES
• Joining fourth-year head coach Aaron Kallhoff on the bench are associate head coach De’Audra Brown and a trio of new assistants in Halie Bergman, David Picton, and Teaunsha “Tee” Robinson
• A sideline veteran at both the junior college and Division I levels, Brown was elevated to her current position in March of 2024 and serves as the program’s recruiting coordinator. She was named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s “30-under-30” coaches list in 2017 and has stops at Hawai’i, New Mexico State, Eastern Arizona College and Seward County CC
• Bergman comes to Sacramento State after eight years — including the last three as an assistant coach — at her alma mater, Nevada. She was a “30 under 30” honoree by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and was named one of Silver Waves Media’s Top 50 Most Impactful Assistant Coaches in 2024
• Picton is in his first year serving as an assistant coach and assistant general manager with the Hornets after spending the last eight years as the founder, head coach, and technical director of Niagara Prep in Ontario, Canada, building it into one of Canada’s premier prep programs. He also served as a coach and director of player development with the Kia Nurse Elite Nike EYBL program, spent 12 years coaching within the Ontario Basketball Association, and was an assistant for two years with the men’s program at his alma mater, Brock University.
• Robinson enters her first year as an assistant coach and director of player development after spending last year as an assistant at Delaware State and three years at Paris Junior College in Texas. A four-year letter winner as a student-athlete at Bowie State, she also has experience as a coach at the AAU and high school levels.
• Ritter is in his second year as an assistant with the Hornets and adds the title of Director of Video and Analytics. He was a student assistant with the program from 2023-25, graduating with a degree in child and adolescent development from Sacramento State in 2025.