The Sacramento State Hornets women’s basketball team host Cal State East Bay on Monday in an exhibition. Heading into the season, junior guard Benthe Versteeg was named to the preseason All-Big Sky team. The Hornets’ impressive rankings—4th in the coaches poll and 6th in the media poll—are a testament to their potential and a source of optimism for the upcoming season.
Versteeg
Versteeg is the fourth Hornet to earn preseason all-league honors in program history. She joins former standouts Brianna Burgos (2016-17), Kennedy Nicholas (2019-20), and Isnelle Natabou (2022-23). Last season, the team’s overall performance was impressive. Versteeg was an All-Big Sky second-team honoree named to the conference’s inaugural All-Defensive and Big Sky All-Tournament teams.
The junior guard led the Big Sky in assists and set a school single-season record with 208 assists — breaking the school mark that had stood since 2015 and ranked eighth in the conference annals.
Versteeg became the 11th player in Big Sky history to compile 200 assists in a season. She is only the fifth Hornet overall to lead the league in assists. Versteeg averaged 6.71 assists per game while putting up 11.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per contest. Versteeg shot 35% from the field.
Hornets
According to the Sacramento State Hornets press release. Sacramento State’s significant jump in the preseason prognostications is a cause for celebration. The team earned 48 points, a substantial improvement, to finish behind favorite Northern Arizona (seven first-place votes and 79 points), Montana State (three first-place votes and 73 points), and Montana (66 points). The Hornets led fifth-place Northern Colorado by a point and projected sixth-place Idaho State by four points. Idaho (44), Eastern Washington (28), Portland State (15), and Weber State (14) rounded out the top 10.
The results in the coaches’ poll mark Sacramento State’s highest preseason ranking since it was selected, tied for second with former league member North Dakota before the 2015-16 season.
