The Sac State women’s basketball team ended its season-opening road trip Saturday with a 75-68 loss to Cal Poly at Mott Gym in San Luis Obispo, Ca.

The loss dropped the team’s record to 0-3, with a tough Saint Mary’s squad coming up tomorrow.

“We’ve put ourselves in a position to win and then we have taken ourselves out of the games with mental errors,” head coach Carolyn Jenkins said. “If not for three or four mental mistakes, we could very easily be 3-0 right now.”

The Hornets opened the season Nov.18 on the road in San Jose with a 71-59 loss to San Jose State. The Hornets had come back to get within three points in the second half before being held to seven points the rest of the game.

Sac State’s next game came Nov. 20 at UOP in Stockton. The Hornets used a 9-0, second-half run to cut UOP’s lead to two points with less than five minutes left in the game. But the comeback would stop with an errant Sac State pass that was deflected with two seconds left in the game, ensuring the 74-71 victory for UOP.

“It’s ironic because I believe how well we do is under our control,” Jenkins said. “We have been in positions to win games and then we’ve gotten away from the things we do to put ourselves in those positions. We start rushing things and turning the ball over.”

One bright spot in the young season is the play of senior Michelle St. Clair. St. Clair has led the team in scoring in two out of the three games and set a career high in scoring with 28 points against Cal Poly. But while St. Clair is averaging 21 points per game so far, Jenkins would like to see some of the other players step up and make more of a contribution.

“Michelle has made some big shots for us,” Jenkins said. “But sometimes when you rely on one person too much, you have a problem when that person goes cold and no one else is ready.”

Because of injuries, Jenkins has been forced to use an eight-player rotation. This creates a greater need for a total team contribution because players like St. Clair and freshman Rexanne Rodriguez have been asked to play every minute of the game and fatigue can become a factor.

At any rate, Jenkins is looking for help for St. Clair.

“It could be Sephora Scoubes, but she has to stay out of foul trouble. It could also be Nichole Hardaway if she works on her shooting skills a little. I think Tola Tallman, as a freshman, has been doing a great job with her athleticism, but she is a freshman and sometimes makes those freshman sort of mistakes,” Jenkins said.

Putting these pieces together would be nice, but it may take more to beat a 4-0 Saint Mary’s team that is led by local twin terrors Jermisha and Jerkisha Dosty.

“We have to focus on playing 40 minutes well, not just playing well in spurts,” Jenkins said. “We have to continue getting better on turning the ball over and playing defense well all 40 minutes. We need good mental concentration.”