The Carolina Panthers were 1-15 two years ago and will be playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday against the New England Patriots.

The Denver Nuggets amassed just 17 wins a year ago, but had 26 wins coming into this week. They currently hold the seventh seed in the NBA’s Western Conference.

The moral here is that sometimes it takes losing to become better.

The Sacramento State women’s basketball team is just 1-16 overall and 1-3 in Big Sky Conference play this season.

Despite having only one victory to show for their efforts, the Hornets are getting better.

“Early in the season we went into games hoping not to get blown out, now we are hoping to win — we expect to be in every game,” first-year head coach Dan Muscatell said.

Although the team expects to be in every game, the losses keep adding up.”I think we need to find it within ourselves,” freshman guard Stephanie Cherry said. “It’s not about offense or defense, it’s about looking into yourself to find what it takes to win.”

Sac State has a team shooting percentage of .349 and has registered only 181 assists compared to 370 turnovers.

The team’s worst defeat took place on Dec. 5 against the ninth ranked Kansas State Wildcats. Sac State fell 94-31 in the opening round of the Commerce Bank Wildcat Classic. Kendra Wecker and Lavrie Koeha each put in 20 to lead the Wildcats to the easy victory.

The team has shown signs of improvement over the season. In early December, the team was giving up 77 points per game. Over the past few weeks, that average has fallen to 64.9 points per game.

The team’s lone victory took place this month on Jan. 15 when Sac State defeated Portland State 56-50 in their Big Sky Conference opener. Junior guard Tyeisha Brown scored a career-high 24 points on 10 of 17 shooting and added eight rebounds to lead the Hornets to the victory.

With only four seniors on the team, Sac State will have many returning players next season.

“I like the coach, he’ll do a good job recruiting, he just needs some time,” long time Hornet fan and season ticket holder, Ruth Hern, said. “They have a good nucleus to build around.”

Coach Muscatell shares Hern’s feelings, “The nucleus is in place to continue to grow.”

That nucleus includes Brown, a 5-foot-8 guard out of Vallejo, who leads the team in scoring with 8.5 points per game. Her scoring has jumped recently in conference play to 12.8. She has also stepped up her rebounding to 6.8 per conference game.

Cousins, junior point guard Samania Black and freshman forward Jessica Voisard leads the team in assists and rebounding respectively. Black has started all but one contest this season,. Voisard leads the team with 6.1 boards a game, and has averaged 7.5 rebounds in two conference games this year.

In their most recent action, Sac State fell to Weber State 47-43 in a defensive game that had 35 combined turnovers. With the game tied, Angela Sampson got an offensive rebound and put-back with 11 seconds to go, giving Weber State a two-point lead.

Sac State’s Brown got off an open look from the right baseline that would have tied the game, but the shot bounced off the rim and Weber State pulled down the defensive rebound. Julie Gjertson iced the game with two free throws to keep the Hornets from pulling to .500 in conference play.

Coach Muscatell said the team will recruit what is needed to help the team and is actively taking those steps necessary to bring in quality players to Sac State.