Sacramento State women’s basketball opens its regular season Friday on the road against San Jose State at the Event Center at 7:05 p.m.

It’s the start of a new season for the Hornets, and for sophomore guard Kim Sheehy, her first game in the green and gold will come against a group of familiar faces.

Sheehy, who comes to the Hornets from San Jose State, had to sit out last season because of NCAA transfer rules. This will be her first game in over a year.

Sheehy signed with San Jose State out of high school, but said that the program was not a good fit for her. In 2003, she transferred to Sac State.

“It’s exciting,” Sheehy said. “It’s pretty much all I have been thinking about.”

The rest of the Hornets are just as excited about starting a new season as Sheehy, with a renewed focus on defense. After a tough season in which the Hornets scored 50 points a game while giving up 68, the focus in practice has been getting things done on the defensive end of the floor as a means to getting more wins.

Senior guard Tyeisha Brown, last season’s leading scorer, said that a quick start is the key.

“We have to come out strong,” Brown said. “We just have to play great defense.”

Defense is the consensus on the team. Sheehy said that the key for the Hornets is to play strong defense, keeping opponents out on the perimeter. The hope is that a strong defense will give the offense more chances to get down the floor quickly.

“We have a lot of very gifted offensive players,” head coach Dan Muscatell said. Sheehy is one of those players. At St. Michaels High in Santa Fe, N.M., Sheehy was the second leading scorer in the state, averaging 21.5 points while also averaging 4.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. At San Jose State, Sheehy averaged 20.9 minutes per game for a Spartans squad that had no problem scoring.

The Spartans averaged 65.9 points per game during the 2002-03 season. After sitting out for a full year, she is ready to join the Hornets as they add seven new players. Both Sheehy and Brown said that the team chemistry is good and that the veterans are mixing well with the new players.

The Hornets lost to San Jose State last year, 70-39.

Two days after the opener at the Spartans, the Hornets return to the valley for their home opener Sunday against UC Riverside at 2:05 p.m. in the Hornets Nest.

Last year, Riverside knocked off the Hornets 58-50. It will be very different team this year as the Highlanders lost three seniors from last year’s squad including leading scorer Crystal Harris. Riverside also added a new coaching staff in the offseason.