Recently named to the all-decade team, Sacramento State forward Emily Christensen is entering her final season with the Hornets in hopes of leading her team to a Big Sky Championship.

When hornetsports.com released its all-decade team in early July, Christensen was awarded the sixth man, making her the only current student-athlete on the squad to be named on the prestigious team.

In Christensen’s first three years with the team, she has proven herself to be a valuable commodity in her ability to play many different positions.

“Emily has always been what I would call our utility player,” said head coach Jamie Craighead. “When she showed up here she was a three, then we moved her to a four and now she plays a post player for us. She is such an all-around good player that we can put her in any situation. She can handle the ball, shoot the ball, drive with the ball, rebound the ball, and she can post up.”

Christensen has scored 768 points and knocked down 80 3-pointers during her first three years, despite averaging just 22.9 minutes per game.

As a freshman, Christensen saw action in all 28 games, making four starts. She played both on the perimeter and inside averaging 6.5 points and three rebounds per game. Christensen set a school single-season record by shooting 42.1 percent from 3-point range.

In her sophomore campaign, Christensen appeared in the final 19 games of the season after missing the first 11 due to an offseason knee surgery. She averaged 8.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in just 18.8 minutes per game.

Last year, Christensen started 29 of the team’s 30 games while earning honorable mention all-Big Sky Conference honors. Christensen was second on the team in scoring, averaging 14.1 points per game, which ranked fifth in the conference and increased her scoring output to 15.6 points per game in conference play, also ranking fifth.

She ranked in the top 10 in the conference in rebounding with 6.8 and steals with 1.6. Christensen also ranked in the top 15 in both 3-pointers made per game with 1.6 and blocked shots with 0.7. Christensen scored in double-figures in 14 of the team’s 16 conference games and posted five double-doubles.

Although players and coaches appreciate Christensen’s impressive statistics that she has accumulated in her three years, they say it is her intangibles that truly make her special.

“On the court, she is really competitive and you don’t always see it through a vocal way, but rather she shows by example,” Craighead said. “She keeps it all inside of her and it kind of fuels her. Off the court she is just all smiles, always laughing and joking and doesn’t take a whole lot seriously. She just kind of lets life come to her, which is good way to be.”

Tika Koshiyama-Diaz has been Christensen’s teammate for the past three years and recognizes the importance of having someone like her on the team.

“Emily makes it easier on the court because she’s not going to yell at you – instead she’ll tell you nicely,” Koshiyama-Diaz said. “She’s someone we can go to as a player because we know we can rely on her to knock down big shots.”

Christensen was a four-year letter-winner for Oak Ridge High School and averaged 18 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.4 assists per game during her senior season. She ranked 29th in the state in scoring that season and was named the Sierra Valley League MVP, Cal-Hi Magazine Division II all-State and first team all-Metro in 2006-07 – after leading her team to a 30-2 record.

Christensen will graduate next semester with a 3.5 GPA and a degree in liberal studies. She plans to become a third-grade teacher and credits her parents, Lori and Mark Christensen, for inspiring that.

“Both of my parents pushed me in the right direction and wanted me to follow my own path,” Christensen said. “They guided me through the basketball process when I decided that’s what I wanted to do, which helped me become serious about it. Ever since I was little, they were the ones who have stuck by my side.”

Christensen said she sees herself as the “mood lifter” for her teammates and when she steps on the court her goal is to be a spark for her team.

“I’m serious, but I never get into that serious lockdown mode,” she said. “I’m always talking people up, cheering my teammates on and I’m not quiet, that’s for sure. I try to keep people”s heads up on the sideline, even if they’re doing bad.”

Craighead acknowledges that Christensen will have a lot to do with the level of success her team has.

“She has been our X-factor and if she plays well then we tend to win basketball games,” Craighead said. “She is absolutely a leader for us. We have a handful of players for us that lead in different ways, but Emily leads by example, which really benefits our younger players about how to be and how to play.”

The first chance to see Christensen at home will be Nov. 14 against Fresno State.

Brad Schmidt can be reached at [email protected]