Defending your home court is important, but defending it when you only play four home games is even more necessary.

Just one week after Sacramento State’s women’s basketball team defeated Utah Valley, the Hornets return to The Nest tonight at 7 p.m. to face the University of San Francisco.

San Francisco comes into the game losing two out of their last three games, but beat Boise State this past Saturday to improve their overall record to 3-2.

“They are pretty well-balanced and they do a little bit of everything,” said the Hornets’ head coach Jamie Craighead. “They play in transition – they have some good shooters and some big players inside. It’s going to be a good test at home.”

The Dons feature a tandem of guards in the backcourt, including Mel Khlok and Zhane Dikes, who average 14.4 and 10.6 points per game, respectively. San Francisco also features seven players above 6 feet, but despite their size, Craighead said the Dons will still play with a quicker pace.

Sac State comes into the game averaging 74.8 points per game, leading the Big Sky Conference and standing at fourth in the conference shooting 39 percent from the field.

Although the Hornets have seen success from their uptempo style offense, team captain senior forward Kylie Kuhns said it is still the preseason and the team needs to focus on getting better.

During their last game, the Hornets shot a season low 1-9 from behind the 3-point arc in the first half against Utah Valley, but recovered to give themselves a 12-point win.

“We shoot a lot and we are always going to shoot,” Craighead said. “You can have an off night as a shooter, but I know my team will shoot well. We are never worried about it.”

The Hornets have one final home game in 2012 where they face Causeway rival UC Davis before returning to the court Jan. 10 against Portland State.

“It is really crucial to protect our home court,” Kuhns said. “It’ll really help too when conference play comes around.”

Ryan can be reached on Twitter at @rskuhn