The Big Sky Conference has been anything but kind to the Sacramento State men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Both programs have combined for a 3-11 start in conference play and have 11 games left in the season to turn their fortunes around before the Big Sky Tournament in early March.

The Sac State men’s team (5-15, 2-5 Big Sky) — which lost six straight preseason games earlier in the season for the program’s worst stretch since a nine-game losing streak in 2011 — is currently on a two-game losing streak. This has helped lead the Hornets to the second-worst conference record in the Big Sky, in front of only a winless Northern Arizona squad.

“I think we could be in a better position, but I think the main goal is the (Big Sky) Tournament,” sophomore guard Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa said. “As long as we get better every game from now until the tournament, then I think we have done a good job.

“Once the tournament hits, I think we should be ready to fight.”

So far, the Hornets’ best chance of an effective attack has been through the play of senior forward Justin Strings. In Sac State’s only two conference victories, Strings — who leads the team with 17.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game — posted a career-high 34 points in a 80-75 win over Portland State and 31 points in a 87-68 triumph against Montana State.

However, sophomore forward Joshua Patton — who is averaging 9.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest — recognizes that the team will need contributions from every starter and reserve player on the squad.

“We are going to need everybody throughout the season,” Patton said. “Those guys coming off the bench (need to bring) a lot energy, scoring, rebounding, playing good defense, (and) we have to be as strong as our weakest guy. Everyone has to do there job.”

Meanwhile, the Sac State women’s team (3-15, 1-6 Big Sky) has struggled in its line of work on the hardwood and is currently going through a five-game losing streak. This skid, which is the program’s worst since a five-game losing streak in 2015, has lead the Hornets to their worst start in Big Sky play during coach Bunky Harkleroad’s five seasons at Sac State.

“We’ve sucked the last three of four games,” Harkleroad said in regard to the team’s inability to put points on the scoreboard. “We are 10 of our last 70 from 3-point land. It’s been very frustrating — we have got to get in and work on it.”

The Hornets, which are tied for last place in the Big Sky with Northern Arizona, have went from the No. 1 scoring offense (82.4 points per game) in the conference last season to the No. 6 team (69.3 points per contest) this year. Also, despite lowering their points allowed per game total from 87.2 last year to 82.4 this season, the Hornets still remain the last place Big Sky team in scoring defense.

“We have heart,” senior guard Maranne Johnson said about her team’s performance this year. “I feel like each game, we build on that a lot more (and) we’ve played together really well. The shots just aren’t falling. Defensively, we need to just keep putting pressure on (the opposing) team.”

Despite the lack of victories in the win column, sophomore forward Kennedy Nicholas — who is tied for second place on the team with 6.1 rebounds per game — said she’s seen an incline in the Hornets’ performances since their 101-70 loss to Kentucky at the beginning of the season.  

“You can tell from the beginning of the season when we went to Kentucky (to) now playing Idaho State at home, our improvement on the court as a team has improved so much. We are right there.

“We’ve had so many injuries and inconsistencies throughout our team, and we haven’t backed down yet.”

The Sac State basketball programs will next play the Portland State Vikings at 1:05 p.m. on Saturday with the men’s team at Portland State and the women at the Nest in Sacramento.

Additional reporting by Thomas Frey