Sacramento State played once this week and received a pummeling from the University of California, Davis Aggies on Wednesday, a game where it looked like they never got off the bus.
The embarrassing 31-point loss to the Aggies was their largest defeat since an 88-51 loss to Idaho on Dec. 28, 2023, but it’s not indicative of what this Hornets team truly is.
After six games, Sac State currently sits at 4-2 and has plenty of positives to build upon. A team built on depth, pace, physicality and coordination should be able to regroup before their games in Miami on Nov. 29 and Dec. 1.
Picking up the pieces
Adversity is where teams can learn a lot about themselves, and Sac State is about to find out whether they’re moving in the right direction or not.
After suffering a heartbreaking loss to Long Beach State at the buzzer for their first loss this season, it was riveting to see how they responded against a team on a 3-game slump in the UC Davis Aggies.
It’s safe to say they didn’t even get off the bus, let alone respond, in their 31-point loss to the Aggies.
“They need to comprehend it because we had a gameplan,” Sac State head coach Aaron Kallhoff said after the loss to Davis. “They didn’t show the ability to do that and perform.”
A 4-0 start to the season has been dampened, after back-to-back losses brought the Hornets back down to Earth. The loss to Davis doesn’t represent this team, but the team’s trip to Miami will be the true test to find out if it was a fluke or not.
In both losses, foul trouble has been the Hornets’ achilles heel. Over the two games, Sac State sent opponents to the line often where they hit 42-of-52 attempts. The Hornets only have 33 attempts from the stripe over that span.
Letting opponents knock down more free throws than your team has attempted is a recipe for disaster and something the Hornets will need to clean up going forward.
Fountain of youth
There weren’t any positives in the Hornets’ lone game of the week, but the effectiveness of the underclassmen this season cannot be understated.
Seven of the 12 players to take the court this season are freshmen and sophomores. Leading the team in scoring at 13.5 points per game, starting sophomore guard Lina Falk has been the backbone of the Hornet offense.
Falk has been impressive this season, scoring the ball efficiently with shooting splits of 49/32/67. The 6-foot-2 guard’s ability to score anywhere on the court, especially inside the restricted area, has opened the floor up for redshirt sophomore guard Madison Butcher and redshirt freshman guard Sofia Alonso.
Butcher and Alonso have been ‘lights out’ shooting the ball off the bench this year, since returning from their previous season-ending injuries.
Playing in every game so far, Butcher is averaging 7.2 points per game on nearly 50/40/90 shooting splits, an impressive feat for any knockdown shooter. She’s a crafty guard, who has demonstrated the ability to line up a triple or slither through traffic to drain a midrange.
As the team’s lead point off the bench, Alonso has stepped in to orchestrate the offense. She is second on the team in assists at 22, but can shoot with the best of them.
Alonso is 39% from three and a perfect 18-of-18 from the line. Her ability to create opportunities for herself and take advantage at the line puts her second in scoring, just behind Falk.
This week’s hot hand
With the only game last week being the loss to Davis, the hot hand is going to players who should see an increased role if the Hornets want to finish atop the Big Sky Conference.
The guards have stolen the show, but the frontcourt could emerge as part of the Hornets’ future success. Freshman forwards Noemi Arvai and Brooklyn Taylor have flashed their potential as a threat on the block.
Arvai’s minutes have seen a dip recently, but during the season opener against Jessup, she posted 10 points and seven rebounds in her collegiate debut. With a soft touch around the basket, Arvai has the means to be a post player they build the offense around in the future.
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Taylor’s skill set differs slightly from Arvai’s, being more of a bruiser when she reaches the paint. The forward’s best performance this season was an 11-point, 10-rebound game against Lincoln.
On a team that lacks a true ‘big,’ Taylor fits in perfectly.
She’s a forward with the skill to bully the opponent’s four and get good looks around the rim, along with top-notch athleticism that allows her a quick takeoff to grab rebounds.
Adding a skilled post player to the rotation consistently is going to open up the floor for the handful of shooters Sac State has. Taylor is someone to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
A look ahead
Sac State will hit the road on Thanksgiving for a two-game tournament against the Abilene Christian University Wildcats on Friday and a currently undetermined team on Sunday.
The Wildcats sit at 3-4 on the season, coming off a 61-53 win over University of the Incarnate Word on Nov. 24. In six of their seven games, the Wildcats have eclipsed 60 points.
Abilene Christian’s offense might pose an issue for Sac State, as they boast three double-digit scorers.
Sophomore guard Payton Hull headlines the Wildcats’ offense, averaging 16.1 points per game. Hull thrives at the line, knocking down 33 of her 36 attempts this season. Sac State’s discipline is sure to be a determining factor to shutting her down.
The Hornets should look to force Hull into bad shots, as she shoots just 37% from the field and 24% from three. In two of the Wildcats’ games, Hull has shot 2-of-14 and 3-of-17, going a combined 15% from beyond the arc.
If Sac State can play defense without fouling and force Abilene Christian into questionable shots, they should be able to get back on track in South Beach.
