With the transfer portal window opening on Monday, Sacramento State women’s basketball is looking to bolster their roster after a second-round exit in the Big Sky Conference tournament and a 15-18 season.
The Hornets will need to replace their two graduating star senior forwards Katie Peneueta and Jaydia Martin, who put up a combined 23.6 points per game this season. Sac State will look to the portal to find scorers to surround the returning duo of redshirt junior guard Benthe Versteeg and junior forward Fatoumata Jaiteh.
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In addition to replacing their senior scoring punch, the Hornets are looking to add size, interior defense and secondary playmaking, three areas where they struggled this year. The Hornets ended the season second in the conference in total turnovers and allowed the most total rebounds.
The Transfer Portal is a big thing in today’s college athletics. Not as many athletes stay at the same school all their years. Many people do find better situations. Some don’t and the grass wasn’t greener. Kind of like going to the casino in a way.
— Aaron Kallhoff (@CoachAKallhoff) March 16, 2025
“I’d also like to get more athletic,” Sac State head coach Aaron Kallhoff said. “I want to press more and play the defensive style I’d like to. It’ll be a combination of trying to meet our needs and replace the starters and rotation players we’re losing.”
In the Portal:
Guard, Lina Falk
Two-way swingman sophomore guard Lina Falk is entering the portal after starting 30 of the team’s 33 games for the Hornets this year. She averaged 9.9 points while shooting 40% from the field.
The 6’2” guard’s size and ball skills make her a threat from anywhere on the court, a willing long-range shooter and paint scorer. She scored a career-high 20 points against Long Beach State in a red-hot scoring stretch to open the year.
This momentum was slowed when an illness sidelined her midseason, and she wasn’t able to return to her pre-conference play form. During the preseason, she averaged nearly 16 points per game, but after her absence that average dropped to single digits.
Falk announced her entrance into the portal via instagram on Monday.
Center, Paula Haw
Falk’s German U18 teammate, redshirt freshman Paula Haw, is joining her in the portal. The 6’5” center only managed limited playing time across her two seasons at Sac State.
With her size, she’s an intimidating presence in the paint. She started in four total games, recording a career-high four points against Santa Clara and a career-high nine rebounds versus UC Davis.
Haw announced her entrance into the portal via instagram on Monday.
Guard, Sofia Alonso
Redshirt freshman guard Sofia Alonso is entering the portal after a pair of injury-riddled seasons cut her play time short. She appeared in 13 games across the two seasons, averaging 7.1 points and 3.2 assists while shooting 34% from the floor.
The Hornets will need to find backup guard play to replace her secondary playmaking and spell redshirt junior guard Benthe Versteeg.
The Spanish product from Valladolid competed for Spain’s U16 team in the European Women’s Challengers, like Falk and Haw.
Alonso announced her entrance into the portal via instagram on Monday.
Guard, Madison Butcher
The Hornets’s guard depth behind Versteeg suffers further with redshirt sophomore Madison Butcher becoming the third rotational guard to enter the portal. This comes after she re-established herself in the rotation following a lost year due to injury.
The Placer County native averaged 4.4 points and 0.8 assists a game coming off the bench. Her handling skills and midrange touch was valuable, when it came to carrying the offense while Versteeg rested.
Butcher announced her entrance into the portal Tuesday morning via instagram.
Guard, Jemma Amoore
Freshman guard Jemma Amoore enters the portal after playing limited minutes across 22 games this season. She scored a career-high three points versus both Wagner and UC San Diego, and recorded three steals in 10 minutes against Abilene Christian.
Amoore struggled to find consistent play time in a loaded guard rotation for Sac State, after a successful career in Australia’s NBL1 for the Ballarat Miners.
A source confirmed Amoore entrance into the portal on Sunday.
Sac State Additions:
The Hornets have yet to formally announce an incoming player through the transfer portal, but are expected to be active in filling the various holes on the roster. This article will be updated as transfers are announced.
