Sac State wins bid to Women’s NCAA Tournament for first time
In a remarkable season of firsts and two years removed from a crushing three-win campaign, the Sacramento State women’s basketball team is now off to the NCAA Tournament. The feat represents another emphatic first for a program that rebuilt from the bottom up under second-year coach Mark Campbell.
Seeded third in the Big Sky Conference Tournament, the streaking Hornets beat topseeded Northern Arizona 76-63 in Wednesday’s championship game at Idaho Central Arena in Boise to secure an automatic bid to the Women’s NCAA Tournament. The Hornets avenged two regular-season setbacks to the Lumberjacks and punched their ticket to the “Big Dance” for the first time in program history. Brackets will be released by the NCAA on Sunday afternoon.
The Hornets received a season-high 26 points from fourth-year player Jordan Olivares, who has seen plague, famine and finally success at Sacramento State. The 5-foot-8 senior guard from Seaside in Monterey County has inspired the Hornets this season with her all-out grit, Campbell said. Against NAU, she scored on drives to the basket and made three 3-pointers.
Senior guard Kahlaijah Dean, a Bakersfield transfer who was named Big Sky MVP and Newcomer of the Year, had 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Senior guard Kaylin Randhawa scored 20 points for Sac State, including four 3-pointers, and the Hornets made 10 bombs on the day to extend their school-record mark to 25-7.
All of this after the Hornets won their first Big Sky Conference regular-season championship in program history and their first conference championship of any kind since the early days of the program in the early 1970s.
Northern Arizona (21-13) came in as the highest-scoring team in the Big Sky, but the Lumberjacks trailed by 15 after being held to 22 points in the first half. They went 1 of 14 from the field in the second quarter.
The Hornets haven’t lost since the second NAU meeting, extending their winning streak to nine. NAU beat Sac State 77-67 on Jan. 14 in Flagstaff and 84-82 in overtime at The Nest on Feb. 9.
After the game, Campbell led the team circle embrace. He has experienced NCAA Tournament joy before as an assistant coach at Oregon. Players held their pinky fingers up for the school’s trademark “Stingers Up!” salute. Some players laughed, and then cried.
Sacramento State will host a welcome-home gathering for the Hornets on the campus Athletic Center on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The Athletic Center hosted a watch party on Wednesday to follow the action in Boise. The crowd included students and coaches and players from the men’s basketball team and the threetime defending Big Sky cham
pion football program.
“Oh, man, what a game, what a run,” Campbell said in a postgame news conference in Boise. “They’re a bunch of fighters, a bunch of warriors. You’ve got to defend to win in March, and we said all year that our defense will determine how far we go. I’m beyond proud of what they’ve done and what they’ve accomplished. We’re not done yet.”
Campbell added: “It’s been an unbelievable journey. We have nine new players. Only three played last year here. We knew the system we wanted to run when we got hired. But you never know until you’re in the trenches.”
Campbell couldn’t help but think about Olivares and all she endured to help the program reach new heights following a lost COVID season, the three-win season and a coaching change.
“She’s the heart and soul and spirit of our program, and now she gets to go dancing,” Campbell said. “I’m so happy for everyone here.”
Sacramento State athletic director Mark Orr was in Boise to watch the Hornets in person. He told The Bee, “I was thinking of calling the Kings to see if they can light the beam — can we get a green beam? We’re conference champions, an NCAA berth, and coach Campbell with his pedigree and his experience and ability to develop players ... it’s pretty remarkable. It’s so fun to watch.”