The Jacks are eager to return home after falling on the road in close games this past weekend, first losing to Chico State, 64-62, and the next night dropping a 81-78 decision to CSU Stanislaus.

CCAA/PacWest Challenge Schedule

Saturday, December 11, 2010:

            Dominican vs. Cal State East Bay- 3:30 pm

            Academy of Art vs. Humboldt State- 5:30 pm

**Humboldt State Men's basketball will play after the women's game in a conference game against CSU Sonoma at 7:30 pm.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

            Cal State East Bay vs. Academy of Art- 1:00 pm

            Dominican vs. Humboldt State- 3:00 pm

Head-to-Head

Humboldt leads the all-time series against Dominican, 6-2.  The two teams have not matched up since the 2002-03 season.  The Jacks beat the Penguins in 2000-01, 82-50.  …Academy of Art and Humboldt state played for the first time in 2008-09, with the Jacks dominating, 90-38.  In the Gleason era, Humboldt has never faced Dominican University.

Lumberjack Notes

A break from conference play may be just what the doctor ordered for the Jacks.  “We need this break,” said HSU head coach, Joddie Gleason.  “We are a young team and when we start our competitive conference games so early it is hard to learn and get better,” she added.  …The Jacks are coming off a tough weekend on road but are looking forward to this weekend doubleheader.  “We need to really look at the big picture,” said Gleason.  “We have lost some recent disappointments…but we are a good team we just need to be more fluid,” Gleason said.  …With little experience and knowledge against the incoming teams, Gleason is focusing on her team and what it will take them to win games.  “We will watch film on the couple games we have of theirs. But right now we need to focus on us and ourselves,” said Gleason.  “We will work on getting more disciplined at both ends of the court.”

Opponent's Notes

Academy of Art brings a 1-5 record into this weekend's match-up.  The Knights only win came against Corban University.  The team has not started conference games, yet.   …Senior, Jessica Nolan earned PacWest weekly honors this past week. Nolan currently ranks 12th in the PacWest in scoring with a 10.7 points per game average. …Dominican University's record currently stands at 1-6.  The Penguins' lone win came on the road against University of Alaska Fairbanks. 

Coach Joddie Gleason

Joddie Gleason enters her seventh season at the helm of the Humboldt State's women's basketball program, after leading the 2009-10 squad to a 20-11 overall record and 14-8 mark in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.  Finishing in a tie for fourth place in the conference, the Jacks went on a three-game tear and won the CCAA Tournament and earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  It was the team's third NCAA Division II West Regional birth in the last five years and just the fourth in school history.  Under Gleason, the Lumberjacks have won more games in the past five years than in any other six-year period and her .663 winning percentage is by far the best in school history. In her six years at HSU, Gleason has amassed a 107-71 overall mark and is 75-48 in league contests (54-33 in the CCAA and 21-15 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference).

Jack Tracks: Bree Halsey Player Thoughts

Class: Junior

Hometown: Fresno, Calif.

High School: Sunnyside HS

The stat sheets speak for themselves.  Junior standout Bree Halsey is a true example of hard work for the Lumberjacks.  Halsey's mindset is to look ahead and learn from the Jacks' earlier competitions.  “Our focus is to be tough and ready to compete…and come in the game and dictate on defense,” said Halsey. “We came out (against Chico) with a lot of intensity and didn't wait to get punched in the mouth before they could do anything,” she added.  This makes us produce more on offense and it gets our bench into it and brings a lot of energy,” Halsey said.  Halsey's competitive spirit is an aspect that is contagious to her fellow teammates.  “I like the challenge (of conference games)…even though it has been rough for us,” said Halsey.  “We just need to evaluate and come together as a team and not divide.  We know what we have to work on and we just need to work together.  If we pick each other up and encourage each other then we will win games.” …“Our team goal is to win conference again.  We have the talent and if we put our minds to it we can do it.  Coach Gleason always says we have to come out ready to play and compete every night…and I know she is right.”

Projected Starters

F - #00 Bree Halsey, 6-0, Jr., Fresno

G - #4 Jenna Hamilton, 5-6, Jr., Corona

G - #22 Catie Richards, 5-10, So., Snoqualmie, Wash.

F - #33 Taylor Kilgore, 5-10, Sr., Rocklin

C - #34 Jeanette DeWitt, 6-0, Jr., Nipomo

On-the-Air

Every Lumberjack basketball home game and conference road game is broadcast live over the local airways on KATA, 1340 AM, beginning with the pregame show 15 minutes prior to game time.  Bicoastal Media Sports Director J.B. Mathers describes the action from Lumberjack Arena and HSU Assistant Athletic Director Dan Pambianco goes on the road with the Jacks. …Audio and video are also streamed live over the Internet through the hsujacks.com web site. The new UStream format allows an interactive chat between listeners during the webcast.  The specific URL for access is located at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/humboldt-state-athletics.

Live Stats

All Lumberjack basketball home games can be tracked online by using the Live Stats feature. Real time statistics, momentum tracker and other information are featured on the game viewer. The feature can be found through:

http://livestats.internetconsult.com/humboldt/wbball/index.htm

Gleason's Comments

“We are getting more consistent on defense…and in Chico we played good defense on a team that is tough to defend.”…”Academy of Art has Jessica Nolan.  She is a good player and can score inside and out, and is a good rebounder and it will take a group effort to slow her down.”…”I am pleased with play from Jenna Hamilton, especially at Chico.  Jenna does a good job at attacking the basket and setting people up.  Now we will just work on getting her to defend at the same intensity.”