ARCATA- The Humboldt state women's basketball team will look to continue their five game winning streak in front of a home crowd this week. They are returning home after defeating three California Collegiate Athletic Association rivals on the road and the Jacks will play four consecutive games at Lumberjack Arena over the next two weeks. Humboldt will first host CSU San Bernardino on Thursday and Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday.
Head-to-Head
Humboldt leads the all-time series against both match-ups this week. The Jacks defeated CSU San Bernardino in both games last season to improve their overall record, 5-4. Humboldt and Cal Poly Pomona split the series in the 2009-10 season and now stand 6-4, overall.
Lumberjack Notes
The Jacks shined in a stretch of road wins and continues to show conference rivals that Humboldt is a force to be reckoned with. Not only do the Jacks move to the .500 mark in California Collegiate Athletic Association games but they return home for eight of the next 10 games. “It was a collective sigh of relief,” said HSU head coach, Joddie Geason in regards to the road wins. “We have already played five CCAA games on the road and how we return home for a big stretch,” she added. The Jacks continue to struggle in the early minutes of play before they return to their normal intensity. Recently, Humboldt has benefitted from strong play off the bench from Lisa Petty and an offensive spark from Patrice Saidon. “Lisa had a great week for us on the road. She and Patrice came in with energy when our starting offense was stagnate,” commented the coach. Gleason and the Jacks recognize, though, that the upcoming games will not be easy and they must continue improving in practice to conquer the incoming competition. “This is going to be a tough two week stand. We know that we have stiff competition with San Bernardino and Pomona and they are teams that have great records,” concluded Gleason.
Opponent's Notes
CSU San Bernardino holds a 7-1 (CCAA, 3-1) record going into this week's game. Only two players are averaging double-digit scoring. Eisha Sheppard leads the Coyotes in scoring and is recording just fewer than five rebounds per game. Cal Poly Pomona holds a 6-2 (CCAA, 3-1) record going into this week of games. They will play Sonoma State on Thursday before traveling to Humboldt to face the Jacks. Reyana Colson leads the Broncos scoring. Colson is averaging 21.4 points with just under 7 rebounds per game.
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 .640 winning percentage is by far the best in school history. In her six years at HSU, Gleason has amassed a 111-71 overall mark and is 77-48 in league contests (56-33 in the CCAA and 21-15 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference).
Jack Tracks: Jeanette DeWitt Player Thoughts
Class: Junior
Hometown: Nipomo, Calif.
High School: Nipomo HS
The Jacks return to Lumberjack Arena in winning fashion and Jeanette DeWitt knows how important the next four games at home will be for her and the Jacks. “We see the potential that we have and we want to keep up the streak,” commented DeWitt. “We feel really good because we didn't start off the season doing so well but now we are playing as a team and everyone is in it,” she added. In recent games on the road, Humboldt has started both halves slow, allowing the opposition to score quickly. “In the beginning we started out strong and now we are doing the opposite,” said DeWitt. “Our defense has gotten a lot better and now we need to get the flow more on offense and start scoring earlier,” she added. The Jacks positive attitude continues to grow stronger in each conference victory on the road but the team could not be happier to return home for two weeks. “We won our road games and took care of business against tough opponents,” said DeWitt. “We are excited to play in front of our home crowd and show them our improvement and why we have been winning on the road,” she added. The Jacks have conquered intense games out of town and now must face top conference competition. “We are home and we know we can do it,” commented DeWitt. “The next few games are going to be the ones that test us…but we are ready to show them who we are,” she concluded.
Projected Starters
F- #00 Bree Halsey, 6-0, Jr., Fresno
G- #4 Jenna Hamilton, 5-6, Jr., Corona
G- #5 Kayla Williams, 5-8, Jr., Seattle, 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 Stat
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
“San Bernardino has a big turnover this year and we are unfamiliar with player personnel so we will watch film this week.”…”They (CSU San Bernardino) are a confident team with a 7-1 record so we know they are knocking people off.”…”Reyana Colson from Pomona is amazing. She is one of the top guards in the conference and easily contends for player of the year. She is really athletic and explosive to the basket. She has this uncanny ability to draw fouls and it will take our entire team to force her to take tough shots.”…”Pomona is just solid. They have post presence with (Megan) Ford, shooting with (La'kenya Simon) West, and athleticism with Colson and (Rosslyn) Beard. They are a team that will contend for conference championship.”
