ARCATA- The Humboldt State women's basketball team will return to Lumberjack Arena for another week of home action of California Collegiate Athletic Association games. The Jacks are coming off a hard fought loss against UC San Diego and will look to conquer Cal State Stanislaus and Chico State on Thursday and Saturday.
Head-to-Head
Humboldt lost close games to both CSU Stanislaus (78-81) and Chico state (62-64) in the first meetings this season on the road. CSU Stanislaus leads the all-time series over Humboldt (26-29), as does Chico State by a larger margin, (17-57).
Lumberjack Notes
After a Thursday night victory over Cal State East Bay, the Jacks dropped another close battle to UC San Diego in front of a home crowd on Saturday night. “We played better Saturday then we did on Thursday,” said HSU head coach Joddie Gleason. “We were more efficient we just need to find a way to finish the game,” she said. Gleason is pleased with how her team has improved offensively and continues to seek improvement in rebounding and eliminating turnovers. “We are making better decisions and taking care of the ball better,” explained the coach. “What got us on Saturday is them (UCSD) executing down the stretch, us not getting a defensive stop and them making a play at the offensive end. It was right there in reach,” Gleason added. The Jacks will have to be ready for the strong CCAA competition that they will host this week. Humboldt dropped both games to both the Warriors and Wildcats in the opening weekend of the season on the road. “This is a huge week for us,” said Gleason. “(CSU) Stanislaus and Chico are right above us in the standing and both games are important. When we played them the first time both games came down to a possession here and there,” she added. The Jacks continue to see strong play from Bree Halsey who added 10 points in Saturday's game and Lisa Petty who contributed a team high of 17 on Thursday.
Opponent's Notes
Cal State Stanislaus holds a 10-8 (8-6, CCAA) record entering Thursday's game. The Warriors are coming off back-to-back wins against Dominguez Hills (56-62)…and Cal State LA (73-96). The Warriors are led in scoring by CCAA player of the week, Katie Busi, averaging 16.1 points per game. Chico State enters this week with a 13-5 (10-4, CCAA) record before they face Sonoma State on Thursday night. Chico's all-star, Natasha Smith, encountered a season-ending injury in the game facing Humboldt so now the Wildcat's look to Molly Collins who is averaging 9.8 points per game and leading the team in rebounds with 5.1.
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 .605 winning percentage is by far the best in school history. In her six years at HSU, Gleason has amassed a 115-75 overall mark and is 81-52 in league contests (59-36 in the CCAA and 21-15 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference).
Projected Starters
F-#00 Bree Halsey, 6-0, Jr., Fresno
G-#4 Jenna Hamilton, 5-6, Jr., Corona
G-#10 Lisa Petty, 5-11, So., Castro Valley
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
“Taylor (Kilgore) knows that we expect her to be a leader…she know the game and has been around it her whole life…she does a good job communicating what we want to the girls on the floor and she has to do a lot of coaching on the court…she is the only senior so it is a lot and it must take a toll I'm sure.”
