ARCATA, Calif.--- The Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks will look to bounce back from their 3-game losing streak this weekend when they host Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday and Saturday at Lumberjack Arena. Thursday's game will also be "Pink Night" in honor of those who have fought or are currently battling breast cancer..
"Once a year, we designate a game we call Pink Night," head coach Michelle Bento-Jackson said. "Not only do we want our fans and everyone in the area to wear pink, but more importantly it's just to raise awareness of breast cancer across the country."
The team will also be honoring late Humboldt Hall of Famer Suzi Farmer Simmons and her family during Thursday's game. She was inducted into the university hall of fame in 1994 after her illustrious career on the women's basketball team at Humboldt where she finished fourth in school history in career rebounds and tenth in free throws made. In 1989, she helped lead the Lumberjacks to their first winning season since 1976-77. She passed away in 2021 after a battle with metastatic breast cancer
"Her sister played here, her brother played here, her husband played here, her father was a track athlete here," Bento-Jackson said. "Her husband's got a large group that's coming to support, just really honoring her and everything she's done. Obviously, bigger picture than that, we just want to raise awareness of cancer in general."
On the hardwood, the 'Jacks (9-13, 7-11 CCAA) will look to put together a full team effort in hopes of knocking off Cal State San Bernardino (12-12, 7-11 CCAA) and Cal Poly Pomona (14-8, 11-7 CCAA).
"We've had some individual performances," the coach said. "But obviously collectively as a team we all need to step up and perform and play a team offense and a team defense. That's something we're still striving to do on a consistent basis.
As she has for most of the season, Madison Parry leads Humboldt with 16.5 ppg and 8.3 rpg. Both stats are good enough for second and fourth in the CCAA, respectively. Devon Lewis leads the conference in assists with her 5.7 per game and sits fifth in the conference in steals with 2 per game.
The Coyotes of Cal State San Bernardino come into the weekend having won their last two games. They are led by Destiny Jackson (13.1 ppg), Mia Dufresne (6.3 rpg) and Samantha Henley (3 apg).
Cal Poly Pomona comes into the weekend also having won their past two games and with a chance to clinch one of the final two remaining CCAA tournament spots. The Broncos are led by Ally Bates, who is averaging 14.3 ppg and is shooting just over 40 percent from the field.
Tip-off for both games is set for 5:30 p.m.
