Starting California Collegiate Athletic Association play in fine fashion, the Cal Poly Humboldt women’s basketball team had a very successful weekend, knocking off Stanislaus State 69-57 on Thursday night before both the offense and the defense brought their best to a 94-55 Saturday win over UC Merced. The wins take the Jacks to 3-3 (2-0 CCAA conference) in advance of their final two non-conference tilts this week at home.
Against the Warriors last Thursday, Sienna Cherwinski paced Humboldt with 16 points, and freshman stalwart Jordyn Smith had 14 with 17 rebounds (eight offensive). Shade Satica led the squad with five of the team’s 12 steals and the Jacks got 25 bench points. The second quarter in particular was where the home team excelled, outscoring Stanislaus 22-7. The Jacks forced 24 turnovers by the visitors.
Against the Bobcats, the CPH defense rose to new levels of dominance, earning 21 steals, eight individually by Satica, who Lumberjack head coach Michelle Bento-Jackson said ranks in the top five nationally. In addition to that, Satica contributed 11 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Kyori Lloyd, still coming off the bench after a recent injury, led all scorers with 17 on 7-of-12 shooting, Smith had 16 points and nine boards, Riley Sanz came off the bench with 15 points and six rebounds, and Jada Barnes had 13.
The Humboldt offense put up more points than they had in any game since late 2021 against Chico State, and Satica’s eight steals were the most an individual had had since 2022. The Jacks had 27 points in a first quarter highlighted by six threes, where the Jacks shot 42% on the night. They got 19 points off 27 Merced turnovers.
“Both Sienna and Jordyn have been extremely consistent thus far this season, and I really thought Jordyn put herself in position to be the CCAA Player of the Week,” said Bento-Jackson. “Her stats, the contribution, and the amount of minutes was tremendous. But overall, both these wins this past weekend were really team efforts. I thought everybody contributed in a positive manner and we took a step forward as a team.”
Elliott Portillo
Jordyn Smith goes up for two for CPH in the early-season. Smith was dominant scoring and rebounding this past weekend. (Elliott Portillo, CPH/Contributed)
“Shade is probably going to be, this Friday when the rankings come out, tops in the country in steals or at least top five,” Bento-Jackson continues. “She just fits in very well with our style of play and someone who plays with great energy and has a knack for the ball. She plays with high intensity, yes, eight steals is high, but it’s not surprising because she puts herself in the right position.”
Lloyd, coming off the bench after missing action earlier in the season, earned credit from her coach for being “great for us when she comes in and gives tremendous minutes in a short period of time. She was very consistent (in) both games.”
Asked about how both the defense and offense seemed to be humming at a high level against UC Merced, Bento-Jackson said, “I thought we really started off on the defensive end setting the tone with our pace, which was one of our goals, offensively and defensively. Our defense led to a lot of our offense. Also, in general, I thought it was one of our better games in the half-court sharing the ball, moving the ball with 22 assists, searching out the best shot selection, which I thought we improved upon this past weekend.”
“I thought (sophomore) Riley Sanz in particular was really solid both games,” said Bento-Jackson. “She helped us in a variety of different ways and I’ve been really pleased with whatever role we give her, she just takes it and does it to the best of her ability. She’s coming along really well here.”
The coach said she scheduled two non-conference foes in a big gap before the next CCAA matchup for the Jacks, so the squad will host Western Oregon on Saturday at 3 p.m. and Saint Martin’s on Monday at 5:30 p.m. Both teams come out of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and will be the end of the Jacks non-conference games before they go to battle in the CCAA again Dec. 19 at Cal State San Marcos.
Asked about the message for the team moving forward, Bento-Jackson said, “I explained to them that when you play non-conference games and, in this case, regional games, they carry a lot of weight as well for different reasons. In the CCAA, everyone’s striving to get into the tournament, but when you play regional games, this has more effect come March. So these games are extremely important. We played the two GNAC teams in our Crossover earlier in the year and didn’t come out on top, unfortunately. But I think we’re playing better basketball right now and we want to continue to improve. I believe both Western Oregon and Saint Martin are going to present a challenge to us and I think we’ll be ready for that challenge and put our best foot forward.”
Ken McCanless can be reached at 707-441-0526.