Photo by Elliot Portillo/Cal Poly Humboldt Athletics

The Cal Poly Humboldt women’s basketball team got conference play off to a successful start at Lumberjack Arena over the weekend, with a pair of victories.

The Jacks defeated Stanislaus State 69-57 on Thursday, and followed that with a stellar performance at both ends of the court in a 94-55 win over UC Merced on Saturday.

With the two wins, the CPH women improved to 2-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association and 3-3 on the season.

The 94 points was the most the Humboldt women have scored in a game since December 2021, when the Jacks posted 105 points against Chico State.

Defensively, the Jacks were electric, no one more so than Shade Satica, who recorded eight steals, the most by any Humboldt player in a single game since 2022. 

Satica added 11 points, five rebounds, and four assists in a complete two-way performance.

Humboldt set the tone early with a 27-point opening quarter fueled by six 3-pointers. 

The Jacks never looked back, winning every period and holding UC Merced to just seven points in the second quarter.

Against Stanislaus, Humboldt junior guard Sienna Cherwinski scored a game-high 16 points, knocking down two 3-pointers while shooting 6-of-14 from the field. 

In the paint, freshman center Jordyn Smith delivered a dominant performance with a double-double, finishing the night with 14 points and 17 rebounds.

The Cal Poly Humboldt men, meanwhile, split their opening two conference games, also at Lumberjack Arena.

Cal Poly Humboldt Athletics – Brandon Bento-Jackson in action for the Jacks over the weekend.

The Jacks defeated Stanislaus State 73-58 on Thursday, but fell 74-64 to Merced on Saturday.

They mounted a spirited second-half comeback against Merced, including an 11–0 run that cut the deficit to just one point, but the visitors would hold on for the win.

Former Arcata Tiger Brandon Bento-Jackson had a big day in the loss, finishing with 11 points, including three 3s, and dishing out a team-high eight assists while committing just one turnover in 36 minutes of action.

With the weekend split, the Jacks are now 1-1 in conference and 3-5 overall.

The men’s team will have a break in action this week, before resuming conference action with a pair of games at Cal State San Marcos and Cal State Monterey Bay next week.

The Humboldt women will play a pair of non-conference games over the next seven days, hosting Western Oregon on Saturday at 3 p.m. and Saint Martin’s on Monday at 5:30 p.m.