SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sparked by a career-performance from junior guard Jazzy Carrasco and backed by a strong team performance overall, Sacramento State defeated the visiting Eastern Washington Eagles, 82-76, Thursday night in the Nest.

The win is Sacramento State's first of the season, moving the team to 1-11 overall and 1-8 in Big Sky competition. The Eagles have now lost three in a row and fall to 5-9 overall and 4-5 in league.

Jazzy Carrasco sparked the Sacramento State offense early, scoring 15 first half points on an incredibly efficient 5-for-6 shooting, including 4-for-5 from three. The junior guard finished 8-for-10 overall, 6-for-8 from beyond the arc, and 4-for-5 from the free throw line. Her 26 total points are a new career-best, passing her previous mark of 18, set less than a week ago in Montana.

Eastern Washington did a better job limiting Carrasco from the outside in the second half, but where she slowed in scoring, she picked up speed in moving the ball. In addition to her game and career-high 26 points, Carrasco had a team-high four assists, three of them coming in the second half.

For the season, Carrasco is shooting an incredible 51.4% from three (18-35). She's been even better in conference competition, where she is shooting 54.8% (17-31) from beyond the arc.  

While Carrasco's shooting performance certainly helped spark the Hornets to their first win of the season, she was back by a number of additional excellent performances. First among them was Summer Menke, who recorded her fifth double-double of the season on Thursday.

Menke finished with 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Her 18 points came on 6-for-10 shooting, as well as a perfect 6-for-6 showing at the free throw line. Menke entered Thursday night's game third in the Big Sky with four double-doubles. With her fifth tonight, she moves into a tie for second (Liz Graves, Southern Utah).

Through 12 games, Menke leads the Hornets in both scoring (13.8 points) and rebounding (7.3 rebounds), as well as steals (14) and assists (22).

Tiana Johnson finished with 12 points and seven rebounds and was also perfect from the free throw line, matching Menke's 6-for-6. Sarah Abney finished in double figures, scoring 11 points while pulling in six rebounds. Abney led the Hornets with 36 minutes of action, Thursday night, as well.

For the first time this season, Sacramento State led at the half. Much of that had to do with points in the paint, a battle the Hornets won in the first half, 12-6, and in the game, 32-26.

Despite the first-half lead, the Hornets had to weather a number of Eagles runs and comeback attempts. Eastern Washington managed to ease its six-point half-time deficit just moments into the second half and even led by five in the fourth quarter. But Sacramento State managed to answer, no more crucially than with a 9-0 run late in the fourth to put the Eagles away. That 9-0 run late in the game contributed to a season-best 32-point fourth quarter

The Hornets also won the rebound battle for the first time this season. Led by Menke's game-high 10 rebounds, Sacramento State out-rebounded the Eagles, 36-32, including an impressive 12-6 margin on the offensive boards. Neysa Munguia, who played just 14 minutes, was responsible for a quarter of those offensive boards herself, collecting three (five total).

Sacramento State performed well at the free throw line Thursday night, as well, going 20-for-23 at the stripe. Menke and Johnson were both perfect (6-6) while Carrasco (4-5), Abney (2-3), and Milee Enger (2-3) all did their part.

In all, the Hornets snapped their 11-game skid with a convincing home win over Eastern Washington. The team will look to back it up in just a few days as the two programs face off again on Saturday, Jan. 30 at noon.

As always, Saturday's game will stream live online on Pluto.TV, ch. 1052, with live stats available at HornetStats.com. For more information and other content on Sacramento State women's basketball, be sure to visit the Hornet women's basketball homepage online at HornetSports.com.