SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Isnelle Natabou had a monster game for the Hornets on Thursday, but despite her career performance, Sacramento State women's basketball fell at home to the visiting Southern Utah Thunderbirds, 80-70.

With the loss, Sacramento State falls to 4-8 overall and 0-3 in Big Sky play. Southern Utah improves to 7-5 overall while remaining unbeaten in league play, 3-0. 

Freshman center Isnelle Natabou was the story of the night on Thursday as the 6-5 big scored a career-best 31 points on a spectacular 11-for-15 shooting. The Czech Republic native went 9-for-10 from the free throw line, as well. 

Natabou scored just nine points in the first half before exploding for 22 in the second. She was a perfect 5-for-5 in the fourth quarter, alone. 

The 31-point performance was Sacramento State's first 30-point showing since November 26 of the 2019 season. Kennedy Nicholas scored 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting while going 10-for-17 from the free throw line in a double overtime loss at UC Davis.

Natabou's 31 points are the most score by a Hornet since 2018 when Hannah Friend scored 33 in a win over Illinois State on Nov. 24.

In addition, the 6-5 center added a game-high nine rebounds and a career-high five blocks. She did all of that in just 30 minutes of action. 

Despite the dominating performance from the Hornets' center, Sacramento State was unable to keep pace with the Big Sky's top offense in the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. The T-Birds jumped out an early 25-14 lead in the first quarter before taking a 15-point, 45-30 lead into the half. 

The Hornets started to climb their way back in the second half, including a 25-point fourth quarter to cut the deficit to just 10, but by then the damage had been done as Sacramento State fell to the T-Birds, 80-70.

Sacramento State outshot Southern Utah, shooting a strong 48.3% from the field, just better than the T-Birds' 46.2%.The team struggled from three, going just 3-for-16, a season-low 18.8%, but dominated in the paint. Sacramento State outscored the T-Birds in the paint, 44-30. Most of that damage was caused by Natabou, who scored all 31 in the paint.

Lianna Tillman finished with 16, going 8-for-18 from the floor, while dishing a game-high eight assists. Summer Menke also finished in double-figures, scoring 13 points while pulling in six rebounds. 

The trio of Natabou, Tillman, and Menke combined for 60 of Sacramento State's 70 points on Thursday, going 24-for-45. 

Sacramento State will take another quick break between games before returning to action on Saturday, January 8. The Hornets will host Northern Colorado in the Nest at 2 p.m. The game will stream live on ESPN+ with live stats at HornetStats.com. As always, fans can find links to tickets, schedules, stories and more on the Sacramento State women's basketball page at HornetSports.com.