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BOISE, Idaho – Sacramento State overcame a slow start Monday, coming from behind to stun the Montana Lady Griz in a thrilling 65-58 upset win.
The Hornets entered this week's Big Sky Basketball Championships as the No. 11 seed and drew a first-round matchup against No. 6 Montana. The 65-58 Hornets' win was the first upset of the 2021 tournament.
Summer Menke, who was on Sunday named a Big Sky Conference Honorable Mention selection, led Sacramento State in both scoring and rebounding on Monday. The junior from Scottsdale collected her 10th double-double of the season, leading all players on the court with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Jordan Olivares wasn't far behind, scoring 15 points to go with a game-high three steals, as well as six rebounds.
It was a gritty effort up and down the stat sheet for the Hornets. In addition to Menke and Olivares, Tiana Johnson (11 points), Sarah Abney (10 points), and Milee Enger (10 points) all finished with 10 or more points, putting all five Hornets starters in double-figures.
Sacramento State also got valuable minutes off the bench from a number of players, especially freshman center Neysa Munguia. With Johnson flirting with foul trouble early, Munguia put in 19-plus minutes, blocking a shot and collecting five rebounds.
The Hornets never gave in despite a rocky start to Monday's first-round upset. Montana came out of the jump looking strong, scoring the first seven points of the game and leading for the entirety of the first half.
But Sacramento State never panicked and used an 8-2 run at the end of the half to cut the Montana lead to just three, 30-27.
Coming out of half time, it didn't take long for Sacramento State to claim its first lead of the night. With 7:17 on the clock, Enger stole the ball from Montana and drove to the hoop herself, laying it in to give Sacramento State a 35-33 lead.
Enger's steal was just one of many instances of Sacramento State taking advantage of Montana mistakes and turning them into points. In total, the Hornets scored 17 points off of turnovers, compared to just seven by the Lady Griz. Many of those points came in the fourth quarter as the Hornets began to pull away from Montana.
Before that, though, Sacramento State and Montana traded blows in the third quarter, exchanging leads four times while finding themselves tied another four times in the third period.
That all changed at the end of the quarter and into the fourth, however, as Sacramento State went on an 11-0 run, turning a three-point deficit into an eight-point lead.
Montana called timeout midway through the run with 3:46 on the clock in an effort to stop the bleeding, but by then it was too late. The Hornets would lead for the rest of the game.
Menke scored five of her game-high 18 points during the run and was backed by buckets from Johnson, Abney, and Enger.
Montana threated to make a comeback, cutting the deficit to as few as four points, but a clutch steal by Abney proved to be the dagger for the Lady Griz, ending any hope of a come-from-behind effort for Montana.
Sacramento State was much better from the floor than Montana, shooting 37.1% overall compared to just 29.9% for the Lady Griz. Both teams focused on taking away the long ball and were successful in that regard. The Hornets were just 3-for-21 from three while Montana finished 4-for-31.
The Hornets took advantage of Montana mistakes, again, outscoring the Lady Griz 17-7 in points off turnovers. Montana turned the ball over 15 times while the Hornets committed just nine. Sacramento State also dominated in the paint, outscoring the bigger Montana squad, 38-20, down low.
With Monday night's win, Sacramento State will advance to a Tuesday quarterfinal matchup with the No. 3 Montana State Bobcats. The Hornets and Bobcats faced each other less than a week ago to end the regular season in the Nest.
Tip off for tomorrow's quarterfinal contest is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT / 7 p.m. PT. The game will again stream live online on Pluto.TV, channel 1050 with live stats available at BigSkyStats.com.
For more information on Tuesday's game, stay tuned to HornetSports.com and @SacStateWBB on Twitter. Updated links to live video and live stats will be available on the Sacramento State women's basketball schedule online at HornetSports.com.
