SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Senior Kahlaijah Dean finished with a Sacramento State career-high 27 points and junior Isnelle Natabou added 23 more as the visiting Hornets rallied from a nine-point deficit to earn their first win of the season, 73-63, over Santa Clara on Monday night at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara, Calif.
The win improved Sacramento State to 1-1 overall on the year in the first meeting between the two programs since 2011. The Broncos fell to 1-2 overall on the season, suffering their second consecutive loss.
Dean, who had 11 games with 20-or-more points and three of at least 30 points during her four years at Oakland University, finished 11-of-15 from the field en route to a new Hornet career high, adding nine assists and six rebounds in 36 minutes.
Natabou, who finished with 19 points and 20 rebounds two days ago, added a 10-of-14 shooting night from the field en route to her season-high 23 points, topping the 20-point plateau for the seventh time in her career. She added seven rebounds in 33 minutes and is shooting a robust 19-for-26 (.731) from the field overall in her first two games of the season.
Dean's 27 points were the most by a Hornet since Lianna Tillman finished with 35 at Idaho on Feb. 24 of last season, while Natabou posted her highest point total since scoring 25 against Montana on March 4 of last year. Monday marked the first time that Sacramento State had two players with 20-or-more points since that game against the Grizzlies as Tillman added 21 points to Natabou's total.
Not to be outdone, sophomore Katie Peneueta joined in the fun thanks to her second consecutive double-digit scoring performance while completing her first career double-double, scoring 14 points on 4-of-7 from beyond the arc and adding a career-high 10 rebounds to go with a pair of blocks while playing all 40 minutes.
Trailing by four after the first quarter and falling behind by nine points with 7:53 remaining in the second quarter, Sacramento State began to methodically chip away at the Santa Clara lead. Freshman Madison Butcher ended a run that saw Dean and Natabou score the team's first 20 points by draining a three-pointer, kick-starting a 16-6 run over the final seven minutes to take a 38-33 lead at the break.
Peneueta scored nine of those 16 points down the stretch, draining a trio of three-pointers in the final two minutes for the Hornets' first lead of the night — one they would not relinquish — as Sacramento State shot 57 percent in the opening 20 minutes and posting 11 assists on 16 made baskets.
The two teams traded baskets to start the third, with the Broncos eventually cutting the deficit down to four, but the Hornets hit four of the next five field goals to rebuild the lead back to nine with 6:43 to play in the period. A quick 6-0 burst by Santa Clara whittled that advantage back down to three, but back-to-back baskets by Dean pushed the lead back to eight with one quarter remaining.
Both teams came out firing to start the fourth with the Broncos closing to within four at the media timeout, but Santa Clara went cold from the floor, hitting just two field goals the rest of the way while the Hornets closed the game on a 10-4 run en route to the 10-point victory.
After shooting nearly 47 percent on Saturday against UC Irvine, Sacramento State finished Monday night shooting nearly 54 percent against the Broncos — including a 62 percent clip in the third quarter — notching its highest single-game shooting performance since hitting 29-of-48 (.604) at Northern Arizona on Feb. 3 last season. The Hornets also finished with a 35-29 advantage on the glass, outrebounding each of its first two opponents on the year, and ended the night with 17 assists on 29 makes from the field.
Sacramento State returns to the friendly confines of The Nest on Saturday (Nov. 19) at 7:30 p.m., hosting UC Santa Barbara on Alumni Night.
