SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Senior Kahlaijah Dean finished with 18 points on a near-perfect shooting night to lead a group of four Sacramento State players in double figures as the Hornets opened white-hot and held off host Cal Poly for a 70-62 victory in the opener of the Holiday Beach Classic in San Luis Obispo, Calif., on Friday afternoon.
The win was the fourth straight for Sacramento State, which improved to 4-1 overall and posted its longest winning streak since winning four-in-a-row from Feb. 3-12 last season. It was the first win in San Luis Obispo since an 87-62 triumph in 1996, snapping a six-game road skid in the series.
Led by 17 points from Annika Shah, Cal Poly fell to 2-4 with the loss, nearly rallying from a 19-point deficit before falling.
Dean, who finished in double figures for the fifth time this season, finishing the game 5-for-5 from the floor, 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, and 5-of-6 from the line — not missing from the floor until a free throw that went awry in the closing seconds.
She was joined in double figures by junior Isnelle Natabou, who had 13 points and five rebounds, and a pair of 10-point performances from senior Kaylin Randhawa and sophomore Katie Peneueta — the latter of whom added six rebounds and a career high-tying three blocked shots in the victory. Randhawa dished out a team-high five assists, matching her Hornet career high set against UC Irvine in the season opener.
Sacramento State, which shot just under 53 percent from the field overall and hit 10-of-15 from three-point range for the contest, opened the contest white hot from the field, hitting eight of their first nine field goals (including a run of seven straight) and a perfect 6-of-6 from beyond the arc en route to a 24-13 lead.
The Hornets then drained their first two three-pointers of the second quarter before suffering its first miss, finishing the first half shooting 61 percent from the field overall and 8-of-11 from distance on its way to a 40-27 advantage at the break.
Cal Poly tied the score at five apiece with just two minutes gone in the contest before Sacramento State, which never trailed in the game, exploded for a 14-2 run to make it a 19-7 lead that they would not relinquish. The Mustangs closed the deficit to eight on three occasions in the second quarter, but went cold from the floor as the Hornets scored seven of the final nine points in the opening half, holding Cal Poly without a field goal for the final 4:26.
Sacramento State held the Mustangs at arms length for most of the third, not letting Cal Poly any closer than 11 points on the opening basket of the period while threatening to run away with the game themselves. The Hornets' lead grew to as many as 19 points on a basket inside by Natabou just 31 seconds into the fourth, but the Mustangs would not go quietly.
A 9-0 run over a four-minute span by Cal Poly cut the deficit to 10 points and, after Sacramento State inched back ahead by 14 points with 2:20 to play, used another 9-0 burst to shrink the deficit to just five points at 65-60 with a minute to play.
Two free throws by Dean broke the scoreless run and the senior from Bakersfield, Calif., finished the game with three more from the line to hold off the Mustangs, who finished just 1-of-6 from the floor over the final 60 seconds.
The Hornets' shooting night was their second highest of the season and the third time this year that they have hit better than 50 percent from the field, joining the wins at Santa Clara (.537) and earlier in the week against UC Davis (.511). Sacramento State, which entered the tournament as one of only two teams in the NCAA ranked among the top 10 in both field goal and three-point percentage — has not shot lower than 47 percent from the field in a game this season.
Sacramento State held a narrow 29-25 lead on the glass and finished with a season-high seven blocks — the most since swatting seven shots at Eastern Washington on Feb. 26 of last year. The Mustangs forced the Hornets into 20 turnovers, converting those miscues into 24 points.
Tournament play concludes on Saturday at noon as Sacramento State takes on UTEP, which entered the tournament undefeated at 4-0 on the season. The Miners face San Jose State later Friday afternoon in the second game of the day. There will be no live stream for the game against UTEP, but a link to live stats is available at HornetSports.com.
