FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Senior guard Kahlaijah Dean scored 21 of her game-high 29 points after the break to help spark a second-half Sacramento State rally, but the Hornets could not complete the comeback, falling at Northern Arizona by the score of 77-67 on Saturday afternoon in Flagstaff, Ariz.
The defeat snapped Sacramento State's seven-game winning streak as the Hornets fell to 13-3 overall on the season and suffered their first Big Sky Conference loss of the season, dropping to 4-1 in league.
Led by 21 points from Regan Schenck, the Lumberjacks improved to 10-9 overall and 4-2 in league play with the win.
Dean, held to just eight points on 4-of-7 from the floor in the first 20 minutes, exploded in the second half for Sacramento State, hitting 6-of-11 from the floor and finishing with 21 points en route to her seventh game with 20-or-more points this season and her third in her last four games. The 29 points are her second highest total of the season, trailing only her 31-point performance against Eastern Washington on Jan. 7.
Junior Isnelle Natabou finished with 16 points — her 22nd consecutive double-digit scoring performance — and a team-high seven rebounds, hitting 8-of-11 from the floor.
Sophomore Katie Peneueta added six rebounds, three assists, and three blocked shots, while senior Jordan Olivares added five points, five rebounds, and a pair of steals.
Trailing by 10 at the break — only the second time this season that Sacramento State has trailed at the half — the Hornets used a 10-3 burst to cut the deficit down to just three pointes at 47-44 with 5:22 to play. From that point on, it was all Northern Arizona, which answered with a 12-3 run of its own to rebuild its lead to 12 and the Lumberjacks never looked back.
Sacramento State would get no closer than six points the rest of the way with just under seven minutes to go thanks to a 9-0 run early in the fourth quarter, but an 11-2 run by NAU ballooned the lead back to 15 points with under three minutes to play and the Lumberjacks cruised from there.
The Hornets out-shot Northern Arizona, 48 percent to 43 percent, but NAU drained nearly half of its attempts from beyond the arc, hitting three more from long distance than Sacramento State. The Hornets also held a 37-28 advantage on the glass and outscored Northern Arizona in the paint, 36-28.
A pair of home games await for Sacramento State, which returns to The Nest for Big Sky contests against Idaho State (Jan. 19) and Weber State (Jan. 21) next week.
