SACRAMENTO — Sacramento State senior Solape Amusan finished with a season-high 18 points and sophomore Benthe Versteeg collected her first career double-double with 16 points and 10 assists on Wednesday night, but a late fourth-quarter flurry from beyond the arc by visiting Santa Clara was enough to push the Broncos past the Hornets, 70-65, at The Nest.
As a team, Sacramento State shot a season-high .568 from the field — its highest since last year's team hit 60 percent of its shots at Northern Colorado on Jan. 12 — while the 12 makes from beyond the arc were the most since the Hornets hit 13 against Portland State at home in on Feb. 27 in last year's regular season finale. Sacramento State did not shoot lower than 50 percent in any quarter on Wednesday, including shooting just over 64 percent (9-of-14) in the third period alone.
Amusan, who finished with 11 points in the team's previous game against UC Davis, collected her second straight double-digit scoring performance, hitting 6-of-7 from beyond the arc while adding a career-high three steals. The total was just one off her career high of 19 set at Montana on Jan. 26 last season, while the six makes from three-point range tied her career high set against both Montana schools on the road.
Versteeg's 16 points and 10 assists were both career-best marks, finishing the night hitting 7-of-11 from the field. It was also her second straight double-digit scoring performance as the sophomore has shot 12-of-22 (.545) from the field over her last two games, averaging 13.5 ppg and 7.0 apg in that stretch.
Freshman Summah Hanson rounded out a trio of double-digit scorers for Sacramento State, finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds on 5-of-6 from the field — including a pair of three-pointers. In the process, Hanson finished with double-digit points for the fourth time in her six career collegiate contests.
The Hornets (0-6) trailed by as many as 12 points in the early-going before Amusan's hot-shooting nearly brought Sacramento State all the way back, draining three triples in the final three minutes as part of quarter-closing 9-2 run as the Hornets were within five after the first 10 minutes.
Both teams traded points to start the second before a three from Irune Orio cut the deficit to just three points four minutes in and another run to end the first half — this one an 8-3 burst — had the Hornets down just one at the break, 30-29.
Sacramento State then stepped on the gas to start the second half as freshman Paula Haw found herself wide open inside to give the Hornets their first lead of the night and they scored nine of the next 12 points to build a five-point advantage at 38-33 with 5:03 to play in the third quarter. That advantage grew to six late in the period on a basket inside by freshman Ayanna Jackson, but Santa Clara (7-2) hit a pair of free throws just before the end of the quarter to make it a 49-45 Hornet lead with 10 minutes to play.
A three from Hanson and another triple by Amusan sandwiched a Bronco lay-up to make it an eight-point lead for the Hornets, but that's when the visitors caught fire. Santa Clara, which hit seven of its eight makes in the fourth quarter from beyond the arc, drained five three-pointers as part of a 17-0 run over a four minute span, erasing the eight-point Sacramento State lead and building a nine-point, 64-55, lead of its own with 3:14 to go.
Amusan answered with her sixth three-pointer of the night seconds later, Hanson followed with another triple on the Hornets' next trip down the court, and Orio scored inside to make it an 8-0 run and cut the deficit to just one with 1:48 to play, but that would be as close as Sacramento State would get.
Santa Clara's Marya Hudgins nailed a three-pointer from the right wing out of a timeout and Olivia Pollerd hit the dagger from the top of the key after a Versteeg lay-up, putting the Broncos up five with 26 seconds to play. The Hornets were able to get only one shot off the rest of the way as Santa Clara took advantage of its fouls to give, milking the clock until time expired.
Pollerd finished with a game-high 22 points to go with seven assists to lead the Broncos, shooting 9-of-13 from the floor in the process, while Tess Heal (13) and Hudgins (12) also finished in double figures. As a team, Santa Clara hit 47 percent from the floor, making 15 of its 25 baskets from beyond the arc for the game.
Sacramento State finished with a 28-22 advantage on the glass and had 18 assists on its 25 makes for the game.
The Hornets return to action on Saturday (Dec. 2) at 2 p.m., hosting CSUN at The Nest to close out a run of five straight games at home.
