SACRAMENTO -- Junior post Isnelle Natabou finished with a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds to pace a group of four Hornets in double figures and the Sacramento State women's basketball completed the regular season sweep of Northern Colorado thanks to a 79-48 Big Sky Conference victory on Saturday at The Nest.
The win moved the Hornets to 17-7 overall and 8-5 in league play on the year, posting its second win of 30-or-more points this season, trailing only the 32-point victory over the Bears back on Jan. 12 in Greeley, Colo.
Led by 15 points from Delaynie Byrne, Northern Colorado fell to 11-14 overall and 4-10 in league play, limited to just 33 percent shooting on the day.
Natabou, who had a game-high 27 points and 12 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the year on Thursday against Northern Arizona, followed up that performance with 21 points and nine more rebounds — eight of those on the offensive glass — on Saturday, hitting 9-of-13 from the field and adding a blocked shot.
She was joined in double figures by senior guard Kahlaijah Dean, who was three rebounds shy of a triple-double, scoring 13 points, dishing out 10 assists, and grabbing seven rebounds. The 10 assists were a Sacramento State career high for Dean, whose previous mark was nine at Santa Clara on Nov. 16 in the second game of the year.
Dean has now scored in double figures in each of her last 15 games and in 23 of the team's 24 overall.
Senior Kaylin Randhawa pitched in 15 points on 5-of-11 from the floor, including three, three-pointers, and added two rebounds and five assists, while sophomore Katie Peneueta finished with 12 points on a quartet of three-pointers, adding five rebounds and four assists.
All told, the Hornets finished the day with 25 assists on 29 made baskets — the most since they finished with 25 on 36 makes against Antelope Valley on Dec. 6, 2017, and the most against a Division I opponent since dishing out 26 assists on 37 makes at Southern Utah on Feb. 25, 2017.
Sacramento State trailed only once at 3-2 after scoring the opening basket of the game as UNC drained a three-pointer on its first possession for the lead. Back-to-back baskets by Peneueta (a three-pointer) and Dean then gave the Hornets the lead for good as they build a 12-point advantage in the first en route to a 22-12 lead after one quarter.
The second quarter saw Sacramento State open the period with a 10-0 run while holding the Bears to without a point for the first six-and-a-half minutes of the quarter and to without a field goal until Byrne hit a three-pointer with 2:08 remaining. The Hornets led by 22 at the break and went up by 33 points at the end of three periods before cruising home from there as Northern Colorado never got closer than 27 points.
Freshman Akaysha Muggeridge scored the first two points of her collegiate career late in the third quarter on a lay up, while freshman Irune Orio finished with a pair of baskets — the second and third of her career — in the fourth.
Overall, Sacramento State shot just under 51 percent from the field and hit 12-of-23 (.522) from distance, while holding the Bears to 33 percent — including a 24 percent clip in the first half. The Hornets also out-rebounded UNC, 39-24, on the day, including a 14-8 advantage on the offensive glass that led to 12 second-chance points.
Sacramento State hits the road for the final time in the regular season next week, traveling to Weber State on Thursday (Feb. 16) and Idaho State on Saturday (Feb. 18). The Hornets then come home for the final three games of the regular season, hosting Montana State (Feb. 23), Montana (Feb. 25), and Portland State (Feb. 27).
