SACRAMENTO -- History was made on Thursday night at The Nest as the Sacramento State women's basketball team clinched its school-record 20th victory of the season in dramatic fashion, topping Big Sky Conference-leading Montana State, 82-73, in front of a boisterous season-high 823 fans.
The first Hornet women's basketball team to reach 20 wins in the history of the program, Sacramento State improved to 20-7 overall and 11-5 in conference play, snapping the Bobcats' 10-game winning streak in the series dating back to 2018 in the process. The Hornets are now a game behind MSU and tied with Northern Arizona for second place in the Big Sky standings with two contests remaining in the regular season as of Thursday night.
Led by 26 points from Darian White, Montana State fell to 19-9 overall and 12-4 in league play.
Senior guard Kahlaijah Dean set a new collegiate career high with 35 points — the second-highest single-game total in the league this season — hitting 10 baskets from the field, seven from beyond the arc, and 8-of-9 from the line, to go with nine rebounds and eight assists.
The 35 points, which were the most by a Hornet since Lianna Tillman had 35 against Idaho on Feb. 24 last year, surpassed her previous Sacramento State career high of 31 points set on two occasions and broke her collegiate best of 34 points set against Central Michigan on Dec. 7, 2021, while at Oakland University.
Her seven three-pointers rank tied for fourth on the school's single-game list — the first Hornet to hit at least that many in a game since Camariah King at Eastern Washington on Feb. 1, 2020 — and were also a Sacramento State career high, besting her six made against Weber State on Jan. 21. The 10 field goals made marked the seventh time this season that she finished with double-digit makes from the floor.
When all was said and done, Dean passed the 2,000-point plateau in her career with her performance Thursday, reaching the milestone with a three-pointer at the 6:56 mark of the third quarter and finishing the night with 2,012 points to her name.
Meanwhile, sophomore Katie Peneueta tied a career-high with 20 points on the night, hitting six three-pointers and seven baskets overall, while adding nine rebounds. The 20 points matched her output at Northern Arizona on Feb. 3, 2022, while the six three-pointers tied a career high last accomplished at CSUN on Dec. 19.
Senior Solape Amusan added 12 points on 4-of-7 from the field, including a trio of three-pointers, to make it three Hornets in double figures.
In scoring a season high-tying 82 points, Sacramento State shot 52 percent from the floor and a white-hot 55 percent (17-of-31) from beyond the arc. Thursday marked the fourth time in the last five games that the Hornets have shot better than 50 percent from the field and the third time the team has topped 50 percent from beyond the arc — the highest since shooting 60 percent at Northern Colorado on Feb. 10 last season.
Thursday's 17 makes from beyond the arc were the most since hitting 21-for-57 from distance in a 109-107 win at Illinois on Nov. 24, 2018.
The Hornets fell behind by four early, but the offensive onslaught was just beginning. A back-and-forth first quarter that saw four ties and seven lead changes had the Hornets down two late, but a Peneueta three-pointer and another by Amusan in the final minute staked Sacramento State to a three-point lead.
Montana State clawed back to tie it at 26-all just 90 seconds into the second quarter, but the Hornet sharpshooters caught fire, exploding for a 16-0 run over the next five minutes — a burst that grew to 21-4 for the rest of the quarter — and Sacramento State led by as many as 19 points en route to a 47-30 advantage at the break.
The double-digit advantage continued into the third quarter as the Hornets went up 20 midway through the period and eventually ballooned to 23 points with 90 seconds remaining in the quarter. Sacramento State's advantage was 22 points with 8:24 to play in the fourth before Montana State began to chip away.
A 14-0 run by the Bobcats whittled the Hornet lead down to just eight points five minutes later, but that would be as close as they would come. Senior Kaylin Randhawa turned an offensive foul by MSU into a three-pointer at the other end to stop the bleeding and Montana State would never get closer than seven points with 34 seconds remaining in the contest.
Sacramento State was clutch at the line, hitting 8-of-9 down the stretch, while the defense limited the Bobcats to just 2-for-5 from the field in the final 73 seconds.
The Hornets return to the court on Saturday (Feb. 25) at 1 p.m., taking on Montana at The Nest. The Grizzlies fell on the road at Portland State, 74-72, in overtime on Thursday.
