SACRAMENTO -- Junior post Isnelle Natabou finished with 20 points and nine rebounds to pace three Hornets in double figures and the Sacramento State women's basketball team completed the home sweep of the Montana schools for the first time since 2018 with a 63-56 victory over Montana on Saturday afternoon at The Nest.
The Hornets continued to build on their record-setting season, improving to 21-7 overall and 12-5 in league play. Sacramento State also moved to 10-2 within the friendly confines of The Nest this season — the most home wins since the 2014-15 squad won 11 — while the five straight wins is the team's longest winning streak since it won seven-in-a-row from Dec. 10-Jan. 12 earlier this year.
Led by 18 points from Gina Marxen, the Grizzlies fell to 13-15 overall and 9-8 in league.
Natabou posted her sixth 20-point game of the season, hitting 8-of-11 from the field, dishing out a pair of assists, and notching two steals. It was her highest point total since netting back-to-back 20-point performances against Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado on Feb. 9 and Feb. 11.
Meanwhile, her nine rebounds moved her past Celine Kabwasa's 1988-89 total of 258 for 10th on the school's all-time single-season list.
Senior Kahlaijah Dean, fresh off a career-high 35-point performance in the win over Montana State on Thursday, finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, for her 19th consecutive double-digit scoring performance, while senior Jordan Olivares added a season-high 15 points on 5-of-6 from the field — including a trio of three-pointers — adding eight rebounds.
Dean's 16 points give her 603 for the season, passing Lianna Tillman's total from the 2021-22 campaign for second on the school's all-time single-season list and trailing only Kristy Ryan's 727 points in 1993-94.
Olivares' scoring performance was her highest since scoring 15 against Montana back on March 9, 2021, in a 65-58 win over the Grizzlies in the Big Sky Tournament.
Overall, Sacramento State shot 46 percent from the field and 42 percent from beyond the arc, while the defense limited Montana to just 31 percent from the field and three-point range despite taking 14 more field goal attempts and making three fewer from the floor.
The Hornets led for all but four minutes total in the game, stretching their advantage to 11 points late in the second quarter thanks to an 8-0 run that put them up 28-17 with 3:22 to go.
Montana, which led for only 28 seconds total, answered with a bust of its own right before the break, as Marxen drained a three-pointer that sparked a 10-0 burst, making it a 28-27 game in favor of Sacramento State at the half.
Neither team could extend a lead past three points for the first half of the third quarter as the Grizzlies eventually pulled even at 34-34 with 5:48 to play in the period. Another 11-0 run by the Hornets threatened to blow the game wide open, but Montana continued to answer, scoring five of the final eight points in the third and using a 13-2 run to start the fourth quarter that gave the Grizzlies their first lead of the game, 52-50, with 6:40 to play.
Olivares answered with a drive to the basket to tie the game at 52, Natabou scored inside off an offensive rebound, and Dean drained a three-pointer to cap seven straight points and regain a seven-point advantage for the Hornets three minutes later.
Dean answered with another dagger three after Montana made it a three-point game with a pair at the line with 90 seconds to play and Dean hit 3-of-4 from the line down the stretch, holding the Grizzles to just two attempts — both missed — and a pair of free throws before the buzzer sounded.
Sacramento State outrebounded Montana, 37-35, for the contest and had 14 assists on its 22 makes from the field.
The Hornets close out the regular season on Monday (Feb. 27) at 7 p.m., welcoming Portland State to The Nest.
