SACRAMENTO -- Junior post Isnelle Natabou finished with a season-high 27 points en route to her 11th double-double of the season and senior Kaylin Randhawa set a program Division I era single-game record by hitting 5-of-5 from beyond the arc, but host Sacramento State dropped a overtime heartbreaker to visiting Northern Arizona, 84-82, on Thursday night at The Nest.
The Hornets fell to 16-7 overall and 7-5 in league play despite shooting 52 percent on the night from the field overall and holding a 42-35 advantage on the glass for the game. The loss snapped a seven-game home winning streak for Sacramento State, handing the Hornets their first loss at The Nest since the season opener against UC Irvine.
Led by 26 points from Emily Rodabaugh, the Lumberjacks improved to 15-11 overall and 9-4 in league play, finishing 25-of-32 from the line on the night compared to just 11 attempts for Sacramento State.
Randhawa, who set a Sacramento State career high with her 18 points to go with four rebounds and five assists, finished 6-of-7 from the field, but a more impressive 5-for-5 from beyond the arc — the best single-game shooting performance from three-point range in the program's Division I history. She broke the mark by one that was previous shared by eight different players, including her teammate Katie Peneueta, who was 4-for-4 at Northern Colorado on Feb. 10 last season.
Natabou, meanwhile, eclipsed her previous season best of 23 points set at Santa Clara on Nov. 14 and matched at San Diego State on Dec. 7. Her 12 rebounds gave her the 11th double-double of the season and her first since a win over Weber State on Jan. 21.
Senior Kahlaijah Dean added 17 points, five rebounds, and five assists before fouling out late in the overtime period, while Peneueta and Jordan Olivares added eight rebounds apiece. The eight boards tied a career high for Olivares, who set her mark at Montana back on Jan. 26.
Trailing by two points at the end of three quarters, the Hornets came out firing to start the fourth, tying the game and regaining the lead thanks to a 6-0 run by Natabou to go up, 58-54, with two minutes gone in the period. NAU responded with back-to-back buckets from Regan Schenck to tie the game at 58-all, but a three-pointer by Peneueta was followed by a lay-up from Dean and another Natabou score to balloon the lead to seven at 65-58 with 5:33 remaining.
Sacramento State's lead was six with 1:39 remaining, but a three-pointer by Rodabaugh cut the deficit to three and Rodabaugh drew a foul attempting a three-pointer with 3.5 seconds to play, making all three to tie the game. The two teams traded turnovers, giving the Hornets a chance to win it in regulation, but Dean's fall-away jumper from the right block took two bounces off the rim and fell harmlessly away to send the game to overtime.
Back-to-back baskets from Schenck erased a one-point Hornet advantage and gave NAU a three-point lead, and another by Schenck following a drive by Olivares put the Lumberjacks ahead, 83-80 with two minutes to play. Olivares added another driving lay-up to make it a one-point game with 90 seconds to go and Schenck hit 1-of-2 from the line with 9.9 seconds to play to make it 84-82.
Sacramento State had one more chance to win it, but could not get a clean looks as Rodabaugh corralled the miss and ran out the clock to ice the win.
The weekend closes with a contest against Northern Colorado on Saturday (Feb. 11) at 2 p.m. at The Nest. The Bears fell, 56-52, at Portland State on Thursday night to fall to 11-13 overall and 4-9 in Big Sky play.
