LOS ANGELES -- Junior center Isnelle Natabou finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds to collect her 14th double-double of the season, while senior Kahlaijah Dean and Jordan Olivares also finished in double figures on Saturday night, as the No. 13-seeded Sacramento State women's basketball team fell to No. 4-seeded UCLA, 67-45, in its NCAA Tournament debut at Pauley Pavilion.
Champions of the Big Sky regular season and tournament, the Hornets wrapped up the finest season in program history with a 25-8 overall record, finishing with the most wins in a single season and the program's first-ever 20-win season.
The Bruins, led by 15 points from Kiki Rice, improved to 26-9 overall, advancing to face No. 5-seeded Oklahoma in the second round on Monday night.
Natabou has the distinction of scoring the first points in the NCAA Tournament in school history, sinking a lay-up inside off a pass from Dean just 50 seconds into the contest. Natabou finished 8-of-12 from the field and blocked a shot in 30 minutes of play. The All-Big Sky first team selection and all-tournament team honoree posted her 28th double-digit scoring performance of the year and her third double-double in her final four games of the season.
Dean, who earned league MVP, tournament MVP, and conference newcomer of the year laurels among others, finished with 11 points, six rebounds, and five assists in her final game in the green and gold, scoring in double figures in 32 of the team's 33 games and the final 25 games of the season.
Olivares, coming off a career-high 26 points in the Big Sky Tournament championship game, added 10 points and five rebounds in her final game as a Hornet, finishing in double figures in four of the team's final six contests.
Sacramento State never led in the contests as, after Natabou tied it with her opening basket, UCLA exploded for a 14-0 run to built a 16-point lead and the Bruins never looked back. The Hornets cut the deficit back to 10 points minutes later on a pair of free throws by Dean, but would get no closer.
Trailing 23-10 after one quarter, Sacramento State hung tough with UCLA, coming within four of the Bruins in the second quarter scoring (17-13), three in the third quarter (14-11), and two in the fourth (13-11). The Hornets had their best shooting quarter in the second, hitting 46 percent from the field.
After going down by 19 in the second quarter, the deficit was eventually whittled down to 12 points after Natabou came out of the locker room with a basket and Olivares drained a three-pointer from the corner, but another run by UCLA — this a 12-4 burst — put the Bruins up 20 late in the third and the advantage ballooned to as many as 24 in the fourth.
Overall, UCLA shot just over 41 percent from the field to the Hornets' 34 percent and the Bruins held a 47-32 advantage on the glass.
