MISSOULA, Mont. — Senior Solape Amusan finished with a career high tying 19 points and was joined in double figures by sophomore Irune Orio, who added 12 more, but host Montana drained a school-record 19 three-pointers en route to an 84-57 win on Saturday afternoon in Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Mont.
Amusan hit 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point range on her way to sharing game-high honors, reaching double digits for the fifth time this season and surpassing her previous season high of 18 against Santa Clara back on Nov. 29.
She matched her career high set a year ago, nearly to the day, in this same arena, when she finished with 19 points on 6-of-10 from beyond the arc against the Grizzlies on Jan. 26 of last season.
Orio, meanwhile, continued her run of success on the offensive end for the Hornets, finishing with 12 points, four rebounds, and a pair of blocked shots, reaching double digits in points for the fifth time in her last seven contests.
Just two days after setting a career high with 12 points at Montana State, freshman Lina Falk added a career-high eight rebounds to go with seven points, while sophomore Benthe Versteeg led the way with five assists.
Led by five players in double figures, Montana (14-5, 6-2 Big Sky) never trailed on Saturday, however Sacramento State (1-18, 0-8 Big Sky) did well to answer the bell and stay close in the first half. Led by Amusan's 10 first-quarter points, the Hornets whittled a 13-point deficit down to just five at the end of the opening period, closing on a 10-2 run.
The Grizzlies opened the second on a 10-0 run, holding Sacramento State to without a field goal for the first five and a half minutes, but the Hornets were able to pick things up as Amusan drained three-pointers on back-to-back possessions, bringing her team back to within seven and trail by only 10 at the break.
Sacramento State brought the gap down to single digits once again early in the third, but a 9-1 spurt by Montana pushed the advantage back to 17 points and the Grizzlies never looked back. Montana led by as many as 22 points in the third and never led the Hornets come closer than 17 the rest of the way.
Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw led the Grizzlies with 19 points as Montana shot just over 49 percent from the field and 46 percent from three-point range, making 19 shots from beyond the arc compared to just 11 two-pointers on the day.
Sacramento State returns home for only one game next week, hosting travel partner Portland State on Saturday (Feb. 3) at 2 p.m., to close out the first round of Big Sky Conference play. The Hornets will then travel to Idaho to tip-off a three-game week on Monday (Feb. 5).
