SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Junior Benthe Versteeg tied her season high with 16 points to go with seven rebounds while junior Fatoumata Jaiteh added 10 more on Wednesday night, but it wasn't enough to push visiting Sacramento State past host UC Davis as the Aggies posted a 76-45 victory at the University Credit Union Center.
The loss was the second straight for the Hornets, who fell to 4-2 overall playing in only their second road game of the season. UC Davis improved to 2-3 overall with the victory, led by 21 points from Megan Norris.
Versteeg finished hit a season-high six baskets and added four more from the line en route to her point total, matching her offensive output from Sacramento State's win over UC San Diego on Nov. 7. She added three assists and four steals to her stat line.
Meanwhile, Jaiteh also matched her Sacramento State career high with her 10-point night, adding six rebounds and two steals.
The Hornet defense also forced UC Davis into 25 turnovers on the night, tallying 11 steals to give Sacramento State four double-digit performances in that category in the team's six games thus far.
The Aggies led by as many as seven in the early-going, but the Hornets were able to whittle that deficit down to just two on a floater by Lina Falk in the paint with 96 seconds remaining in the period. However, three-pointers by Norris and Tova Sabel keyed a 10-2 burst by UC Davis to close the period, giving the home side a 10-point advantage after one.
Back-to-back three's by the Aggies to start the second continued the run as UC Davis went up by 18 just two minutes in, but Sacramento State had an answer. Sofia Alonso converted a turnover into a three-pointer and sparked a 15-4 burst by the Hornets that made it a seven-point game with 2:13 remaining in the half.
Sacramento State could have cut it to four, but Jaiteh's "and one" was waved off and whistled an offensive foul, giving the Aggies a chance to stop the bleeding. UC Davis scored the final four points of the quarter to lead by 11 at the break, then hit a three-pointer to start the third as the Hornets got no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
Wednesday's contest was the first of three straight games on the road for Sacramento State, which wings its way to Miami next weekend to participate in the FIU Thanksgiving Tournament on Nov. 29 and Dec. 1. The Hornets open against Abilene Christian on the opening day of play before taking on either the host Panthers or Wagner on day two.
