SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sophomore Madison Butcher finished with a career-high 16 points to go with four rebounds while junior Benthe Versteeg added a season-high 16 of her own along with seven assists as Sacramento State remained unbeaten on the young season with a 71-60 victory over UC San Diego on Thursday night at The Nest.
The Hornets are 2-0 to start a campaign for the first time since opening the 2013-14 season with wins over CSUN and San Diego State. Led by 15 points from Junae Mahan, the Tritons fell to 1-1 overall on the year.
Butcher, who opened the year with 10 points off the bench against Jessup on Monday, finished 5-of-10 from the field overall and 4-of-8 from three-point range en route to her new career high, surpassing her previous mark of 11 against Eastern Washington back on Jan. 7, 2023. She led the team with a plus-15 on the night.
Versteeg, meanwhile, finished with her 19th career double-digit scoring performance, finishing 4-of-7 from the field while making her night at the free throw line where she was 8-of-12. She added four rebounds and three steals to go with her season-high seven assists.
Newcomer Fatoumata Jaiteh led all Sacramento State players with nine rebounds to go with her seven points, swiping four of the Hornets' nine steals on the night.
UC San Diego came out of the gates quickly, building a seven-point advantage just three minuets in while holding the Hornets to a single field goal. Sacramento State recovered and clawed its way back, using a 10-2 run capped by a huge three-pointer from Butcher that gave the Hornets their first lead of the contest.
It was back-and-forth from there with a three-pointer by
Sofia Alonso bringing her team back to within a point at the end of the quarter after UCSD had rebuilt its lead to four points with less than a minute to play.
The Hornets then took control of the contest in the latter half of the second quarter, closing on a 16-5 run over the final five minutes to built a 10-point, 37-27, lead at the break. Sacramento State's defense limited the Tritons to just five free throws in that stretch while the Hornets ended the half 5-for-5 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the line.
Sacramento State's lead ballooned to as many as 14 points early in the third quarter, but UC San Diego did not go away quietly. The Tritons used a 15-4 run over a span of five minutes to methodically trim the Hornets' advantage down to just four with 2:11 to play in the period and they closed to within three points a minute later, trailing by only five with 10 minutes to go.
A three-point play by
Lina Falk and a three-pointer by Butcher midway through the fourth rebuilt Sacramento State's advantage back to double-digits at 60-49 with 6:18 to play and went to work at the free throw line from there, finishing 7-of-8 from the stripe — and 10-of-14 overall in the quarter — capping the final kick with a four-point play by
Jaydia Martin, who drew a foul after draining a three-pointer in the corner in front of the Hornet bench, setting off a huge celebration.
UC San Diego could manage only three free throws from that point and finished with only one field goal over the final five minutes of the contest.
Both teams finished shooting just under 40 percent from the field overall while the Hornets added eight makes from beyond the arc compared to only two for the Tritons. Both teams were whistled for a combined 59 fouls on the night with Sacramento State finishing 25-of-35 from the line to UCSD's 20-for-28 at the stripe.
The Hornets close out their season-opening three-game homestand on Sunday (Nov. 10) at 2 p.m., hosting Lincoln University at The Nest.
