SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Senior Jaydia Martin finished with a Sacramento State career-high 31 points to lead a group of four in double figures and the Hornets broke open a four-point game with a 19-6 run over the final six minutes of the fourth quarter, lifting them to a 74-57 victory over visiting Kansas City on Wednesday night at The Nest.
Sacramento State won its second straight in improving to 6-3 overall on the year, winning its opening leg in the second-annual Big Sky-Summit Challenge. The Roos, led by 15 points from Alayna Contreras and a 10-point, 13-rebound double-double from Elauni Bennett, fell to 3-6 overall on the season.
Martin, whose collegiate high stands at 33 points set against Montana on Jan. 16, 2023, as a sophomore at Eastern Washington, was red-hot all night, finishing 11-of-17 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line. Adding a team-high seven rebounds to go with three assists and a pair of steals, Martin became the first Hornet to score 30-or-more points since Kahlaijah Dean did so with 35 points against Montana State on Feb. 23, 2023.
Junior Benthe Versteeg and freshman Brooklyn Taylor each added 12 points, while sophomore Lina Falk chipped in 10 more. Versteeg dished out a team-high six assists to go with three steals, while Taylor set a career high with her point total, hitting 6-of-8 from the field and adding six rebounds to go with two blocks.
Falk finished in double figures for the third-straight contest and the seventh time in nine games this season, grabbing six rebounds and blocking three shots.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the floor, the Sacramento State defense was stout, holding Kansas City to just 29.9 percent shooting for the game — including a 20 percent clip in the first quarter and just 27 percent in the final 10 minutes. The Hornets forced the Roos into 19 turnovers, scoring 15 points towards the good, while scoring 48 points in the paint — the team's second-highest total in that category this season.
Despite leading wire-to-wire and going up by as many as 17 points on Wednesday night, Kansas City closed the third quarter on an 8-2 run to chip into a 14-point deficit and scored six of the first eight points of the fourth quarter to make it a four-point game at 55-51 with 6:28 to play.
That's when Sacramento State found another gear as Martin scored inside then nearly went coast-to-coast after volleyball spiking a pass to lay it in to help spark the Hornets' final kick. Martin finished with 10 of the Hornets' final 19 points to push her over the 30-point plateau, doing so on a pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining in the contest.
Offensively, Sacramento State shot a season-high 56.6 percent from the field — it's highest since draining 56.8 percent of its shots against Santa Clara on Nov. 29 of last season, while dishing out 18 assists on its 30 makes. The Hornets shot at a 71 percent clip in the second half, hitting 10-of-13 in the third quarter and 7-of-11 in the final 10 minutes after hitting "just" 45 percent from the field in the first two periods.
The second leg of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge sends Sacramento State on the road on Saturday (Dec. 7) as the Hornets take on Omaha at Noon PT. The Mavericks posted a 65-57 road win at Portland State on Wednesday night to open their half of the Challenge.
Gallery: (12-4-2024) WBB vs. Kansas City (Dec. 4, 2024)
