SACRAMENTO — Freshman Summah Hanson collected her Big Sky Conference best 12th double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while sophomore Benthe Versteeg added 18 more, but visiting Montana sank 1-of-2 from the line with 0.7 seconds remaining in regulation to eke out a 58-57 victory over Sacramento State on Thursday night at The Nest.
Hanson logged her fifth 20-point game of the season for the Hornets (5-21, 4-11) while collecting her fifth double-double in her last seven games and her seventh straight double-digit scoring performance. She finished 7-of-15 from the field and hit all six of her free throws en route to her total, adding three assists in the process.
Versteeg, meanwhile, netted her sixth double-digit scoring game in her last seven outings, adding five rebounds, and three assists to go with four steals.
Sacramento State led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter before settling for an eight-point advantage at the break and fought tooth and nail to lead by 10 on a couple of occasions early in the third before Montana (18-7, 10-4) used a 9-0 run to make it a one-point game with 4:08 to play in the period.
Versteeg answered with a jumper and freshman Lina Falk drained a three-pointer on their team's next two possessions, holding the Grizzlies to just a single point over the final two-plus minutes to carry a 41-36 lead into the fourth quarter.
Back-to-back baskets by Hanson to start the final period pushed the Hornet lead back to nine points and the two teams traded baskets over the next six minutes before Montana made its final push.
A pair of free throws by Gina Marxen sparked a personal 6-0 run that cut the deficit down to just two points with 2:08 to play, but Sacramento State hit 5-of-6 from the line over a 20-second span to lead by five with 44 seconds to play. Marxen added three more free throws around a make from the line by Versteeg to make it a one possession game and Carmen Gfeller came up huge, tying the game at 57 with a three-pointer from the top of the key with 14 seconds to play.
The Hornets missed a potential game-winner from three with four seconds to play as the rebound went out of bounds to the Grizzlies with 1.2 left on the clock. After a timeout to advance the ball, Montana found MJ Bruno on a curl down low and she drew a foul to head to the line with 0.7 to play.
Bruno missed the first, but drained the second to break the deadlock, and Sacramento State was unable to get a shot off as the horn sounded.
The Grizzlies, who entered the night leading the Big Sky in field goal (.440) and three-point (.393) percentage while ranking second in scoring offense (74.04 ppg), was limited to just .327 from the floor overall and .297 from three-point range, while being held to 16 points under their average.
The Hornets also out-rebounded Montana, 42-38, grabbing better than 10 rebounds above the Grizzlies average by opposing teams (32.25) this year.
Montana finished with three players in double figures, led by 15 points each from Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw and Marxen as well as 10 points from Carmen Gfeller. Dani Bartsch, who entered the night leading the Big Sky in rebounding, finished with 17 boards, nearly missing out on a double-double with nine points.
Sacramento State closes out the home portion of its 2023-24 schedule on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 24) at 1 p.m., taking on Montana State in the home finale. Senior Solape Amusan will be honored prior to tip-off as part of "Senior Day" festivities.
