SACRAMENTO — Senior Solape Amusan finished with a career-high 23 points and sophomore Irune Orio added a career-high 22 more as the Sacramento State women's basketball team returned to the win column with a 72-65 victory over visiting Portland State on Saturday afternoon at The Nest.
The Hornets held the Vikings to just 35 percent shooting overall, including a stingy 27 percent in a tight fourth quarter as Sacramento State finished 10-of-11 from the line in the final period to hold off any Portland State rally. Sacramento State's 72 points are a season high, surpassing the 66 scored against Northern Arizona on Jan. 20.
Amusan, who played all 40 minutes, was on double-double watch for most of the day, eventually hitting 7-of-13 from the floor — including five three-pointers — and added nine rebounds to lead all scorers. The senior set a new career high after tying her previous mark in her last game with 19 points at Montana on Jan. 27.
She has finished in double figures in four of her last six games, averaging nearly 12 points per game during that stretch.
Meanwhile, Orio continued her offensive outburst with her career best on Saturday, hitting 9-of-15 from the field and adding three rebounds and three steals to her stat line. The 22 points surpassed her previous best of 16 set in the Hornets' last win over CSUN on Dec. 2, while reaching double figures for the sixth time in the last eight outings.
The duo became the first first Sacramento State tandem to finish with 20 points in a game since Jordan Olivares (26) and Kaylin Randhawa (20) did so in the championship game of the Big Sky Conference Tournament last season against Northern Arizona.
Freshman Summah Hanson added to the offensive haul with her Big Sky-best eighth double-double of the year, scoring 13 points on 5-of-9 from the field and adding 12 rebounds, while sophomore teammate Benthe Versteeg chipped in 10 points — including 8-of-9 from the line — and eight assists.
Hanson's 13 points gave her 270 for the season, moving her past Maranne Johnson and into sixth place on the program's single-season list for scoring by a freshman in the Division I era. She stands just four points behind Fantasia Hilliard and Julie Wastell for a tie for fourth, and 30 points away from becoming just the program's fourth freshman to reach 300 points in a season.
Sacramento State led by three after one and held a slim one-point, 35-34, advantage at the break before Portland State answered with four quick points and used a 9-4 burst to take a 43-39 lead with 6:13 to play. Orio hit a short jumper and Amusan answered on the Hornets' next trip down the court with a bucket to tie the game at 43-all and spark a decisive 15-3 run that turned that four-point deficit into an eight-point lead with 2:06 to play.
Holding a seven point lead with 10 minutes to play, Sacramento State never let the Vikings come closer than five points the rest of the way despite not hitting a field goal for the final 3:03 — that off the hands of Orio to make it a 66-57 contest.
After a three-pointer by Portland State's Esmerelda Morales, Versteeg made three trips to the line down the stretch, hitting all six of her attempts to answer each make by the Vikings.
Morales led three Portland State players in double figures with 22 points on 7-of-19 from the floor, while Mia 'Uhila (15) and Rhema Ogele (10 points and 12 rebounds) joined her in double figures.
Meanwhile, the Hornets finished the day shooting 48 percent from the field on 18 fewer shot attempts and ended the game 20-of-23 from the line — setting a season high in the category.
Sacramento State makes a quick jaunt up to Moscow, Idaho, to take on Idaho on Monday night at 6 p.m., tipping off the second half of Big Sky play. The Hornets then return home to host Idaho State (Feb. 8) and Weber State (Feb. 10).
