SACRAMENTO — Senior Solape Amusan finished with a game-high 18 points to lead a group of four Hornets in double figures on the night as the Sacramento State women's basketball team opened its homestand with a 61-58 victory over visiting Idaho State on Thursday night at The Nest.
The win was the second in three games for the Hornets (3-19, 2-9), who held the Bengals (10-12, 6-5) to just 27 percent from the field in the first half and withstood a late charge en route to the win. Sacramento State, meanwhile, shot 41 percent from the floor for the third consecutive game and held a 35-30 advantage on the boards.
Amusan finished in double figures for the fifth time in her last eight games, hitting 5-of-9 from the field overall — including a quartet of three-pointers — and sank four shots at the line while grabbing four rebounds. In that span she is shooting 48 percent from the floor and just over 45 percent from beyond the arc.
Freshman Summah Hanson collected her Big Sky Conference-best ninth double-double of the year with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while sophomore Benthe Versteeg flirted with a triple-double, adding 13 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists to go with four steals.
Freshman Lina Falk rounded out the quartet of double-digit scorers with 11 points on 4-of-8 from the field, finishing just one point shy of her career high of 12 set at Montana State on Jan. 25.
Sacramento State led by four after one and held a 32-23 lead at the half, stymying the Idaho State offense while shooting and efficient 41 percent themselves. Both teams broke out in the third quarter, each finishing with 21 point in the period as the Bengals were 7-of-10 from the field to 8-of-16 for the Hornets.
After trading baskets to start the period, an Amusan scored seven of the next eight points — including a rare four-point play — giving the Hornets their largest lead of the night at 43-28 with 6:23 to play in the third quarter. The gap remained double digits for most of the remainder of the quarter, but the Bengals creeped back to within nine points at the horn.
A free throw by Versteeg and a three-pointer by
Irune Orio boosted Sacramento State's lead back to 13 points just two and a half minutes in, but Idaho State wouldn't go quietly. A 12-2 run by the Bengals — including nine straight — cut the Hornets' advantage to just three points with 2:04 to play before Falk came up clutch with an offensive board and put-back off a miss, giving Sacramento State a five-point advantage with less than a minute to play.
The Hornets got a stop on Idaho State's next trip down the court as Versteeg knocked away an entry pass intended for Bengals' post Laura Bello, but the Bengals turned a turnover into a lay-up to make it a three-point contest and then drew an offensive foul with 0.2 remaining only to come up empty as the final buzzer sounded.
Sacramento State closes out the weekend on Saturday (Feb. 10), welcoming Weber State to The Nest for a 2 p.m. tip-off. The Wildcats posted a 67-46 win at Portland State on Thursday.
