SACRAMENTO — Sacramento State sophomore guard Benthe Versteeg was named to the Big Sky Conference's All-Tournament Team on Wednesday, following the championship game of the league's postseason event.
Versteeg, the only player on the six-woman all-tournament squad who was not a member of one of the four semifinal qualifiers, becomes only the sixth Hornet women's basketball player to earn all-tournament honors, joining Emily Christensen (2012), Alle Moreno (2013), Adella Randle-El (2015), Isnelle Natabou (2023), and Kahlaijah Dean (2023).
Playing all but 57 seconds of game time in Sacramento State's run to the quarterfinals, Versteeg averaged 39.5 minutes per game over the two contests, including playing all 40 minutes in a game for the 10th time this season in the opening round win over Idaho State. In the tournament, Versteeg averaged 16.0 points and 9.5 assists per game, while shooting .444 (12-for-27) from the field overall, finishing with double-digit points in both tournament contests.
Against the Bengals, Versteeg enjoyed a record-setting performance on her way to 13 points and 12 assists to complete her fifth double-double of the season in a 73-55 victory. The 12 assists gave her 201 for the year, breaking Fantasia Hilliard's single-season mark of 197 over 34 games set in 2015. The 12 assists were the most by a Hornet in a Big Sky tournament game, breaking Hilliard's mark of 10 against Southern Utah in 2014, while becoming the sixth Sacramento State player to play in 40 (or more) minutes in a tournament contest.
A day later against Northern Arizona, Versteeg finished with a team-high 19 points to go with seven assists, adding a pair of steals and three rebounds as the Hornets came up shy against the Lumberjacks, who would go on to advance to the tournament championship game for a third consecutive season. She finished with 14 of her team-high total in the second half, reaching double figures in each of her final three games of the year and 17 times overall.
For the year, Versteeg was one of only two Hornets to play in all 31 games, averaging 11.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, and 6.71 apg, while leading the team with 58 steals en route to All-Big Sky second team honors. Her season assist average is the best in school history while her 14 assists against Weber State on Feb. 10 set a single-game mark in the program's Division I era.
2023-24 BIG SKY CONFERENCE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Jamie Loera, Eastern Washington (MVP)
Jacinta Buckley, Eastern Washington
Sophie Glancey, Northern Arizona
Leia Beattie, Northern Arizona
Mack Konig, Montana
Benthe Versteeg, Sacramento State
