BOISE, Idaho — The Sacramento State women's basketball team finished with four starters in double figures and outscored Idaho State by a 28-9 count in the fourth quarter, erasing a three-point deficit and cruising into the second round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament with a 73-55 victory on Saturday afternoon at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.
The eighth-seeded Hornets snapped a five-game losing streak overall with Saturday's victory, but won their fourth consecutive game in the league's postseason tournament, improving to 6-24 overall and advancing to face second-seeded Northern Arizona in the second round on Sunday (March 10) at 1:30 p.m. PT
The Bengals finished their season at 11-19 overall with the loss.
Sophomore Benthe Versteeg finished with her fifth double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and added 12 assists in the victory — the latter helping her set a new school single-season record with 201 assists, breaking Fantasia Hilliard's record (197) that had stood since 2015.
Meanwhile, sophomore
Irune Orio led the way for Sacramento State with 19 points — just three off her career high of 22 set against Portland State earlier this year — on 7-of-15 from the field while grabbing five rebounds, while freshman
Lina Falk poured in a career-high 17 points to go with six rebounds.
Big Sky Freshman of the Year
Summah Hanson extended her double-digit scoring streak to 11 consecutive games with 12 points on 4-of-5 from the field and narrowly missed out on her 14th double-double of the year by adding nine rebounds.
It was a back-and-forth affair from the start as the Hornets led by only three after one, held a one-point, 29-28, advantage at halftime, and was down by a single point following three quarters after leading by as many as five points in the stanza.
However, it was the fourth quarter that showcased what the Sacramento State offense could do. Idaho State's Kacey Spink hit the first basket of the period to give the Bengals their largest lead of the day at 48-45 just 44 seconds into the quarter but, from that point on, it was all Hornets.
A
Solape Amusan three-pointer sparked an 8-0 run that grew into a 21-4 avalanche that gave Sacramento State a 66-52 lead with just under three minutes to play — capped fittingly by another Amusan three-pointer for the 14-point advantage.
The Bengals answered with a three-pointer at the other end on their next possession, but the Hornets closed with another 7-0 spurt which included three pointers by
Kaylie Edge and Orio that iced the victory.
Sacramento State shot a robust 52 percent from the field, including 71 percent (10-of-14) in the final quarter to open the floodgates en route to the win. The percentage was the Hornets' highest since shooting .568 (25-for-44) against Santa Clara on Nov. 29. Meanwhile, Sacramento State drained a season-high 13 three-pointers while shooting .542 from deep, including 7-of-9 (.778) during its fourth-quarter fusillade.
At the other end, the Hornets' defense clamped down, limiting Idaho State to just 28 percent shooting overall and just 3-of-12 (.250) from the field in the fourth quarter alone as Sacramento State rallied.
