OGDEN, Utah — The Sacramento State women's basketball team had its brief two-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday afternoon in Ogden, Utah, as a trying first half proved to be too big a hole to dig out of in a 68-52 loss at Weber State.
The Hornets, fresh off a come-from-behind win at Idaho State on Thursday, had their record evened at 10-10 overall while falling to 3-4 in Big Sky Conference play. The Wildcats, meanwhile, defended home court for the second straight game, improving to 7-10 overall and 4-3 in league play.
Junior Benthe Versteeg finished with a team-high 11 points and ended the day as the only Sacramento State player in double figures while playing all 40 minutes for the third time in the last four games. Senior Jaydia Martin, who had entered the day having scored in double digits in 13 straight games, was limited to nine points, but dished out a team-high seven assists.
Junior Fatoumata Jaiteh and senior Katie Peneueta shared team-high honors with seven rebounds apiece and combined for three of the team's five blocks on the day, while Jaiteh finished with a team-high five steals.
Limited to just 12 first-half points on five makes from the field in the opening 20 minutes, the Hornets played the Wildcats even in the second half with a pair of 20-point quarters, eventually cutting a 19-point deficit down to just 10 thanks to an 8-2 run to start the fourth quarter.
Sacramento State, however, could get no closer as Weber State answered by scoring eight of the next 10 to answer the Hornet run and never let the visitors get any closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
The Wildcats shot 42 percent for the game to just 30 for Sacramento State and outrebounded the Hornets, 46-29. Sacramento State's defense was able to force Weber State into 23 turnovers — the most since Wagner committed the same number on Dec. 1 — but were only able to turn those into nine points for the good.
The first go-round in Big Sky play comes to an end next week as the Hornets open a run of four-straight games at The Nest. Sacramento State hosts league-leading and unbeaten Montana State — winners of 11 consecutive games — on Thursday (Jan. 30) at 6:30 p.m., before welcoming Montana for a 2 p.m. tip-off on Saturday (Feb. 1).
