SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Senior Katie Peneueta finished with a team-high 18 points to lead a group of three Hornets in double figures, but an early first quarter explosion by host Northern Arizona put Sacramento State in too deep a hole on Saturday afternoon as the Lumberjacks posted a 75-60 victory at Findlay Toyota Court in Flagstaff, Ariz.
The Hornets fell to 11-15 overall and 4-9 in Big Sky Conference play with the defeat while NAU improved to 21-6 overall and 12-2 in league play.
Peneueta finished 6-of-9 from the field en route to her second-highest point total of the season behind only her 20-point outing against Wagner on Dec. 1. She added six rebounds and two assists to her stat line in 27 minutes.
Senior Jaydia Martin posted her fifth consecutive double-digit scoring contest with 15 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds and three steals in 31 minutes, pouring in 11 of those 15 points in the second half. Sophomore Lina Falk added 10 points and seven boards to wrap-up the double-digit scoring trio.
Junior Benthe Versteeg — the team's second-leading scorer entering the day — was limited to just four points, but she did grab seven rebounds and dish out a season-high 12 assists. Saturday marked her second double-digit assist performance of the year following her 10-assist day as part of an overtime double-double against Portland State on Jan. 4 and the most since she finished with 12 against Idaho State in last year's Big Sky Tournament opener.
The 11 assists also give her 386 helpers for her career, moving her past both Julie Wastell (373 in 1995-99) and Tika Koshiyama-Diaz (381 in 2007-11) for third on the school's all-time list. Versteeg trails only career record-holder Fantasia Hilliard, who had 726 from 2011-15, and Heather Baker, who had 453 from 1989-93, on the career chart.
Things started well for Sacramento State as it hit a free throw and put home a second-chance opportunity off the miss of the second free throw for a 3-0 lead. However, Northern Arizona answered by scoring the next 18 points and closed the quarter on a 24-4 run to build a big lead after the first 10 minutes.
The Hornets made the adjustments to start the second quarter and closed the gap thanks to a 10-0 run over the period's first 1:38, making it a seven-point game and forcing the Lumberjacks to call a timeout. Northern Arizona then put the game out of reach following the break, answering with a 14-0 run and finishing the half on a 21-4 burst while holding Sacramento State to only one field goal in that stretch.
The fight continued into the final period as a 10-3 run late in the fourth quarter brought the Hornets back to with 15 points, but they would not get any closer.
Sacramento State held Northern Arizona to just 37 percent shooting for the game after the Lumberjacks had entered the day second in the conference shooting .425 on the year, but the Hornets were able to hit just 30 percent themselves. NAU also held a 51-45 advantage on the glass.
With only five games remaining in the regular season, Sacramento State will host two of its final three home games of the year next week as Weber State and Idaho State pay a visit on Feb. 20 and Feb. 22, respectively. The Hornets and Wildcats will tip-off at 6:30 p.m., before the Bengals come in for a 2 p.m. tip-off.
