SACRAMENTO, Calif. — There is, perhaps, no hotter player heading into the Big Sky Conference Tournament than Sacramento State junior guard Benthe Versteeg, who was named the league's co-player of the week on Tuesday following a historic three-game stretch to close out the regular season.
Versteeg picked up the first Big Sky weekly honor of her career and the third by a Hornet this season joining teammates Jaydia Martin (Dec. 10) and Fatoumata Jaiteh (Jan. 7).
After wrapping up the week prior with a near-miss on a triple-double against Idaho State with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists, Versteeg finished a three-game run to close out the regular season on an absolute heater, averaging 15.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg, and 11.0 apg against Montana, Montana State, and Portland State, while shooting .594 overall (19-for-32) and .900 (9-of-10) from the line.
She opened the week in historic fashion against the Grizzlies, posting what is believed to be the program's first-ever triple-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, while shooting 7-of-12 from the field and playing all 40 minutes for the second straight game.
Two nights later, she scored 17 points and dished out 11 assists in a road victory over the Bobcats, putting an end to Montana State's 19-game winning streak (which had been tied for second in the nation entering the week) and handing the Bobcats only their third loss of the year — the first since Dec. 7 and the first at home.
Versteeg then closed out the regular season in style in the final basketball game at The Nest on "Senior Night" against the Vikings, finishing with 16 points and tying her season high with 12 assists, while adding five rebounds and four steals while hitting 7-of-12 from the field.
Including the game against the Bengals, Versteeg's run of double-doubles is the longest since Isnelle Natabou collected four straight against UTEP, Fresno State, San Diego State, and CSU Bakersfield from Nov. 26-Dec. 10, 2022.
She now has five games with at least 10 assists on the year — the most of any player in the Big Sky entering the postseason tournament — while her 12 assists against Northern Arizona (Feb. 15) and Portland State (March 3) are the most by any player in the league this season.
Sacramento State is the No. 8 seed to open the Big Sky Tournament and will take on No. 7-seeded Eastern Washington in the first round on Saturday (March 8) at 1:30 p.m. PT at the Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho. The winner gets second-seeded Northern Arizona in the second round on Sunday (March 9), also at 1:30 p.m. PT.
