BOISE, Idaho — Junior Benthe Versteeg's floater from the right block with 11 seconds remaining in regulation broke a 67-all tie and Lina Falk tacked on a pair of free throws following a huge block by Katie Peneueta on Eastern Washington's game-tying attempt seconds later as Sacramento State rallied from down 10 at the half to defeat the Eagles, 71-67, in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon in Boise, Idaho.
The eighth-seeded Hornets improved to 15-17 overall and advanced to face No. 2 Northern Arizona in the second round on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. PT. Saturday's victory marked their fifth win in their last six Big Sky Tournament games and snapped a five-game skid in the series with EWU.
The Eagles finished their season at 11-20 overall as Kourtney Grossman led a balanced scoring effort with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Both Versteeg and senior Jaydia Martin finished with double-doubles to power the Hornets' offense, led by Martin's game-high 26 points on 10-of-15 from the field and 6-of-8 from the line while grabbing 10 rebounds. Versteeg, meanwhile, tallied her fifth consecutive double-double with 11 points and 11 assists, missing out on a second triple-double this year by a pair of rebounds, finishing with eight.
Junior Fatoumata Jaiteh added 12 points and three rebounds, while Falk and Peneueta added nine points apiece.
Sacramento State trailed by as many as 12 points midway through the second quarter and was down 10 at the half before making a dramatic comeback in the third period. The two teams traded baskets to start the third before a Versteeg put-back off her own miss ignited a game-changing 13-1 run by the Hornets that turned a nine-point deficit into a three-point lead at 50-47 with 3:19 to play.
Eastern Washington stayed within that margin for the rest of the quarter and had the score tied three times in the fourth before a pull-up jumper by Alexis Pettis regained the lead for the Eagles with two minutes to play. The pace picked up as Martin and Grossman traded baskets on each team's next possession, and Martin and Peyton Howard answered each other as EWU clung to a two-point advantage with 45 seconds to play.
Martin was then fouled on the left side on the Hornets' next trip down the court, sinking both free throws to tie the game once again at 67 apiece with 33 seconds to play.
Sacramento State then took advantage of some sloppiness by the Eagles after a time out as Versteeg won a foot race on a pass that was thrown into the backcourt. Following a Hornet timeout, Versteeg took the clock all the way down to 14 seconds before driving down the right side of the lane and lofting a right-handed floater over the outstretched arms of the EWU defense that fell through the net, putting Sacramento State up two.
EWU called a timeout and advanced the ball looking for an answer, but Peneueta was in the right place at the right time, swatting down her fourth block of the day on a Peyton Howard attempt as Falk grabbed the rebound and was fouled with just over three seconds to play.
Falk hit both from the line for a four-point Hornet lead and a last-second three-point attempt by the Eagles went by the wayside as the horn sounded.
Sacramento State shot 47 percent to 39 percent for the Eagles for the game, including a 45 percent clip in the second half while holding Eastern Washington to just 32 percent. The Hornets also outrebounded EWU, 36-32.
Sunday marks the third straight season that Sacramento State and Northern Arizona will meet in the Big Sky Tournament with the Hornets posting a 76-63 win in 2023 to clinch the program's first-ever conference tournament title and the Lumberjacks posting an 81-63 win in the second round in 2024.
The Hornets are 1-3 all time against NAU in the conference tournament with the Lumberjacks posting a 67-58 quarterfinal win in 2005 and a 74-69 first-round victory in 2019.
