SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Junior guard Natalie Picton finished with a game-high 21 points to lead two other teammates in double figures and host Sacramento State held off a fourth-quarter charge by Portland State to win its second straight contest, 68-64, on Saturday afternoon at Hornet Pavilion.
The victory evened the Hornets' record at 8-8 overall on the year and moved them to 2-1 in Big Sky Conference play. Led by 18 points from Kyleigh Brown, the Vikings fell to 5-10 overall and 1-2 in league contests.
Picton posted her third 20-point performance as a Hornet and the fourth of her career with Saturday's performance, finishing with her highest point total since she scored 27 against Simpson on Dec. 15. She added five rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes.
Sophomore Rubi Gray, who had her 11-game double-digit scoring streak snapped last week against Weber State, rebounded with an 18-point effort against Portland State, adding six rebounds and a pair of steals. It was her highest scoring total since she put up 24 points on the road at Pacific on Dec. 4.
Freshman Jaety Mandaquit rounded out the scoring trio, finishing with a career-high 10 points on 4-of-6 from the field and a pair of key fourth-quarter three-pointers. She also added three steals in the win.
Junior Elizabeth Abiara finished with a Sacramento State career-high 12 rebounds — five of those on the offensive glass to help the Hornets to a 21-14 advantage in the category — while senior Benthe Versteeg finished with eight points, six rebounds, and six assists.
Sacramento State never trailed in the contest, but saw an eight-point third-quarter lead erased by the Vikings, who used a 12-4 run spanning the final two periods — eight of those coming from Brown — to tie the game at 54 with 4:58 remaining in the contest.
Piction's defense then turned into offense as her steal led to a Mandaquit three a minute later and, after Portland State answered with a basket on its next possession, she drained her second of the game to put the Hornets up by four with 2:54 to go.
A three-pointer by the Vikings made it a one-point game 34 seconds later, but Abiara followed a miss with a basket inside and Versteeg made Portland State pay for an offensive foul on the ensuing possession, driving the lane for two and forcing a Viking timeout with 48 seconds to play.
A pair of free throws by Gray made it a seven-point lead, but Brown drew a foul shooting a three from the left corner and made all three free throws to claw back to within four. Portland State, however, got no closer as Picton drew a foul on an offensive rebound, making both, and Cici Ellington's jumper at the other end for the Vikings capped the scoring as the Hornets ran out the clock.
Sacramento State won despite shooting just 37 percent from the field, attempting 16 more field goals than Portland State, but making only two more shots. Both teams were even on the glass, aside from the Hornets' advantage on the offensive end, while Sacramento State took care of the ball, committing a season-low nine turnovers — its fewest since posting just six miscues against Northern Arizona in the second round of the 2024 Big Sky Tournament.
At the other end, the Vikings shot 44 percent from the field, but were turned over 19 times, leading to 21 Hornet points.
After opening conference play with three straight home contests, Sacramento State hits the road for the first time in league, traveling to Northern Arizona on Thursday (Jan.15) and Northern Colorado on Saturday (Jan. 17).
