SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Senior guard Benthe Versteeg became the 19th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points, finishing with a career-high tying 26 points to lead the Sacramento State women's basketball team in a narrow 62-55 defeat against Idaho on Thursday night at Hornet Pavilion.
The loss dropped the Hornets to 9-10 overall and 3-3 in Big Sky Conference play despite holding the visiting Vandals to nearly 20 points below their season average (80.7 ppg entering the night) and limiting them to just 28 percent from the field.
Idaho, led by 11 points from Hope Hassmann, finished with three players in double figures and outrebounded Sacramento State by a 59-35 count while improving to 14-5 overall and 5-1 in league play.
Entering the night needing just two points to etch her name onto another career list, Versteeg became the first Hornet to reach 1,000 points since Summer Menke accomplished the feat in 2022, reaching the milestone on a driving lay-up with 3:06 remaining in the second quarter.
Most of her damage was done in the second half, scoring 21 of her 26 points on 7-of-15 from the field in the final 20 minutes. Now with 1,024 points to her name in the green and gold, Versteeg jumped past both Shelby Boudreaux (1992-96) and Teresa Hampton (1988-92) into 17th on the all-time scoring list.
Junior guard Natalie Picton joined her in double figures with 18 on the night, hitting four of her seven baskets from beyond the arc while adding four rebounds and two steals.
Junior Elizabeth Abiara led the way on the glass for Sacramento State with eight, while Versteeg's four assists were tops in that category. Abiara also added a pair of blocks while freshman Jaety Mandaquit led the team with three steals.
A nip-and-tuck first quarter had the Hornets up 12-11 after the first 10 minutes as the home team limited Idaho to just four makes from the field. The second quarter saw the Vandals flip the script as Idaho outscored Sacramento State, 18-8, in the period thanks, in part, to a 10-3 run over the first six minutes of the quarter.
Down nine at the break, the Hornet offense began to click in the third quarter, whittling the deficit down to just six points at one point in a back-and-forth period. Versteeg had 10 of the team's 16 points, but Sacramento State still found itself down 10 heading into the final quarter.
After trading baskets to start, a Picton three-pointer spurred a 10-2 burst by the Hornets that brought them to within three points at 53-50 with 2:59 to play, but Sacramento State could not find the tying basket. Idaho, which finished 21-of-32 from the line to just 5-of-6 for the Hornets, managed just one field goal down the stretch, but did just enough from the line (7-for-12) to hold off any further rally.
Sacramento State wraps up its brief two-game homestand on Saturday (Jan. 24) at 2 p.m., hosting Eastern Washington.
