SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Senior guard Natalie Picton finished with a game-high 22 points to lead two other teammates in double figures and a huge second half helped the Sacramento State women's basketball team stay unbeaten on Monday night, pulling away for an 82-52 win over Cal State East Bay at Hornet Pavilion.
The Hornets moved to 3-0 on the year following a victory in their home opener, emerging victorious in their first three games to start a season for a second time under Head Coach Aaron Kallhoff. The 82 points were a season high, while the 30-point margin of victory was the largest since a 60-point triumph over Simpson University on Dec. 15, 2025.
All but two players finished in the scoring column for the Pioneers, but none ended the night in double digits as Cal State East Bay was playing its second exhibition against a Division I school this year heading into their regular season opener later this week.
Fresh off a season-high 17 points in the win at Nevada last Saturday, Picton finished the night with a season-high 22 points, hitting eight baskets overall on the night and adding a perfect 4-for-4 showing at the line. She chipped in a team-high five assists and four steals in 28 minutes, ended the game a plus-24.
Junior Koko Akridge posted her third-straight double-digit scoring performance as a Hornet to start the year, adding 18 points on 7-of-10 from the field — including a trio of three-pointers — while grabbing three rebounds, dishing out three assists, and swiping three steals.
Joining the backcourt duo in double figures was junior Achol Magot, who nearly finished with her first career double-double, adding 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds to go with a pair of blocks. Junior Jenessa Cotton grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go with four points, while senior Tali Fa'i swiped six steals to go with four points and two assists.
Sacramento State led wire-to-wire for the second consecutive game, but Cal State East Bay, which rallied for an overtime win against San Jose State in its first exhibition of the year, made a game of it for the first 20 minutes, staying within six points for the entire first quarter before a three-pointer with less than 10 seconds remaining in the period cut the Hornet lead to just three at 20-17.
It was a two-point game on a pair of occasions in the second quarter — the last with 6:13 remaining in the period — before Sacramento State began to stretch its legs. A three-point play by Jelena Savic made it a two-possession contest and Picton finished with eight points in the final four minutes to help the home team to an eight-point, 40-32, advantage at the break.
After trading points to start the third, a 7-0 burst put the Hornets up by 15 and a 14-2 run that started just two minutes later put the game away as Sacramento State led by 21 heading into the final quarter. Cal State East Bay never got closer than 18 points the rest of the way as the Hornets scored 13 of the final 14 points in the game en route to the win.
Overall, Sacramento State shot 46 percent from the field, including a blistering 77 percent (10-for-13) in the third quarter, to just 33 percent for the Pioneers, who were limited to just one field goal and four free throws in the final 10 minutes. The Hornets held a 40-38 advantage on the glass and turned 23 CSUEB turnovers into 44 points to the good.
Sacramento State makes its first-ever trip to the state of New York for a pair of games later this week, traveling to face Buffalo on Thursday (Nov. 12) at 3 p.m. PT, before taking on Niagara on Saturday (Nov. 14) at 10 a.m. PT in the first-ever meetings between the three schools.
