SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Junior Keanna Salave'a finished with a team-high 13 points and missed a double-double by a single rebound while senior Fatoumata Jaiteh grabbed a Sacramento State career-high 11 rebounds, but the Hornets could not find their way back from a 15-point first-half deficit, falling to Northern Arizona, 60-55, on Saturday afternoon at Hornet Pavilion.
Sacramento State suffered its fourth-consecutive defeat, falling to 11-15 overall and 5-8 in league play. Each of the Hornets' last four contests have been decided by eight points or fewer, coming out on the wrong end of the decisions by a combined 22 points.
Led by a game-high 17 points from Kayla Williams, the Lumberjacks improved to 10-17 overall and 6-8 in league play, moving ahead of Sacramento State by a half game in the standings. Leading scorer Naomi White, who entered the day ninth in the nation in scoring at 22.3 ppg, was limited to just 11 on 4-of-11 from the field.
Salave'a posted her seventh double-digit scoring game of the season, hitting 6-of-7 from the field while grabbing nine rebounds and blocking three shots in 18 minutes. The 13-point effort matched her season high set against Weber State back on Jan. 3.
Senior guard Benthe Versteeg reached double-digit points for the third straight game, adding 12 points, grabbing seven rebounds, and dishing out four assists. Jaiteh was two-points shy of a double-double of her own, adding eight points to her 11 rebounds while chipping in with three assists and swiping three steals. The 11 rebounds for Jaiteh trailed only the 14 boards she had against Eastern Washington while a member of the Northern Arizona roster on Jan. 21, 2023, for the most in her career.
A rough shooting quarter for both teams left the Lumberjacks in front by four after the first 10 minutes with NAU scoring seven of the final nine points in the period, then adding the first seven points of the second quarter — all from Williams — to go up by 11 just two minutes in.
Northern Arizona led by as many as 15 in the second at 24-9 with 4:21 to play before the Hornets found their stride. A three-pointer from Tali Fa'i keyed a 12-4 burst by Sacramento State that made it a seven-point game at the break.
The Lumberjacks kept the Hornets at arms length once the second half rolled around, scoring the first six points of the period, but the home team kept chipping away. Pinja Paananen found open space in the NAU zone for back-to-back jumpers before draining a three-pointer for a personal 7-0 run that clawed Sacramento State back to within six with 4:24 to play in the third.
The two teams traded baskets and NAU held a 12-point lead at the end of three and the Lumberjacks rebuilt that advantage back to 14 points with three minutes left the fourth. The Hornets weren't out of it just yet, beginning the long climb back with a three-point play by Salave'a and a three-pointer by Rubi Gray on back-to-back possessions and Versteeg made it a one-possession game with a triple of her own with less than 10 seconds to play, but Sacramento State could get no closer.
Catching fire in the fourth, the Hornets shot 64 percent in the final 10 minutes to help power the comeback attempt, but finished the day at just 37 percent overall. Northern Arizona, at the other end, hit on just under 40 percent from the field, limited to just 38 percent for the game after hitting 50 percent in the middle two quarters.
Sacramento State hits the road for two in the Pacific Northwest next weekend, traveling to Cheney, Wash., for an 11 a.m. tip-off against Eastern Washington on Thursday (Feb. 19), before taking on league-leading Idaho on Saturday (Feb. 21) at 2 p.m. PT.
