MOSCOW, Idaho. — Senior guard Benthe Versteeg finished with a team-high 19 points while sophomore Rubi Gray added 13 more to help lead the Hornets, but host Idaho finished with four in double figures and shot 43 percent overall from the floor as the league-leading Vandals posted a 75-60 win over Sacramento State on Saturday afternoon in Moscow, Idaho.
The Hornets fell to 12-16 overall and 6-9 in the Big Sky Conference, while first-place Idaho won its 12th consecutive game in improving to 23-5 overall and 14-1 in league play.
Versteeg finished in double figures for the fifth consecutive game and the 10th time in her last 12 overall. She hit seven baskets from the field and narrowly missed her season high with three triples, adding three rebounds in 33 minutes.
Her 19 points were the most since she finished with 26 against Idaho at home back on Jan. 22 in the same game that she reached the 1,000 career point mark.
Gray finished with 13 points for the second straight game and the sixth time in her last seven, adding a 6-for-6 performance at the line and a pair of steals in 32 minutes.
Senior Fatoumata Jaiteh and junior Keanna Salave'a shared team-high honors with seven rebounds apiece, while Jaiteh swiped three steals on the defensive end.
A 9-0 run by the Vandals at the end of the first period turned what was a three-point game following a Versteeg lay-up into a 12-point advantage following the first 10 minutes. That burst turned into a 15-3 run at the start of the second with a three-pointer by Jaety Mandaquit briefly stopping the bleeding.
Sacramento State responded with a 7-0 run of its own to get the deficit back to single digits at 25-17 with 6:15 to play and the Hornets were within seven following a pair from the line by Gray, but that would be as close as the visiting side got. The Vandals closed the half on an 11-4 run — all four of Sacramento State's points by Gray — to lead, 37-23, at the break and they never looked back.
Back-to-back buckets by Jaiteh and Versteeg to start the third made it a 10-point game, but Idaho responded with a 10-0 run to go up 47-27 — its largest lead of the contest — two minutes later.
The Hornets were limited to just 32 percent from the field, but kept it close on the glass against one of the Big Sky's best rebounding squads, trailing by five (44-39) in that category.
Sacramento State returns home for the final time this season next week, hosting Montana on Thursday (Feb. 26) and Montana State (Feb. 28) as part of a three games in five days stretch for the second time this year.
The Hornets close the regular season on the road at Idaho State on Monday (March 2) before traveling to Boise, Idaho, for the Big Sky Tournament, which begins on March 7.
