SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State women's basketball backcourt duo of senior Benthe Versteeg and junior Natalie Picton teamed up to score 45 of the team's 75 points, adding a combined 17 rebounds and 11 assists on Thursday night, powering the host Hornets to a 75-57 victory over Montana.
In front of a crowd of 1,525 rowdy fans on Greek Night at Hornet Pavilion, Sacramento State improved to 13-16 overall and 7-9 in Big Sky Conference play, moving into the driver's seat for a top-six seed for next week's conference tournament in Boise, Idaho. The victory helped the Hornets sweep the regular season series from the Grizzlies for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign.
Led by 21 points and seven rebounds from Jocelyn Land, who led two other teammates in double figures, Montana fell to 7-20 overall and 4-12 in league play.
Picton led all scorers with 24 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists, hitting 8-of-14 from the field and 6-of-11 from three-point range. The six makes from distance tied her career high set earlier this year against UC Davis (Nov. 24) and matched Rubi Gray's six makes from beyond the arc against Northern Arizona on Jan. 15.
Her seven rebounds and five assists were both one off her season high totals.
Meanwhile, Versteeg finished with her third double-double of the year — all of the points-rebounds variety — adding 10 boards to her 21 points and six assists. She finished in double figures for the sixth consecutive game thanks to her second 20-point performance of the season, draining 10-of-18 from the field.
On a night where she was honored for becoming the 19th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points in a pregame celebration, Versteeg passed both Emily Christensen (2007-12) and Seleta Ellis (1979-83) to move into 12th place on the school's all-time scoring list. Her six assists also moved her into ninth on the Big Sky's career list with 577.
Together, Picton and Versteeg became the first Hornet teammates to finish with 20 points in the same game since Versteeg (21 points) and Jaydia Martin (23) did so at Eastern Washington on Jan. 11 of last season.
Joining the duo in double figures was sophomore Rubi Gray, who added 17 points on 5-of-11 from the field and a trio of three-pointers, while Fatoumata Jaiteh ended the night with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, seven rebounds, and a pair of steals.
All told, Sacramento State shot 48 percent for the game, including a 60 percent clip in the first half, while holding Montana to just 1-of-12 from the field and four points in the fourth quarter — the fewest allowed to an opponent in any quarter this season — as the Hornets pulled away.
Sacramento State led for all but 99 seconds on Thursday night, last trailing by three points at 8-5 with 6:39 to play in the opening quarter. Picton drained a three to spark a 16-2 run that made it an 11-point game with 1:34 to go in the period and the Hornets held that lead at the end of one.
The Grizzlies mounted a comeback in the second thanks to hitting 9-of-14 (.643), trimming what was a 12-point Sacramento State advantage into a one possession game at 36-33 with 2:28 to go thanks to a 12-3 burst. However, back-to-back three's by Picton and a basket inside by Versteeg stopped the bleeding, rebuilding the lead to 11 points en route to a 44-35 halftime advantage.
After the break, the Grizzlies closed to within six points with less than a minute to play in the third, but they would get no closer. The Hornets came out of the quarter break and opened the final period scoring seven of the first eight points to go up by 14 and they held Montana at arms length the rest of the way en route to the 18-point triumph.
Thursday night's 10 made three's marked the fifth time that Sacramento State has finished with double-digit makes from beyond the arc and were the most since the Hornets hit 10 against Northern Colorado on Feb. 12. Sacramento State also out-rebounded Montana, 42-25, including 14 of those on the offensive end that led to 20 second-chance points.
The Hornets play their final game in front of the home crowd on Saturday (Feb. 28) at 2 p.m., hosting second-place Montana State. The Bobcats posted a 66-63 win at Portland State on Thursday night and remain a game back of first-place Idaho in the Big Sky standings.
Prior to tip-off, fans are invited to come early and help Sacramento State celebrate its departing seniors at approximately 1:45 p.m.
