The fans that were hoping to witness the Sacramento State women?s basketball team?s first victory, against two teams with losing records, will have to wait another week after the team suffered two double-digit defeats this past weekend at Hornet Gym.

The Hornets struggled in the first half of both games, creating deficits that would end up being insurmountable. The team?s poor first-half play left it with a 67-45 loss to the Portland State Vikings on Friday, and a 78-59 loss to the Eastern Washington Eagles on Saturday.

The Vikings (3-4 Big Sky Conference, 9-11) came into the game looking for their first road win of the season. The Vikings had previously struggled on the road losing, by an average of 19 points.

Turnovers and missed shots by the Hornets (0-20, 0-7) allowed the Vikings to jump out to an early 18-0 lead. Guard Lori Kerswell was able to break the Hornets? seven-minute scoring drought with a layup.

“We came out flat and on our heels and they came at us,” head coach Carolyn Jenkins said. “We didn?t have the fire we needed.”

The poor shooting continued for the Hornets until halftime, leaving the Vikings with a 30-9 lead. It was the Hornets? lowest point total for a half during the season.

All of the Hornets? points came from four layups and one free throw. The team finished the half shooting only 18 percent from the floor, missing all of its first half jump shots.

In the second half, Sac State looked like a completely different team. The Hornets, led by forward Samantha Miller and guard Sydney Gatson, were able to match each score of the Vikings in the second half.

“We came out really slow and not ready to play,” Gatson said. “We stepped it up in the second half but it was too little, too late.”

Unfortunately, the 21-point first half deficit was too great for the Hornets to overcome despite the fact that they were only outscored 37-36 in the second half.

A major reason for the improvement was that the Hornets had 19 turnovers in the first half compared to only seven in the second.Miller led the team with 14 points, all of them coming in the second half.

The Hornets played the first half against Eastern Washington (7-14, 3-5) similar to the one on Friday. Hornet turnovers and missed shots allowed the Eagles to go on a 17-6 run to finish the first half and lead 34-18.

Once again the Hornets were able to rebound from their first half woes. Led by forward Danielle Iceman, the team was able to cut the lead to 16 with less than 15 minutes remaining in the game, 46-30.

The Eagles finished the game shooting 31-of-59 from the floor. The team shot over 50 percent from the floor in both halves and had three players score in double figures.

“If it wasn?t outside for them it was inside,” Jenkins said. “We didn?t get the job done on the defensive end to stop them.”

Iceman finished the game as the Hornets? leading scorer 23 points, 19 coming in the second half. The Hornets saw a major improvement in the second half improving their shooting percentage by 26 percent.

Jenkins noted that a major reason for her team?s improvement was its shot selection and passing.

Next on the Hornets schedule will be a two-game road trip against the Weber State Wildcats and the Idaho State Bengals. There they will be looking to break the program?s 30-game losing streak.