Sac State’s loss to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Monday prompted their leading scorer, Sarah Craig, to promise, “we’re going to break that losing streak really soon.”

The loss Monday perpetuated a 38-game losing streak for the Hornets, who lost 60-49 to the Mustangs.

“There’s pressure there to win, and a little bit of respect that needs to be gained back for our team,” Craig said. “That’s what we’re all about too.”

Sac State never led throughout the entire game, but remained within single digits during most of the first half and part of the second.

After an early Cal Poly scoring run in the first period, Sac State clung onto a single-digit deficit until a lay-up from Mustang guard Anetero Uiagalelei dropped the Hornets down 11.

Cal Poly pulled away from the Hornets after Michelle Henke made back-to-back 3-pointers, extending the lead to 15.

By halftime, Sac State trailed by 14 points.

In the opening seven minutes of the second half, the Hornets outscored the Mustangs 6-2. A steal by Craig, who had a game-high four steals, ignited back-to-back baskets when she passed to guard Diane Peterson who hit a jumper.

After a defensive stop on the other end of the court, Danielle Iceman scored to cut the Mustang lead to 14 points.

After Cal Poly missed a layup on the other end of the court, Hornet point guard Dolores Olivarez drained a two-pointer, closing the gap to 10 points.

With 14 minutes remaining, Danielle Iceman hit a close range basket, cutting Cal Poly’s lead to eight. The Hornets’ rally was cut short by a seven-point Mustang run.

In a flurry of baskets the Mustangs extended their lead to 15 points.With 11 minutes remaining, the Hornets retaliated with eight unanswered points, all off assists by Olivarez, cutting the lead to seven. Olivarez tallied a game-high five assists.

“We had to come out. We had to fight,” said Olivarez. “We had to come back. It was important that we pick up the intensity. I was trying to get a spark going for us offensively as well as defensively.”

The Hornets would get no closer than seven within the final minutes of the contest.

Craig led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting. She leads Sac State in scoring, averaging 19 points per game.

“I just want to do everything I can to help get us some respect, because I think we work really hard,” Craig said. “We’ve got a really dedicated coach and really dedicated players. I just want to help us get the respect we deserve.”

Turnovers proved to be one of the greatest factors in the game, with Sac State losing 28 balls in comparison to Cal Poly’s 25.

“We played two games on the road,” Hornet coach Carolyn Jenkins said. “We’ve got some young players out there.”

“Twenty-eight turnovers is quite a bit more than we’ve had all year in our games. Cal Poly had twenty-five so we definitely had plenty of opportunities. Down the stretch we didn’t execute as we should have. That’ll get better later in the season though.”

Shooting guard Michelle Henke led Cal Poly with 15 points, and was followed by point guard Heather Journey, who added eight points, seven rebounds and three steals.

The team played two preseason games in Hawaii before Thanksgiving, losing to the University of California, Los Angeles, 106-43, and the University of Hawaii, 79-53.

The Hornets will round out their three-game homestand against San Diego at 7 p.m. on Friday and Nevada at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

“San Diego is, unlike Cal Poly, a team that doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, so we’re going to have to play pretty close to flawless basketball to win. But I think if we can execute we can win,” Jenkins said.