Although still winless in the Big Sky Conference, the Sacramento State women’s basketball team (2-21 overall, 0-10 in Big Sky) is, despite widespread injuries, getting closer to winning their first Big Sky game in over two years.-

The Hornets lost both of their home games in Big Sky competition this week, falling 76-51 to Weber State University (17-6, 9-1) Thursday, and narrowly losing to Idaho State University (6-17, 2-9) Saturday, 70-67.-

The Hornets haven’t won a game in the Big Sky since blowing out Portland State University 75-56 in the 2000-01 season.-

In the game against the Bengals, the Hornets came out shooting, hitting 9-of-23 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc in the first half. Idaho State fell behind in every statistical category, with the exception of rebounds.-

“(A win) would have been big,” said Sydney Gatson, a point guard who was with the Hornets on their last victory in 2001. “We all knew it before the game, we felt it. We came out hard, we executed. We did everything possible to win the game, we just lost it at the last second.”-

Toward the end of the second half the Bengals led by seven points, but Hornet guard Diane Peterson converted on three clutch buckets from the free-throw line, after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt. Peterson finished with seven points and tied a program-record, dishing out 12 assists.

Sarah Craig came up huge in the final two minutes of play. After draining a turn-around jumper with 1:59 remaining, leaving the Hornets down three, Craig caught a bullet pass from Peterson. As two Bengals rushed to double-team her, Craig knocked down a 3-pointer, tying the game with 26 seconds to go.-

“You don’t think on shots like that. You don’t think anything,” said Craig, who finished with 13 points. “You just shoot the ball.”

-Hornet head coach Carolyn Jenkins knows Craig her go-to player is.

“I don’t think there was any doubt in anyone’s mind who we were going to,” Jenkins said. “It was a team effort that got those shots though.”-

On the other end of the floor, after a quick Idaho timeout, Merrilee Udy nailed a spot-up 3-pointer for the game’s final tally.-

Craig, undaunted, caught an inbounds pass and lobbed a one-handed half-court lob, that fell just short of the basket as the buzzer sounded.

Danielle Iceman led all Hornets with 16 points.-

In the game against Weber State, the Hornets were outperformed in all statistical categories, but handled the ball well, committing a season-low 11 turnovers.-

Freshman center Katelyn Ciampi returned from an injury that prevented her from playing in all but the first six games of the season, scoring 12 points and pulling down nine boards. Iceman scored a season-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while getting nine rebounds.-

The Hornets will play their next two games on the road against Montana and Montana State.

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