The Sacramento State women’s basketball team defeated the Weber State University Wildcats for their third-consecutive Big Sky Conference victory, 90-75, on Thursday night at the Hornets Nest.

The Hornets played without junior guard Jasmine Cannady, who tore her Achilles’ at practice Wednesday. The loss of Cannady shortened the number of guards for tonight’s game to two.

When asked about Cannady, head coach Jamie Craighead simply stated that, “Some kids had to step up tonight.”

They did exactly that.

The Hornets came out defensively strong the first half with 11 steals as the Wildcats fought to stay alive early in the game.

Senior forward Charday Hunt, who was awarded before the game for being the eighth person in school history to reach 1,000 points, led all scorers with 23 points.

After the game Hunt said, “I was shocked about receiving the award. I had no idea at all.”

The Hornets outscored the Wildcats 50-38 in the second half. Senior guard Ashley Garcia was not afraid to get banged up in the paint and go for the basket.

When asked about what adjustments were made to make up for Cannady’s absence, Garcia said the team had to make adjustments to make up for the loss of Cannady.

“We had to go a little harder and take hits tonight,” Garcia said. Garcia was fouled numerous times and made seven out of eight of her free throws.

Weber State turned the ball over 27 times and gave the Hornets 15 second-chance points.

The Hornets look for their fourth-consecutive Big Sky win, as they host Idaho State University on Saturday at 1:05 p.m.

JulesRamzy can be reached at [email protected]