Sacramento State women’s basketball broke its five-game losing steak against Weber State, 83-68, with motivation and drive to make points against the Wildcats, who were behind Sac State for a majority of the game.

“It’s always good to win on the road and it felt good to get back in the win column. The kids played well enough to win the basketball game, so that’s what’s most important,” said Hornets coach Jamie Craighead.

The second half started with the Hornets leading 41-30, with Hornets’forward Kylie Kuhns making a fast break run followed by a layup by forward Emily Christensen assisted by guard Fantasia Hilliard.

Hornets guard Mallorie Franco scored on a fast break layup, bringing the score to 49-34.

The last few minutes of the game had the Wildcats scoring a series of free throws, layups and 3-pointers, but were unable to bridge the gap.

The Wildcats were not able to gain any momentum to catch up to the Hornets, who led by at least four points throughout the game and were able to score more efficiently. Sac State made 44.8 percent of its field goals against Weber State’s 34.8 field goal percentage.

Craighead attributed the win to the team stepping up and capitalizing on the Wildcats’ turnovers.

The leading scorer for the Hornets was sophomore guard Alle Moreno, who scored 26 points and broke a school record with eight 3-pointers made against a conference opponent. She also had four rebounds.

“Alle played extremely well and was definitely in the zone,” Craighead said. “I think she had been in a little of a shooter slump, but to see her come out of it, it came up big and our win resulted because of it.”

Another significant player for the Hornets was junior forward Kylie Kuhns, who was able to grab 15 rebounds and score 11 points against the Wildcats.

Hornets junior forward Mallorie Franco helped keep the lead with seven assists and eight points, while making two of two free throws.

Craighead said junior forward Natasha Torgerson played a big defensive role for the Hornets, providing stops and two blocks against the Wildcats.

She said the significant change for the Hornets was the team’s ability to play to its potential.

Looking forward, Craighead sees the next game against Northern Arizona as another chance to gain ground in the conference, but feels they are not playing up to their full potential, and hopes to come away with another win.

Northern Arizona will host the Hornets on Jan. 28.

Joe de Ocampo can be reached at [email protected].