The Sacramento State women’s basketball team exploded on offense beating UC Santa Cruz in an exhibition game Sunday at The Nest.

Senior guard Allie Moreno had 21 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists to lead the Hornets in the 119-71 win. Junior point guard Fantasia Hilliard dished out 12 assists and redshirt freshman Margaret Huntington grabbed 19 rebounds.

Moreno said she was excited to get back out on the court with her teammates. 

“We have been waiting for this since last season ended, but we were really excited to get back out there,” she said. “We got our jitters out after a while and started playing the way we were taught.”

The Hornets struggled to score the ball in the first half, shooting just 28.6% (16-56) from the floor, including 20.8% (5-24) from three point range. Despite the low percentages, the home team found themselves up 51-34 at halftime.  

Head coach Bunky Harkleroad was not pleased with his team’s first half performance, citing poor passing as a reason for the early issues.

“We started dribbling the ball around and doing crazy things and throwing the ball to people in spots we don’t practice catching at,” Harkleroad said. “We were messy at first and that’s why we were not playing well. It was a good lesson for us.”

The Hornet offense was more efficient in the second half as it scored 68 points while limiting the Banana Slugs to just 37.

Sac State shot 47.3% from the field, and 50% from three-point range in the final half of play.

By the end of the game, the Hornets would end up with 111 shot attempts, making 42 of them (37.8%). They attempted a total of 46 three point shots, converting on 16 (34.8%).

Freshman guard Gigi Hascheff contributed off the bench scoring 14 points on 5-7 shooting in only 17 minutes of play.

“It felt good going in and having our first game,” Hascheff said. “You don’t really know what to expect as a freshman, but as soon as you get your jitters out things start to fall into place.”

The season officially tips off Friday when the Hornets play host to Cal State Northridge.