The Sacramento State women’s basketball team won their first road game of the season and snapped the first place Northern Arizona Lumberjacks’ eight-game win streak on Thursday in Flagstaff, Arizona.
The Hornets, who were just 1-18 two weeks ago, have won four of their last five games and pulled off their biggest win yet. A win so big that Sac State head coach Aaron Kallhoff jumped into a freezing cold pool to celebrate.
The Hornets scored a season-high of 82 points, with all five Sac State starters scoring in double digits and three of them recording a double-double.
“I really feel like our first five can play against any five in the league,” Kallhoff said.
The Lumberjacks jumped out to an early 11-9 lead, but a three-pointer by freshman forward Summah Hanson put the Hornets in the driver’s seat and they never looked back.
Redshirt sophomore guard Benthe Versteeg commanded the offense with 13 assists, only one shy of tying her career-high that she dished out on Saturday against Weber State. Versteeg assisted on four of Sac State’s 10 made field-goals, in the first quarter.
“Creating shots for myself and my teammates is the priority,” Vertseeg said. “Seeing their confidence makes me so happy.”
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The offense picked up right where it left off in the second quarter, with sophomore guard Irune Orio, hitting a tough fadeaway jump shot. Orio and Versteeg scored the first seven points of the quarter to spark a 10-2 Hornets run.
Sac State was on a roll in the second quarter and it was apparent after freshman guard Lina Falk threw a skip pass to senior forward Solape Amusan for a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
“My teammates did a good job of finding me,” Amusan said. “Whenever I felt the shot, I just let it go.”
The Hornets scored 52 first-half points which is the most anyone scored against Northern Arizona in the first half this season.
Not only was the offense working for Sac State, but they did an excellent job of limiting Northern Arizona sophomore forward Sophie Glancey to just nine points after she came into the game fresh off of back-to-back 30-point performances.
“That’s three games in a row that Summah Hanson has held the post player from the other team,” Kallhoff said. “For her being a freshman down there, she’s holding her own.”
The Lumberjacks needed a big second half to overcome the 22 point deficit. After exiting the locker room they went on a 14-4 run that fed off of Sac State turnovers to make it a 12-point game.
Junior guard Leia Beattie was giving Northern Arizona a scoring boost from beyond the arc all night, with six made three-pointers, with two coming during the 14-4 run.
The Hornets cleaned up their turnovers and ended the quarter with six straight points in the paint, giving them a 20-point lead heading into the final quarter.
Northern Arizona got in rhythm from deep and managed to cut the Sac State lead down to 11, before Falk responded with a three-pointer of her own that killed the Lumberjacks’ momentum.
Sac State followed that up by holding Northern Arizona to a two-minute scoring drought, which closed the game out and gave the Hornets a 16-point victory.
“Everyone just showed up and did their job,” Amusan said. “It was a good game for us.”
Sac State’s road trip will continue with a matchup against the Northern Colorado Bears in Greely, Colorado on Saturday.
