Sacramento State women’s basketball fell to a red-hot Montana State, who added to their 11-game winning streak with a 67-45 victory on Thursday.
The Hornets put up an impressive performance in the first half, holding Montana State, undefeated in the Big Sky Conference, to single digits in the first quarter. Sac State’s zone defense was effective at shutting down the paint, with the Bobcats only shooting 31% from the field.
Sac State opened the scoring in the first with a three from sharpshooting senior forward Katie Penueta. Redshirt junior guard Benthe Versteeg was able to get downhill against a press defense from the Bobcats, drawing in Montana State’s defense and creating open looks for her teammates.
In the second quarter, redshirt sophomore guard Madison Butcher heated up. She drilled a midrange two, dished a clean assist to a cutting senior guard Jaydia Martin, and hit a three from the elbow, narrowing the deficit to 7 for Sac State.
The Hornets were able to close out on Montana State’s shooters in the first, but struggled to maintain that level of defense in the second half. While the Bobcats started the game off cold, they managed to shoot over 66% from deep in the second half to bury the Hornets and strengthen their grip on the first seed in the Big Sky Conference.
Bobcats senior guard Esmeralda Morales, one of the Big Sky’s premier scoring guards, led both teams in scoring with an efficient 17 points and five assists.
“She’s a hooper,” Madison Butcher said. “She’s been in this league a long time and she knows what she’s doing. She’s a really good basketball player.”
Butcher led the charge for Sac State, scoring nine off the bench, alongside Versteeg added eight of her own as well as five assists.
Versteeg had a lot of responsibility as the main defender on Morales at the point of attack, as well as the lone facilitator for a Sac State offense that was missing several key pieces.
Sophomore guard Lina Falk and redshirt freshman guard Sofia Alonso did not play Thursday, and their presence as secondary ball-handlers were sorely missed against Montana State’s impressive defensive unit.
“They are trying to speed you up, and that’s why they’re pressing you,” Versteeg said of the swarming Bobcat defense. “It’s important to slow down when you get over half-court, like what we always say, play fast, but have a slow mind.”
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Montana State runs a trap-focused defense, doubling handlers aggressively. They kept the ball out of Versteeg and Martin’s hands, forcing the other players on the Hornets to beat them.
The Bobcats guarded baseline out-of-bounds plays with three players for nearly the whole game, pressing 94 feet away from the basket and constantly switching between handlers.
This relentless pressure made it difficult for Sac State to find a rhythm early and caused an avalanche of turnovers. The starting lineup combined for 21 turnovers, which Montana State turned into 29 points.
“Too many turnovers, and our rotations were different, without Falk,” Sac State head coach Aaron Kallhoff said. “We expected to have Alonso tonight, we have all these but we don’t have excuses. There’s not going to be any excuses. We’ve just got to constantly keep getting better, and that’s what we’ll work on”
In the first half, the Bobcats were ice cold, shooting only 4-of-19 despite having clean looks around the perimeter. In the second half, they flipped the script, hitting six of their nine threes down the stretch and outscoring Sac State 41-30.
In addition to their tenacity, Montana State’s length advantage was on full display, and the Hornets were pummelled on the offensive glass, 17-8. These boards turned into spray threes, despite Peneueta’s best efforts. She finished the night with nine rebounds, leading both teams.
The Hornets look to bounce back against the Montana Griz this Saturday at 2 p.m. at The Nest.