With two minutes remaining in the first half, Sacramento State found themselves with their backs against the wall facing conference heavyweights Montana State, who had uncorked a 17-5 run.
Sac State head coach Aaron Kallhoff called a 30-second timeout, hoping to get his team regrouped before the final few possessions of the half.
Senior forward Katie Peneueta responded to the call, drilling back-to-back threes out of the timeout. The second of the threes was a buzzer-beating bank shot that silenced the Montana State crowd as Sac State filed back into the visiting locker room down seven.
“I saw confidence in her,” senior forward Jaydia Martin said. “We’ve been playing together since we were eight. I know when she’s in the zone.”
Peneueta had 19 points and seven rebounds, the driving force behind Sac State’s elite 3-point shooting night.
KATI3 P3N3U3TA pic.twitter.com/bHsiFEBBS4
— Jack (@JackDannKF) March 1, 2025
As the buzzer sounded to open the third quarter, the Hornets unleashed a torrential downpour of scoring, a 17-2 run that lasted deep into the quarter.
Sac State’s defense looked fully engaged out of the break and forced five early turnovers that turned into scores on the other end. The starters, now featuring Martin after her two-game absence, showed impressive communication and cohesion on that end.
“We demanded stops,” Kallhoff said. “We played to our defensive principles, a lot of the stuff we constantly want to see out of them.”
Redshirt junior guard Benthe Versteeg laced several deep outlet passes over the Montana State defense, finding her teammates for easy looks in the paint.
The Bobcats wouldn’t go quietly though, and they orchestrated their own 14-5 run to re-take the lead by one with a minute left in the period. The Hornets drew two quick fouls to regain the lead and close the quarter up three.
The star guards, Versteeg and Montana State’s senior guard Esmeralda Morales, exchanged buckets before Martin drilled a 28-foot circus shot to extend the Hornets’ lead to four.
Martin’s three would be the last field goal before both teams settled down again defensively, holding each other scoreless for the next three minutes.
The battle between Morales and Versteeg could only be subsided for so long, as the two guards began to trade baskets again for the next two minutes. Sac State held their four-point lead tight, despite Montana State’s attempts to snatch it away.
Two Montana State free throws and another Morales 3-pointer with 4:28 to go tied the game. This was the final field goal for the Bobcats, who could not find openings in the ironclad Hornet defense.
From that point forward, it was all Versteeg. She took control down the stretch, scoring the Hornets’ final six points.
“If we’re up in the top half of the league, Versteeg would be the player of the year,” Kallhoff said.
Might be a really good time to turn on ESPN+#ExperienceElevated pic.twitter.com/SUdJ2FiQWy
— Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) March 1, 2025
She started with a miracle midrange that rattled in to extend the lead back to two. The Bobcats tied the game up again with a minute and a half to go, but Versteeg had an answer.
Versteeg crashed hard on a Martin miss, taking the ball to the perimeter. She immediately drew a double team at the perimeter but dove towards the baseline, outpacing the Bobcat defenders to the cup. With a soft touch, she flipped a layup over their outstretched arms to give the Hornets the lead again, with just 37 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, the Bobcats swung the ball around the perimeter, but one of their passes floated into Versteeg’s airspace, was swatted away careening off Morales’s fingertips and out of bounds.
The Bozeman crowd was stunned. This Bobcat team was not just undefeated in conference play, but they hadn’t lost a home game since March of last year.
A fumbled pass gave Montana State one chance to tie, but lockdown defense on a driving Morales by the Hornets forced a miss that iced the game.
Versteeg knocked down a pair of free throws to close the game, and the Hornets secured their first away win against Montana State in over twelve years, 73-69.
RELATED: Griz dig the long ball: Sac State can’t keep pace against Montana’s three point volleys
“I just go out and hoop,” said Versteeg. “Scoring, rebounding, getting assists – I do what I’m capable of.”
Over the last three games, Versteeg is averaging 15 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, a dazzling all-around display. She’s among the best playmakers in the nation, ranking in the top-10 for assists, assist percentage and assists per game.
After a rough second half of the season, this is a much-needed win and confidence booster going into Starch Madness next week.
“I feel good with my team anywhere,” Kallhoff said. “We’ve beat the number one seed, the number three seed and the number four seed this year.”
Sac State can avoid the 9/10 game of the playoffs with a win against Portland State on Monday at 6:30 p.m., the final game set to be played in The Nest.
