As the seconds wound down in the third quarter of Sacramento State’s second round matchup against Northern Arizona, the rumblings of a tournament defining upset began.
In the final shot of the third period, senior forward Katie Peneueta drilled a deep three, sending shockwaves through the arena. The eighth-seeded Hornets were tied with the second-seed Lumberjacks, 46-46.
The Hornets were on the precipice of taking down one of the strongest mid major teams in the country, their strong defense stifling the high octane Lumberjack offense. Northern Arizona went into this game as far and away the best offense in the Big Sky, and a top 12 offense in the NCAA.
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At one point, Northern Arizona led by 14 points late in the second quarter after a basket from their star junior forward Sophie Glancey, who punished Sac State on the glass with her 15 rebounds.
Sac State responded with an 8-0 run to close the half. Back-to-back threes from sophomore guard Lina Falk and Peneueta and a layup from redshirt junior guard Benthe Versteeg cut the deficit to six as they headed into the locker room.
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“Coming off the last game, I felt like I needed to step up and score for my team,” Versteeg said. “I read what the defense gave me and they wanted to take my passing away, so I was trying to score.”
Versteeg finished the game with 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists. She tied her own program record for assists in a season, finishing the year with 208.
The Hornets clawed back inch by inch in the third quarter, leaning on their defense and holding the Lumberjacks to just free throws for the first nine minutes of the quarter, culminating in Peneueta’s three off of a forced miss to tie the game.
Despite the momentum built in the third, Northern Arizona’s offense sprung to life in the final period. Their staunch paint presence limited Sac State on the glass, out rebounding them 59 to 37 in total. This dominance on the boards is typical of the Lumberjacks, as they rank sixth in the NCAA for rebounds per game.
Peneueta opened the fourth quarter with a layup to take Sac State’s first lead of the game, but after that, they failed to score for the next five minutes. Without the ability to capitalize on second chance points, Sac State struggled and Northern Arizona re-built their lead to seven.
“We got the lead, we had a breakaway, and we fumbled,” Sac State head coach Aaron Kallhoff said. “It was the glass. Their rebounding kept them ahead.”
The Hornets got back into the game and traded baskets with the Lumberjacks for the rest of the game, but never managed to string together scores of their own to cut it to a one possession game. The Hornets couldn’t play spoiler, falling 69-65.
The Hornets got several excellent two-way performances from their starters, holding the Lumberjacks well below their season average of 80 points per game. Alongside Versteeg’s 24, senior forward Jaydia Martin scored 19 and junior forward Fatoumata Jaiteh and Peneuta had 10 points apiece.
While Sac State’s season ends here the program made significant strides in Kallhoff’s second season at the helm. Their 15-18 record was a 9-win improvement from last season’s dismal 6-25 and the second most wins in a Sac State season in the last 11 years.
“I’ve coached for 23 years,” Kallhoff said. “I’m forever grateful for this group. They showed up every day, with injuries, with COVID, whatever and worked.”
With only two seniors departing, Peneueta and Martin, this is a young Hornets squad that featured four freshmen and sophomores in major roles, as well as juniors Jaiteh and Versteeg returning.
