Returning from halftime tied 32-32 with fourth-place Northern Colorado Bears, fifth-place Sacramento State  had their eyes set on the upset. 

Head coach Aaron Kallhoff had choice words for how the following quarter unfolded. 

“Absolutely atrocious,” Kallhoff said. “We’ve got to score baskets, easy baskets.” 

The game was a tale of two halves with the latter half seeing the Hornets crumbling under the will of the Bears, who clawed  to a 62-55 win over Sac State. 

The Bears gnawed at the Hornets’ defense with a 11-0 run to open the third before eventually being disrupted by a layup from sophomore forward Brooklyn Taylor, who ended the game with eight points and two blocks.

“As a team, I think we all have to lock in,” Taylor said. “We have to make sure that we know exactly what our game plan is.”

The Bears scored 24 points off turnovers compared to the Hornets 17, taking advantage of the Hornets’ lack of synergy on both sides of the ball. 

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Kallhoff spoke about meeting the Bears at the free throw line as a factor in the seven-point loss. 

“They got eight more free throws and they’re a physical team,” Kallhoff said. “If you play off balance you’re going to get to the free throw line.” 

Redshirt senior guard Benthe Versteeg said her team struggled to adapt when UNC switched from zone to man defense, which contributed to the shaky third quarter. 

“They were in zone for a really big part of the game and then they went into man,” Versteeg said. “I think that if we would’ve recognized that sooner, we could’ve exploited them and taken advantage of that.” 

Threes from freshman guard Jaety Mandaquit and junior guard Natalie Picton swayed the lead down to 10 points entering the fourth. 

The crowd reacted  to any drive the Hornets made, as Kallhoff remained calm and attentive, staring at his players on the hardwood. The Hornets came within five points midway through the fourth, with Versteeg utilizing screens by junior forward Keanna Salave’a underneath the rim for back-to-back scoring drives. 

Vertseeg made her presence known on the defensive side too by recording three blocks, a career high. Denying UNC’s attempt at a layup late in the fourth, Versteeg spiked the ball for a volleyball-esque play that sent her crossed-legged to the ground and thrilled with excitement. 

“It gives me so much energy and you want to keep that energy going, it makes us want to fight till the last second,” Versteeg said. 

The Bears dug too deep a hole for the Hornets to climb out of in the third despite outshooting the Bears 11-8 in the fourth, resulting in the 62-55 loss. 

On a fast break conjured by the Hornets, Picton flew into the padding below the hoop and  slammed against the fabric with a thud that threw a wave of silence over the crowd. 

Slow to get up, Picton hobbled to the free throw line and wiped away tears as she shot at the line and played the rest of the game, later being ruled out of their next game due to concussion protocol.

Though the loss is a tough pill to swallow, both Taylor and Versteeg are looking at the glass half full. 

“My biggest takeaway is to make sure that I bring my best everyday,” Taylor said. “Whether that’s somebody else’s 80%, I need to make sure it’s my 100% every single time.”

Versteeg shared the same dose of optimism, ready to move on to the next game. 

“I’m still very confident in my team and I think we’re very good even if the record doesn’t show that all the time,” Versteeg said. “We will fight through it.”

Two days later, the Hornets hosted Northern Arizona.

“We might see some [zone defense] again but we also have to take care of the basketball and then find opportunities to score second chance points,” Kallhoff said. 

On Saturday afternoon, Kallhoff’s prediction came to fruition. The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks held in a suffocating zone throughout the contest, holding a double-digit lead for the majority of the game. 

“I’m disappointed,” associate head coach De’Audra Brown said. “We had the opportunity to win and we didn’t get it done.” 

The Hornets were riding high as the second quarter came to a close, their separating 12 points in the second quarter had shrunk it down to seven. Salave’a, who contributed to shaving off the lead with put-back lays, said that she took advantage of her matchup to make it happen. 

“We’re a lot bigger in their zone,” Salave’a said. “Crashing the boards was most definitely a priority of mine.” 

Returning from the half, the Hornets went cold while the Lumberjacks hacked away at their defense. A once radiating Hornets offense grinded to a halt in the third, losing control of the ball on several possessions and giving the Lumberjacks another opportunity to score. 

In the final minute of the game, the Hornets conjured the makings of a comeback. Down nine, Gray sank her first three from the corner, pushing the game to 52-57. 

NAU went one for two at the line after being fouled, leading to Kallhoff calling a timeout to bring the ball closer. Versteeg inbounded the ball and found Mandaquit.  She ran up to catch it, quickly facing the rim, tossing it up as both the ball and the crowd’s hopes for a comeback hung in the air. 

Hearts skipped a beat as the ball dove through the nylon, bringing the game closer with under a minute left. 

Down 52-58, Versteeg knew time was of the essence and more needed to be done. Ball in hand and feet behind the arc, Versteeg’s hopes left her fingers and found the net for the second straight three. 

“We just knew we had to play like it was now or never,” Jaiteh said. “If we were gonna give ourselves a fighting chance, we had to make it happen, right now.” 

The Lumberjacks held control with under 10 seconds to go, going two for two at the line. Up five with three seconds to go, it was evident that NAU had won the race against time, 60-55. 

The Hornets face sixth-place Eastern Washington next on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 11 a.m. 

“This is just something to build on,” Jaiteh said.