With the Big Sky Conference tournament on the horizon, the Sacramento State Hornets defeated the Eastern Washington Eagles for their sixth win of conference play before a shaky outing in Idaho split their two-game road stretch.
Feb. 19: Sac State 69, Eastern Washington 60
Swelling with pride after his team’s first win since January, head coach Aaron Kallhoff recalled the game with positivity.
“I’m extremely proud of the group as a whole,” Kallhoff said.
The Hornets held the lead in a slow first quarter, the score stagnating at 8-6 for the majority of the opener.
Heading into the second quarter, sophomore guard Rubi Gray got the Hornets to double digits behind the arc, shooting 50% from three in the contest.
Kallhoff said, before the game, two guards were out against the Eagles. Junior guard Natalie Picton remained sidelined for the game, still under concussion protocol, while junior guard Tali Fa’i didn’t travel with the team due to a family emergency.
In their absence, redshirt senior guard Benthe Versteeg stepped up in all categories, tallying 16 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals.
She earned the game’s Iron Hornet belt, an award given to players embodying toughness on both ends of the court, which lined up with her birthday as well.
BIRTHDAY BELT ALERT! 🚨
Nothin’ sweeter than a birthday belt! 🎂 Our Iron Hornet of the Game goes to the birthday girl! 🥳 Benthe Versteeg!
16 PTS | 8 AST SEASON HIGH | 7 REB | 4 STL 🐝
#StingersUp pic.twitter.com/3XyB19W5CZ— Sac State WBB (@SacStateWBB) February 19, 2026
“It’s her birthday. She had a bunch of assists, rebounds and points,” Kallhoff said. “Pretty good all-around effort.”
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Along with the game’s Iron Hornet belt, Kallhoff handed out two new awards for the win: the “battery” and “X-factor” awards.
“We also have a battery award for the person who brought the extra effort, and that was [Keanna Salave’a],” Kallhoff said. “The X factor goes to [Jaety Mandaquit].”
Kallhoff said junior forward Keanna Salave’a earned the victory’s accolade for her rim running, being quick to get in the paint in transition, scoring 12 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
Redshirt freshman guard Jaety Mandaquit started in place of Picton, making her presence known with eight points and six rebounds.
Kallhoff noted her hustle as a core reason for being the game’s X factor.
“[Mandaquit] hit the three at the top of the key and got the steal on the next play down on the other end,” Kallhoff said.
The Hornets led in rebounds with 32 compared to the Eagles’ 26. While both teams tied with seven offensive boards, the Hornets cleaned up their ability to snag boards on defense, a hole multiple other teams have been exploiting.
Kallhoff spoke proudly of his team, soaking in the win.
“Today was a collaborative effort, and we were going to do it as one,” Kallhoff said. “We were going to let everybody do their best and things will take care of themselves. At the end of the day, that’s what happened.”
Feb. 21: Idaho 75, Sac State 60
Two days later, the Hornets rode a high wave into the Vandals’ territory, all for their hopes to come crashing down at an upset in a 75-60 defeat.
“I just wish we had a better first quarter, it would have really been interesting,” Kallhoff said.
The Hornets scored seven points in the first quarter, their seventh game where they haven’t reached double digits in the first period since starting conference play.
In those games, the Hornets lost six of seven, with the only win coming against Eastern Washington, who also scored less than 10 in the first quarter.
“We had open shots, and we had open looks,” Kallhoff said. “We got shot heavy and didn’t attack.”
The Hornets opened the game 0-5 on offense with the merciless Vandals continuing to score in the opening minutes.
Down 14 returning from halftime, the Hornets answered first with a layup by senior forward Fatoumata Jaiteh.
Both Versteeg and Gray reached double digits, scoring 19 and 13, respectively.
A floater by Versteeg brought the Hornets within 10, a moment Kallhoff recalls as fighting a battle in the overarching war of the matchup.
“We still battled,” Kallhoff said. “I wasn’t disappointed in our effort, just our execution and our ability to finish plays.”
Picton returned to the court after being in concussion protocol for the past two games.
“We have to get her back in the groove, but we’ll get there,” Kallhoff said. “We got work to do this week.”
Kallhoff looked toward the week ahead, saying that winning against the Montana Grizzlies on Thursday, Feb. 26 is key in staying out of the bottom four in the conference.
“The goal is to take care of business on Thursday,” Kallhoff said.
