SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Junior Alyson Thurman scored a season-high 12 points but a second half surge by the Vikings led Portland State to a 66-51 win over the Sacramento State women’s basketball team, Saturday evening at the Hornets Nest. Sacramento State is now 1-21 on the year and 1-8 in the Big Sky Conference while Portland State improved to 5-18, 2-7.
Thurman led the Hornets in scoring for the second-consecutive game after finishing 6-of-8 from the floor. The Carson City, Nev., native led the squad with 10 points against Eastern Washington on Feb. 12. Junior Tyeisha Brown tallied 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Junior Samania Black led the squad with seven rebounds while junior Kristine Knowlton registered a game-high three blocked shots.
Heidi Stuart led Portland State with a game-high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor (3-of-4 from behind the arc) and a 2-of-5 effort from the free-throw line. Tiffanie Ward (12), Sarah Hedgepeth (12) and Heather Arns (11) also cracked double figures in scoring for the Vikings. Hedgepeth also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
In the first half, Sacramento State led 5-0 and held Portland State scoreless for the first 4:22 of the game. The Hornets increased their lead to 22-12 after a transition lay up by Black at the 7:49 mark. The Vikings slowly cut into the deficit for the next 6:39 (a 13-2 run) until PSU took its first lead of the contest (25-24) with less than a minute remaining in the half. In the final seconds, Carrie Mitchell collected an offensive board and made the put back before the horn sounded to give the Vikings a 27-24 halftime advantage.
In the second half, the two teams exchanged buckets for the first five minutes until PSU used an 8-0 run to make it 42-28 at the 15:10 mark. The Hornets cut the deficit to 47-40 (10:09) after a 12-5 run but the Vikings gained control of the game with 16-4 run to make it 65-44 with 3:23 remaining.
As a team, the Hornets shot 21-for-49 (.429) from the field and 7-of-10 (.700) from the free-throw line. The last time Sacramento State surpassed 40.0 percent shooting from the floor was at Eastern Washington on Jan. 17. Portland State finished 24-of-56 (.429) including a 13-for-23 (565) mark from the charity stripe. Portland State also held a 38-31 rebounding advantage in the game. The Vikings also finished 5-of-11 (.455) from behind the arc compared to a 2-of-7 (.286) performance by the Hornets.
Sacramento State will next travel to the Dee Events Center to face Weber State on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 6:05 p.m. PST. The Hornets will complete the weekend at Idaho State on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 1 p.m. PST at Reed Gym.
