POCATELLO, Idaho -- Junior Tyeisha Brown tallied a team-high 11 points but the Hornets could not overcome a second-half run by the Bengals as the Sacramento State women’s basketball team fell to Idaho State, 78-48, in a Big Sky Conference game Saturday afternoon at Reed Gym.The Hornets dropped to 1-23 overall and 1-10 in the Big Sky while the Bengals improved to 17-6, 9-2.
Brown, who finished 5-of-12 from the floor, led the Hornets in scoring for the seventh time while also recording her 10th double-digit scoring effort of the season. Brown has now scored in double figures twice against two teams in the Big Sky (Idaho State, Weber State). The native of Vallejo, Calif., currently leads the squad with 204 points (8.5 ppg) and 48 steals.
Junior Alyson Thurman and freshman Stephanie Cherry also added eight points each to lead the Hornet bench scoring. Senior Diane Peterson added a team-high assists while sophomore Katelyn Ciampi led the Hornets with three blocked shots. Ciampi, junior Samania Black and sophomore Megan Moon also tallied two steals each.
Heidi Gifford led Idaho State with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor and a 5-of-6 effort from the free-throw line. Lindy Whitley also added 15 points while Laraine Barron grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.
As a team, the Hornets finished 18-of-65 (.277) from the floor compared to Idaho State’s 29-for-70 (.414) performance. The Bengals outrebounded the Hornets by a margin of 49-to-42. Idaho State also converted 11-of-17 (.647) free throws compared to Sacramento State’s 10-of-15 (.667) effort.
In the first half, Sacramento State took an early 3-0 lead on a three pointer by Brown but the Bengals answered with a 13-0 run to make it 13-3 at the 14:56 mark. ISU increased its lead to 25-8 (7:05) before Sacramento State outscored the Bengals 17-9 to cut the deficit to 34-25 at halftime.
In the second half, ISU outscored Sacramento State, 15-2, in the first five minutes of the period to take a 49-27 lead at the 15:33 mark. The Bengals increased their lead to a game-high 31 after a 14-5 run made it 63-32 with 8:43 remaining. The Hornets would get not closer than 28 points for the remainder of the game.
Sacramento State will complete its 2003-04 home schedule next week as the Hornets host Montana on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7:05 p.m. at the Hornets Nest. The squad will host Senior Night against Montana State on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 7:05 p.m.
--30--
