Junior Tyeisha Brown finished with a team-high 11 points but the Hornets could not overcome a late run by the Highlanders as the Sacramento State women’s basketball team fell to UC Riverside, 58-50, Tuesday evening at the Student Rec Center.Sacramento State is now 0-11 on the year while UC Riverside improved to 1-8.
Brown, a native of Vallejo, Calif., was the only Hornet to score in double figures after going 5-for-12 from the field. She also finished with a team-high tying three steals before fouling out with 28 seconds remaining in the contest. It marked the third time this season that the junior transfer has led the Hornets in scoring this season. Junior Samania Black and senior Sydney Gatson also added three steals each to help the Hornet defense. Brown and Black entered the contest eighth and tenth, respectively, in the Big Sky Conference in steals per game. Juniors Kristine Knowlton (contest-high four blocks) and Alyson Thurman (six rebounds) also contributed for the Hornets.
LaKeima Stephens led the Highlanders with a game-high 16 points after going 7-of-15 from the field and 2-of-5 from the free-throw line and also added a game-high 17 rebounds. Jodi Reber (10) also cracked the century mark in scoring to help contribute to the squad.
In the first half, UC Riverside left the floor with a 21-16 lead after Stephens tallied eight points and 13 rebounds. Both squads shot poorly with the Hornets shooting 20.0 percent (7-of-35) while the Highlanders made only 24.2 percent (8-for-33) of their attempts.
In the second half, Sacramento State trailed by as many as eight (28-20) at the 17:48 mark before tying the contest at 39-39 with 9:33 remaining. The Hornets captured their first lead at the 8:16 mark after a free throw by Black before the lead exchanged hands six times in the next four minutes and 41 seconds. UCR recaptured the lead for good (47-46) at the 3:35 mark before using an 11-4 run to seal the contest.
Overall, Sacramento State went 20-for-68 (.294) from the floor while UC Riverside ended the contest shooting 19-for-54 (.352). The Hornets also finished 8-for-12 (.667) from the free-throw line compared to the Highlanders’ 19-for-27 (.704) effort.
Sacramento State will next host Saint Mary’s on Monday, Jan. 5, at 7:05 p.m. in the Hornets Nest. The Hornets will complete their non-conference schedule against Texas-Pan American on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at 7:05 p.m. in the Hornets Nest.
