SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento State women’s basketball team fell to the visiting Montana State Bobcats by a score of 72-59 at the Hornets Nest on Wed., Feb. 13.
With the loss, the Hornets fall to 6-17, 4-7 in Big Sky Conference play, while the Bobcats improve to 12-10, 7-3 in the Big Sky.
Sacramento State scored 11 of the games first 17 points, leading 11-6 with 16:07 remaining after a three-pointer by sophomore Charday Hunt (Oregon City, Ore.). With the score 15-11 in favor of the Hornets with 14:07 to play in the half, the Bobcats’ Erica Perry stole the ball and laid it in for two to start a 21-3 run over the next 8:33 of game time, taking their largest lead of the game at 32-18 with 5:34 left before halftime. Sacramento State was able to cut the deficit down to seven at 35-28 with 1:44 remaining in the half, but Perry would put in a driving layup and Jenny Heringer would connect on a midrange jumper, giving the Bobcats a 39-28 halftime advantage.
Tides would turn after intermission, as the Hornets erupted on a 14-6 run over the first 8:33 of the half to cut the Bobcat lead to three, capped off by a long range three-pointer by freshman Emily Christensen (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) with 12:27 remaining which made the score 45-42. The team would exchange baskets over the next 6:32. before Hunt scored on an acrobatic layup to cut the Bobcat lead down to two at 55-53 with 5:55 remaining.
The Hornets would pull no closer, as Montana State converted on 11-of-12 from the foul line over the final five minutes, taking home a 72-59 victory.
“I thought it was a game of spurts, and when we played well we made several good runs,” head coach Dan Muscatell remarked following the game. “Unfortunately, we also suffered through some scoring droughts, and had tough time shooting free throws, for what is normally a good free throw shooting team.”
Junior Atty Boyer (Sacramento, Calif.) paced the Hornets with her fourth straight double-double, scoring 20 points while collecting 10 rebounds. Freshman Sami Field-Polisso (Mountain View, Calif.) had 11 points and six assists, with just two turnovers in 38 minutes, while fellow freshman Jasmine Cannady (Sacramento, Calif.) scored eight points, making her first four shot attempts from the field. Sophomore Erika Edwards (Redmond, Wash.) added five points and a game-high 11 rebounds off the Hornet bench, as for the game, the Hornets outrebounded the Bobcats 38-35.
“We competed well inside, including rebounding on both ends of the floor,” Muscatell said. “We don’t have a lot of time to lick our wounds, we have to be ready to go in 21 hours when we tip it up again.”
Montana State was led by Mercer, who scored 20 points, while Heringer added 16 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out five assists in 34 minutes. Montana State was 27-of-62 from the field (43.5 percent), outshooting the Hornets (23-of-57, 40.4 percent), while turning the ball over six less times (23-17). After recording 17 turnovers in the first half, Sacramento State only turned the ball over six times in the second stanza.
The Hornets will be back in action tomorrow night, Feb. 14 as they host Montana at the Hornets Nest. The 7:05 tipoff will be the second straight “Think Pink” night at the Nest, as Hornets fans are encouraged to dress in pink, with pink breast cancer awareness ribbons being sold at the door. All proceeds from the ribbon sales will benefit Mercy Hospital, and donations of all sizes are welcome.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. 
