HUNT AND CHRISTENSEN POST DOUBLE-DOUBLES AS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SECURES FIRST WIN AT SEATTLE

11/25/2009

SEATTLE - Senior Charday Hunt (Portland, Ore.) and junior Emily Christensen (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) each posted double-doubles, as the Sacramento State women's basketball came back from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat the Seattle Redhawks by a score of 80-68 on Wednesday, Nov. 25.

With the win, the Hornets improve to 1-3, while the Redhawks fall to 0-6 on the season.

After the score was tied 4-4 with 15:38 remaining in the first half, the Redhawks went on a 19-11 run over the next 8:28 to take a 23-15 advantage. The Hornets stormed back on a three-pointer by Christensen, which was followed immediately by a steal by senior Ashley Garcia (Antioch, Calif.) and another three-pointer by senior Erika Edwards (Redmond, Wash.), which pulled Sacramento State to within two points at 23-21 with 6:46 remaining in the half.

From there, Seattle went on another run, this time a 18-8 run over 5:36 to take a 41-29 lead with 1:10 remaining in the half. The Hornets sandwiched a pair of three-pointers, one by junior Tika Koshiyama-Diaz (San Jose, Calif.) and the fourth of the half by Christensen, around a pair of Seattle layups, including one with one second remaining by Maggie McCarthy that gave the Redhawks a 45-35 halftime lead.

In the first half, Seattle shot 17-of-34 (50.0 percent) from the field, with leading scorer Ashley Brown tallying 14 points, including four three-pointers of her own.

The Hornets chipped away at the lead, pulling to within three with 15:45 remaining on an Edwards three-pointer, and one at 58-57 with 10:44 remaining on a fast break layup by Christensen before finally taking the lead. Hunt knocked down a pair of free throws with 10:16 remaining in regulation to give the Hornets a 59-58 lead, their first since a 4-2 advantage with 4:08 into the first half of play.

Seattle retook the lead at 60-59 with 9:29 on a layup by Tatiana Heck, before Hunt knocked down a three-pointer with 7:46 remaining that would give the Hornets a 62-60 lead they would never again relinquish.

The Hornets iced the game and extended the lead at the foul line late, going 7-of-10 over the final two minutes to take home a 12 point victory, the first of the coaching career of Jamie Craighead.

Sacramento State held Seattle to just 8-of-30 shooting (26.7 percent) in the second half, which included just 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. The Redhawks also did not help their cause at the foul line, going 5-of-13 (38.5 percent) in the second half.

Hunt led all scorers with 22 points, and her 10 rebounds gave Hunt her first career double-double. Christensen tied her career-highs in both points (20) and rebounds (11), while also tying career-highs in made field goals (8) and made three-pointers (4). She also sealed the game with 2:12 remaining with a spinning baseline hook shot that went off the glass for her 19 and 20th points of the evening, giving the Hornets an eight point lead at 71-63.

Koshiyama-Diaz also added a career-high with 14 points, and tied her career-best effort in assists with six, turning the ball over just once.

"I knew from before the game that we needed Emily (Christensen) and Tika (Koshiyama-Diaz) to play well and they both really stepped up," coach Craighead said following the win. "I thought we had an o.k. first half, but I challenged my team at halftime to come out and play harder and they obviously did. They came back early, we had eight minutes to play and we held on. We really learned from the UNLV loss that we need to use the clock at the end, and it was a great performance in the second half by everyone."

The Redhawks were led by Brown, who finished with 17 points, but was just 1-of-8 from the field in the second half for three points. Cassidy Murillo (12) and McCarthy (10) rounded out Seattle's double figure scorers, with McCarthy and Brown each tallying nine rebounds to lead the club.

Sacramento State returns to action on Friday, Nov. 27 as they take on the Memphis Tigers in the opening game of the 2009 Husky Classic Tournament on the campus of the University of Washington. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:05 p.m., with the game being broadcast live on www.hornetsports.com.