The Weber State women’s basketball team has faced a long line of losses in their 2020-21 season. The Wildcats walked into this past week with a 17-game losing streak before taking on the Sacramento State Hornets on Feb. 25 and 27 at the Dee Events Center.
Trailing the Hornets for the majority of the game, the Wildcats rallied together and brought in their first win of the season with a score of 79–73.
Sacramento State opened the contest by putting two up on the board in the first few minutes of the game. From there, the Wildcats played a game of catch-up with the Hornets in scoring.
Kori Pentzer led the squad in the first half with 4 of 6 from the field and 1 of 2 from the 3-point range, totaling nine points. Alongside valiant efforts from Pentzer, Jadyn Matthews put seven points on the board, and two players were tied with five points for the first half as lead scorers.
The largest lead was in the second quarter, where the Hornets pushed themselves past the Wildcats to a 16-point gap.
By the end of the first half, the Wildcats were trailing 31–43.
“We’ve been down before, that’s the thing,” Wildcats’ head coach Velaida Harris said. “We know we can fight back. It’s about digging in and fighting together.”
Sacramento State quietly entered the third quarter against WSU. The Wildcats were able to lock down their defense and started shooting, resulting in them outscoring the Hornets 26–11.
The Hornets were torn up by the claws of the ‘Cats not only in the third quarter, but in the fourth as well. WSU outscored Sacramento 22–19 in the fourth.
Daryn Hickok, the star of the game, did most of the heavy lifting and scored 20 points in the second half. This was 11 points more than any other Wildcat. She shot 9 of 13 from the field, made one of two attempted 3-pointers and went 6 for 6 at the free throw.
“We picked up our defense and the offense came with it,” said Hickok. “We were able to hit shots today, which was really big.”
Ashley Thoms had a technical foul in the second but came second in scoring. She was at 3 of 6 from the field, 2 of 5 for 3-pointers and six of six from the free throw.
Weber State outshot Sacramento State 43.3% to 35.3%, making 25 of 27 free throws.
The Wildcats rolled into their second game against the Hornets on Feb. 27, hopeful after their first win of the season.
Five players for WSU scored in double digits on Saturday to push the ‘Cats past the Hornets in a 75–69 overtime win.
Hickok led the squad with 25 points, going 9 of 16 from the field, two of three for 3-pointers and five for six free throws. Aloma Solovihad and Emma Torbert tied for second with 13 points each, and Pentzer and Dominique Williams tied for third with 12 points each. Williams led the Wildcats with eight rebounds.
The Wildcats will be on the road to close out regular-season play at Northern Colorado on March 3 and 5 before playing in the Big Sky Tournament in Boise, Idaho March 8-12.
WSU is currently on a two-game winning streak, 2–7 at home and 0–10 on the road.
