The Weber State women’s basketball team came out on top last Saturday afternoon at the Dee Events Center against Sacramento State with a score of 77-66.
“They just believed,” head coach Bethann Ord said of the team’s efforts on the court. “They work their tails off, and great things happen.”
WSU won the tipoff to start the game, and senior Regina Okoye drained a three-pointer, putting Weber State on top and opening scoring for the Wildcats. Shortly after, Sacramento State matched that lead, and continued to shut WSU down. At the end of the first quarter, the Hornets led 30-18.
As the second quarter began, Weber put up 12 points in four minutes and held Sacramento State to zero. “Once we have adjusted, everything started to fall into place,” said junior Deeshrya Thomas. “We came in expecting them to shoot a lot and we just needed to get a feel for it.”
The Wildcats overcame the 15-point deficit against the Hornets. Weber maintained their lead, ending the second quarter of the game 42-34.
“Even though the first quarter, we didn’t come out of the gates fighting like we do defensively and not getting the stops, once we got into it in the second quarter, changing a little bit up, tightening some screws and sticking to the plan, we [went] on a 24-4 run, which was huge, and it’s because of our stops and attacking the basket,” said coach Ord.
The third quarter started off slow, and the close battle continued between the teams. Towards the end of the quarter, freshman Emily Drake kept the momentum rolling by putting up two three-pointers within minutes of each other. Weber headed into the fourth quarter with a 59-47 lead over Sacramento State.
WSU refused to let their lead slip. As it came down to the wire, Sacramento State continued to foul Weber State players, which was only to the benefit of the Wildcats. Within the last two minutes of the game, Dunbar and Quinn put up two free throws and Thomas put up six, adding to the WSU lead.
“We never give up and we always play our hardest. We don’t really pay attention to the score, because at the end of the day it’s who comes out on top in the end,” said Thomas.
At the final buzzer, Weber State had the win with a score of 77-66.
Thomas led the team with 21 points and five assists. “I was just focused as usual, and had to make sure I was playing with my team and trusting them,” said Thomas in a post-game interview. “We had a few mistakes,” said Thomas. “We just learned to clean up the little things and move on to the next game.”
Weber State also had three other players with double figures in the game. Okoye had 20 points, Quinn scored 17 points and Dunbar put up 11 points. Weber State also held Sacramento State to their second lowest scoring game of their season.
Weber State is now 4-1 in the Big Sky Conference and 12-4 in their overall season. Weber State takes on Idaho State at 2 p.m. on Jan. 23 at the Dee Events Center.
