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Weber State guard Kendra Parra (3) drives against Sacramento State's Rubi Gray (11) on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

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Weber State forward Antoniette Emma-Nnopu (7) rises to shoot against Sacramento State's Benthe Versteeg on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

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Weber State's Taylor Smith (20) drives baseline past Sacramento State's Fatoumata Jaiteh (45) on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

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Weber State guard Kendra Parra, right, passes around a pressing Sacramento State on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

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OGDEN — Kendra Parra shot 40.3% from the 3-point line and averaged 18.3 points per game in her third year of college basketball at Division II Metro State-Denver.

In her second and final season at Weber State, Parra’s scoring average was just shy of 10 points per game entering Saturday and she’d twice reached game totals of 22 points as a Wildcat.

Finally, in her 124th college contest, the guard saw it all come together for a career night. Parra was sensational for 35 minutes of basketball, totaling her first career 30-point game as Weber State put away Sacramento State 68-52 at the Dee Events Center.

Parra shot 9 of 14 in the game. That included several crossing drives to the rim and a 4-of-5 mark from the 3-point line. She added five rebounds and six assists to lead the Wildcats (7-10) to a 4-3 record in the Big Sky.

“I just give credit to my teammates, especially Ant (Antoniette Emma-Nnopu),” Parra said. “She told me ‘keep shooting it, I’ll keep setting screens.’ So we were doing that and if it wasn’t open, someone else was open. … We did a really good job tonight as a team.”

Sacramento State (10-10, 3-4) could not figure out how to score in the first half. Though Weber State also struggled to find points, Emma-Nnopu scored three times in the paint to put WSU up 6-2 with 4:05 left in the first quarter.

Emma-Nnopu finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds; adding that to her 16-and-15 game Thursday, the junior forward has a strong case for Big Sky Player of the Week. Her night included six offensive rebounds, helping the Wildcats to a 15-2 advantage in second-chance points.

“Ant is a really good teammate,” Parra said. “She’ll talk on defense, she’ll get rebounds, she’ll do the extra dirty work to get us there.”

Freshman forward Mata Peaua scored two layups before Lanae Billy knocked down a 3-pointer to end the first quarter with WSU holding a 17-7 lead.

After Sac State had its deficit to 17-11, the Wildcats finished the second quarter on an 11-1 run when Rose Bubakar made a 3 (her only basket of the game) and Billy put in a pair of free throws to put Weber ahead 28-12 at halftime.

The Hornets managed a 5-of-17 mark on two-pointers and were 0 of 11 on 3s in the first half.

“Proud of our group. I thought they really sold out to the game plan. They stepped up. Sac State’s good … they’ve got a lot of great length, some great athleticism, but I think we’re executing really well and just trying to focus on what we can do to alter the game,” WSU head coach Jenteal Jackson said.

“We sold out to being in help and supporting off the kids we’re able to do that off … they’re really productive in the paint and I thought in the first half, we did a good job of nearly eliminating that part of their game.”

Sacramento State came out of the locker room intent to test WSU’s ballhandling and tendency to turn the ball over. While the Hornets did use a full-court press to create 14 second-half turnovers (and WSU lost the turnover battle 23-16), Weber State defended well enough to finish the game with a 15-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

Jackson credited players like Parra and Kennedy Eskelson for stepping into the point guard role due to injuries.

“There’s a big difference between that point guard spot and that two-guard spot,” Jackson said. “But they’re starting to really get comfortable there and roll with it, and I think we saw that progress tonight.”

Every time the visitors trimmed the deficit near single digits, the Wildcats answered and repeatedly pushed it back to 16 — all the way to the final margin as the teams played to a 40-40 draw in the second half.

One third-quarter push got the margin to 11; Parra made a 3 to make it 37-21. Another short rally ended when Emma-Nnopu converted a three-point play for a 46-29 lead late in the third.

In the fourth, Katie Peneueta made her second 3-pointer (Sac State finished just 4 of 20) as part of another short rally to close the margin to 11; Parra answered with a blowby drive and a 3-pointer to build the lead to 53-37.

Parra drew six fouls on the night, two of them coming on consecutive possessions. She added four to her 8-of-8 day at the foul line to make it 67-49 with 1:54 left and bring her scoring total to 30.

Billy finished with seven points. Sophomore Taylor Smith worked through an uncharacteristic off-night shooting (3 of 16) for six points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks. Dakota Nap pulled down five rebounds off the bench.

Benthe Versteeg played all 40 minutes for Sacramento State, leading her team with 11 points but totaling seven turnovers. Peneueta and Jaydia Martin scored nine points each, with Peneueta grabbing seven rebounds and Martin totaling seven assists.

Now at 4-3 in league play, the hopeful Wildcats find themselves in fourth place and hit the road for four straight games. That begins Thursday with a daunting contest against third-place Idaho (14-5, 6-2).

The Vandals hit 6-1 in league play before Northern Arizona ran them over 106-76 on Saturday. That put NAU at 7-1 and in second place. Montana State survived a tough rivalry game at Montana 67-66 to reach 18-2 overall and 8-0 in the Big Sky.