Tyeisha Brown poured in 20 points but it was Montana’s Katie Edwards who had one of the best performances in Big Sky history as her conference-leading Grizzlies beat the Hornets 70-46 Saturday afternoon at the Hornets Nest.

Edwards hit a Big Sky record-tying nine 3-pointers, including eight-of-nine in the first half, en route to a career-high 27 points.

“It’s a big honor, ” Edwards said. “Things were going well today, we were finding the open man and once I got going it felt good.”

Edwards hit her third trey with 13:58 remaining in the first half to make the score 26-4 and cap a run in which the Grizzlies (10-6, 3-0 Big Sky) scored on their first 10 possessions.

“We missed some rotations in our zone early (enabling Edwards open looks) and from there I guess she got comfortable with the size of the rim,” Sacramento State coach Dan Muscatell said. “Her shots got progressively harder as the half went on, but that’s what happens when you let a shooter get hot.

“I don’t know how many teams are going to shoot the ball that well all year.”

Montana shot 56 percent from the field including 83.3 percent from behind the arc in the first half and led 47-27 at halftime. The Hornets (5-11, 1-3) shot the ball above average themselves in the first half, managing to connect on 37 percent of their field goal attempts and 40 percent of their 3-point attempts.

Brown hit her first 3-pointer of the game with 4:54 remaining in the first half to cut the lead, which was 25 at one point, to 14 points at 36-22 as the Hornets made a run on the Big Sky’s defending champions. It was all for naught though as the Grizzlies regrouped and pushed the lead back to 20 at the half.

Montana opened the second half on an 11-0 run to take a 58-27 lead and from there they never looked back. Edwards connected on her third 3-point attempt during the run to tie the record she now shares with Sac State’s Michelle St. Clair (2001) and Idaho State’s Lindy Whitley (2003)

“(Montana) is at the top of the conference, that’s where we want to be,” Muscatell said. “We learned today that we have to be ready every single (game).”

“We might lose, but we’ll never be defeated,” Brown said. “You can’t let a big loss like this make you think you can’t win.”

Notes: Montana won its 17th consecutive Big Sky game, a streak which dates back to last season…Three Hornets comprising Lindsey Heard, Ashley Cadotte and Katelyn Ciampi had five rebounds in the game…Brown tied for the most minutes logged by any player with Cadotte, they each played 28 minutes.