The 27-game marathon called a regular season in women’s basketball ended for Sacramento State on Saturday giving way to the teams’ first Big Sky Conference Tournament appearance in eight years.

The Hornets had not qualified for the tournament since their first season in the Big Sky 1996-97 when they lost in the first round to Montana State. This year, however, Sac State will take on Northern Arizona in the first round, an opponent that has already defeated the Hornets twice this season.

“We played Northern Arizona tough twice. We got beat by 10 here and less than that at their place,” Hornet coach Dan Muscatell said. “It’s a good match-up for us, a tough match, but we’re in the tournament now and it has never been done before here in terms of playing your way into a tournament.

“From right now every team is 0-0, let’s go for it.”

Coming off a record of 1-26 last season the Hornets went 4-10 in the Big Sky with an overall record of 8-19 this season. Just three years ago the Sac State women did not win a single game, going 0-27. This season also marked the team’s first home victory over a Division I opponent in over two years.

Senior guard Tyeisha Brown led the team in scoring, averaging 10.3 points per game.

Unfortunately for the Hornets, Brown injured her knee in a game against Montana State late last month and will not be playing in the tournament. She also leads the team in steals with a total of 59 for the season.

Senior Kristine Knowlton, Sac State’s second all-time leader in blocks, finished the season averaging 0.7 blocks per game.

Sophomore guard Kim Sheehy is the second-leading scorer on the team averaging 8.8 points per game followed closely by junior guard Cindy Alldrin’s 8.3.

With only one win in their last seven games, the Hornets squeaked by Montana State for the sixth and final seed.

“Our focus has always been on getting into the tournament, but we try and take every game one at a time and try to forget about our losses,” said junior forward Lindsey Heard, who hit three second-half threes in a comeback win over Eastern Washington on Saturday’s regular season finale.

Heard was a Kodak All-American at Umpqua Community College last season before transferring to Sac State. This season she averaged 6.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per game coming off the bench.

Sophomore guard Stephanie Cherry finished up the season with the second most steals on the Hornets with 48 after Brown’s 59.

Big Sky Tournament team capsules

No. 6 Sacramento State (8-19, 4-10 Big Sky):

The Hornets come into the Big Sky tournament as the conference’s most improved team over last year. Of their four conference wins, two were over Eastern Washington — a top team in the conference all season. Sac State also nearly upset No. 1 seed Montana back on Feb. 17, losing to the Lady Griz by just three points, 57-54 at the Adams Center in Missoula, Mont.

No. 5 Idaho State (12-14, 7-7):

The Bengals are the Big Sky’s second highest scoring team, averaging 67.7 points per game and have the conference’s third leading scorer in forward Molly Hays who averages 14.6 points. Hays is also the Big Sky’s leading rebounder with 8.1 per game. Idaho State knocked off fourth seed Eastern Washington Feb. 19 in Pocatello, Idaho, and have a rematch with the Eagles Thursday night immediately following the Sac State-Northern Arizona quarterfinal in Missoula, Mont.

No. 4 Eastern Washington (16-11, 8-6):

Losers of five of their last seven games, Eastern Washington enters the tournament on the heels of a double overtime win over Northern Arizona last Thursday and a loss to the Hornets to end the regular season on Saturday. Eastern entered last week as the No. 3 team in the conference only to fall to fourth with the loss in Sacramento.

No. 3 Northern Arizona (18-9, 9-5):

The only team in the Big Sky to hand league-leading Montana a loss, the Lumberjacks are led by Alyssa Wahl’s 14.9 points per game. Northern Arizona beat Sac State twice this year — 55-49 on Jan. 29 in Flagstaff, Ariz., and 60-50 on Feb. 26 in the Hornets Nest — and play the Hornets in the first semifinal Thursday at 4:35 p.m.

No. 2 Weber State (20-7, 11-3):

Coming into last weekend the Wildcats had a shot at hosting the tournament but fell to Montana 77-70 in Missoula on Saturday night. Forward Julie Gjertsen ranks second in the conference in both scoring (16.2 points per game) and rebounding (7.1 per game). The Wildcats face the highest remaining seed Friday night in the first semifinal.

No. 1 Montana (20-7, 13-1):

The Lady Griz made the NCAA tournament last year and appear poised for at least a return appearance. With a player in the top seven in every statistical category, Montana is the most balanced and most polished team in the Big Sky. The Lady Griz are led by 6-foot-3 center Hollie Tyler and will play the lowest remaining seed in the second semifinal on Friday night.

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Armando Botello II can be reached at [email protected]