The Sacramento State women’s basketball team is heading to the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Missoula, Mont. Sac State (7-9), as the fifth seed, will play fourth-seeded Idaho State (7-9) at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Its seven conference victories this season is the most in school history. This will be Sac State’s third appearance in the Big Sky Conference Tournament since it joined the Conference in 1996.

Other teams’ misfortunes within the conference ended up being a boon for the Hornets. Sac State was helped by losses from Northern Arizona (6-10), Northern Colorado (5-11) and Eastern Washington (5-11), leaving Saturday’s game with the Bears a one-game playoff for one of the final spots in the Tournament.

On Saturday, Sac State was tied for fourth place in the Conference as it faced Northern Colorado. The Tournament picture was quite clear: If the Hornets won they were in, but if they lost the season was over.

Though the game was close in the first half, Sac State ended up controlling the second half. Led by Hunt, the team won handily 74-60.

Charday Hunt ended up with 16 points and eight rebounds. All 16 points came in the second half.

“The first half was just pretty slow for me, so I just really had to step up (in the second half),” Hunt said.

Erika Edwards had another double double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Emily Christensen had 13 points and five rebounds.

Sac State was a different team in the second half than it was in the first. They shot 17-of-20 from the field (85 percent), 7-of-9 (77.8 percent) from beyond the arc and its fast-paced offense outscored the Bears in fast break points 9-0.

“I thought we did a great job in the first half of playing tremendous defense. Offensively, it felt like we were really rushing for whatever the reason,” Muscatell said.

“In the second half, wow, we just really stepped up and took shots we passed on in the first half,” he said.

After a brutal road trip in which Head Coach Dan Muscatell’s team lost two of three games, Sac State came home to the friendly confines of the Hornet’s Nest. On Feb. 26 the Hornets took on the Bengals of Idaho State. Sac State was hoping to avenge an earlier loss it had this season in Pocatello, Idaho.

The Hornets came up just short as Idaho State left Sacramento with a 70-64 win in hand.

“(It) was a hard-fought battle,” Muscatell said. “(Idaho State) made big plays when they needed to be made, when the game was really on the line.”

Idaho State’s Oana Lacovit destroyed Sac State’s defense with 30 points, 22 of which came in the first half.

Christensen closed the gap with a 3-pointer to 50-49 with 11:07 left in the game.

This was the closest Sac State would come to earning the lead in the second half.

“We had some key turnovers, (we) had a key offensive possession and came up empty,” Muscatell said.

The Hornets’ final three possessions ended with turnovers.

“We did not stop them down the stretch,” Muscatell said.

Sac State’s bench tried to keep the Hornets in the game.

Freshman guard Nneka Payne provided a spark off the bench for Sac State with eight points.

“Our offense sets us up for easy shots. I always have an open shot. Our coach always says if you are open, shoot,” Payne said.

Christensen had a career-high with 20 points. “My teammates got me the ball,” Christensen said. “I just got really good position in the post and my shots were falling.”

The loss dropped the Hornets from fifth place in the Big Sky Conference to a seventh-place tie with Northern Arizona.

The Hornets bounced back in another tight game on Feb. 28 with Weber State in which Sac State came out victorious 59-53.

“It was another great battle,” Muscatell said. “We made the plays and made the stops when we had to have them. Some players stepped up and made big plays.”

With both teams wearing pink accessories in honor of breast cancer awareness and prevention, they came out of the gates quickly.

It was a game of streaks and momentum. The Wildcats began the game with an 8-0 run.

The Hornets fought back and brought its deficit down to 29-26 at halftime.

After another long run by Weber State, Sac State became a whole new team. It went on a 13-2 run to close out in victory.

“Jasmine Cannady had a layup as the shot clock expired. Charday Hunt got to the basket and finished one for the 3-point play,” Muscatell said.

Muscatell gave out kudos to everyone on the team.

“Erika Edwards and Emily Christensen offensively made plays during that stretch as well.”

Edwards had a double double, scoring 16 points with 10 rebounds.

“I just (went) into the game knowing my role on the team is to rebound. That’s what I do and if the scoring comes that is great,” Edwards said.

Hunt had another great game with 18 points.

“(I) was more aggressive which means driving to the basket more,” Hunt said.

Sac State played well in all facets of the game.

“Defensively, Tika Koshiyama-Diaz really stepped up in the last five minutes of the game and did a good job on (Tonya Schnibbe) and limited her ability to get to the rim, which really helped,” Muscatell said.

With the regular season over, the team must focus on its postseason.

Muscatell hopes Saturday’s win will give Sac State some momentum heading into the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

“We talked about this game being our Big Sky Tournament. This was the beginning and from this point forward it is survive and advance,” Muscatell said.

Now that they have made it to the Big Sky Conference Tournament the Hornets have dreams of making the NCAA Tournament.

“It is going to take three really hard fought victories. The bottom line is we got to take it one game at a time, get one win at a time and see where it takes us next weekend,” Muscatell said.

Andrew Hazard can be reached at [email protected]