The Sacramento State women’s basketball team is fighting for its life in the Big Sky Conference.

Dating back to Feb. 12, the Hornets were tied for fourth in the Big Sky Conference with Eastern Washington.

Four other teams were within one game of Sac State by the end of the night.

Parity within the conference has created a situation where seven teams are fighting for the final three spots in the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

Unfortunately for the Hornets, its road to the postseason got that much more difficult after the beginning of a brutal road trip did not go its way.

“It was a tough weekend for the Hornets,” Head Coach Dan Muscatell said, “(I) never really felt we played with the same flow offensively that we had been. We didn’t play with the grit and determination on the defensive end.”

Sacramento State traveled to Missoula, Mont., to take on the Lady Grizzlies of Montana University.

The Hornets kept the game close for the first 7:15 of the game. Montana ended up running away with it, winning 75-48.

“Montana came out and shot the ball very well,” Muscatell said. “We, on the other hand, did not shoot the ball as well as we had been.”

“It ended up being a tough night for us,” he said.

The lone bright spot for Sac State came near the end of the game.

Sophomore guard Sami Field-Polisso moved to sixth place on Sac State’s all-time three-pointers made list with 92.

Polisso was surprised to hear of her achievement.

“I actually did not know that,” Polisso said. “It is pretty exciting to be recognized for something like that. That is a tremendous honor and I am very pleased with that.”

Polisso understands that in a tight race like the Hornets are in accolades do not matter – wins do.

“That means a great deal to me but right now I am just trying to focus on each game,” she said.

The competition did not get any easier for the Hornets when they had to travel to Bozeman to take on Montana State.

Once again the Hornets hanged tough in the first half. The game was tied 34-34 at halftime.

The Bobcats eventually proved to be too much for Sacramento State as the team pulled away with a 78-63 victory.

“We actually played quite well. We just did not take care of the ball. We had 27 turnovers, 17 in the first half,” Muscatell said.

Senior Atty Boyer was a key contributor for Sac State with 14 points and six rebounds, but she felt that she did not do enough since her team still lost.

“I wasn’t necessarily happy with my performance,” Boyer said. “I did not play great. I played hard. I actually missed a lot of my free throws.”

Junior Charday Hunt led the Hornets in scoring along the two game span and shot 6-10 from beyond the 3-point line.

“Once you get in game-time situations the adrenalin (starts) pumping and you’re feeling good – once one drops your confidence goes up,” Hunt said.

Sophomore Emily Christensen added some depth off the bench with eight rebounds.

“I just always try to box out my player first and sometimes the ball comes my way,” Christensen said. “My goal is to not let my player get the rebound. Saturday was just one of those days the ball was coming my way.”

To make matters worse for Sacramento State, Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana State and Northern Colorado all gained ground on the Hornets in the standings.

Northern Arizona moved one game ahead of Sacramento State in the Big Sky Conference standings with its two victories on Feb. 12th and 14th.

Sac State was in need of snapping its three-game losing streak when they played at Northern Arizona Saturday.

“It is always a difficult challenge going to Flagstaff. It (means) playing at 7,000 ft elevation and that creates some challenges for you. You need the whole team to be there and be ready to play,” Muscatell said.

With its postseason hopes drifting away, the Hornets had one final push left in them.

“We made a really nice run to get (the score) to 51-46,” Muscatell said. “I felt the body language really changed during that time. We hit a couple big 3’s to get right back into the game.”

Sac State had possession of the ball with 29.5 seconds left in the second half with the score tied. “We played for the final shot knowing that if whether we scored or not we would win the game or go to overtime and play from there,” Muscatell said.

Hunt took the last shot of regulation for the Hornets but the basketball couldn’t find the hoop.

“In overtime we scored first. (We) had a five point lead with 1:30 to go (in overtime) and then we made a couple mistakes offensively,” Muscatell said.

Northern Arizona made a couple baskets to cut the Hornet lead to one. On the Lumberjacks’ final possession of the game they had three attempts at the basket but the Sacramento State defense held tough for the 83-80 victory.

“We probably played our best five minutes of the entire game during overtime, which is awesome,” Muscatell said.

With a 5-8 conference record Sacramento State is now tied for fifth place in the Big Sky Conference with Eastern Washington, Idaho State and Northern Arizona.

With its win and losses by Eastern Washington and Idaho State on Saturday, the Hornets are back in the postseason picture.

Its five conference victories are the most in school history.

All of a sudden, Sac State is now in control of its own destiny.

“Because it is so close, third place is only (three) games ahead of ninth place. We just have to take care of our own business on the floor and get some wins here in our last (three) games to have a chance at taking the tournament,” Muscatell said.

Coach Muscatell’s optimism is rubbing off on his players.

“The bottom of our conference is a big mess. We just have to stick together,” Boyer said.

“Everybody just has to give it their all and we have to make our shots and not turn the ball over. If we just believe in ourselves and put in the work we can get there no problem,” she said.

The Hornets understand there is still some basketball left to be played.

“We were in the same position last year. Our last four games were on the road and this year our last two games are at home. That gives us an advantage,” Christensen said.

Sac State is eager for a shot at the postseason.

“We had team goals before the season started and everyone had the goal of making the Big Sky Tournament, and this year it may be a reality for us,” Hunt said.

“The game on Thursday is huge. It has been like this all month,” Muscatell said.

Sacramento State (5-8) will try to keep its postseason hopes alive when they host the Idaho State Bengals (5-8) in a humongous game Thursday at 7:05 p.m.

“The old coaching cliché of ‘one game at a time,'” Muscatell reiterated, “is certainly how we have to approach (each game) right now.”

Andrew Hazard can be reached at [email protected]