Adella Randle-El gave all she could give on the basketball court Thursday night.

Unfortunately for her and the Sacramento State women’s basketball team, her best effort was not enough, as the Hornets lost to Montana 90-83 in Missoula, Montana.

Randle-El, a senior guard, had a career-high of 30 points (11-of-24 field goals; 6-of-8 free throws), and fellow senior forward Sydonia Daniels had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Sac State. The Hornets could not out-muscle Montana on the boards, with the Lady Grizzlies out-rebounding Sac State 57-37.

Sac State head coach Bunky Harkleroad was proud of Randle-El and Daniels, but acknowledged that they need assistance.

“Our seniors are playing really hard,” Harkleroad said. “[Randle-El] needs help. Syd [Daniels] went for 10 and 10. They see the sun is setting a little bit here.”

Sac State started off the game a little sluggish, going the first minute and a half without a point before a 3-pointer from Brianna Burgos put them on the scoreboard to cut Montana’s lead down to 4-3. Sac State would finish the first quarter down 27-25.

The second quarter, like most of the games this season, was when Sac State came to life. A Randle-El jumper 30 seconds into the quarter tied the game at 27, and a Burgos 3-pointer (her second of six in the game) gave the Hornets their first and only lead in the game at the 8:20 mark, 30-27.

Montana and Sac State would tussle back and forth for the next few minutes, with Montana taking back the lead for good with 6:08 left in the second quarter. A jumper from McCalle Feller gave Montana a 36-32 lead, and despite Randle-El scoring five points in the final minute of the half for Sac State, Montana would go into halftime with a 46-42 lead.

Once the third quarter started, Montana remembered why they were 21-0 all-time against Sac State in Missoula. The Lady Grizzlies outscored Sac State 25-15 in the third, taking advantage of the Hornets’ lack of height in the paint. Sac State was out-rebounded 7-4 in the third quarter alone.

Harkleroad was not excited about another third quarter collapse.

“It was another bad third quarter for us,” Harkleroad said. “Montana did a great job exploiting their height advantage around the rim.”

Sac State would start the fourth down 71-59, but they continued to give Montana everything they got. The Hornets scored the first five points of the quarter, outscoring Montana 13-9 in the first five minutes of the quarter. Montana, however, refused to let up, keeping Sac State off the ball the majority of the final minutes of the game, with a jumper from Mekayla Isaak sealing the deal with 12 seconds left.

Sac State finished the game only making 27-of-81 field goals, shooting 13-47 from the 3-point line. Montana’s top two scorers (Kayleigh Valley and McCalle Feller) combined for 49 points and 18 rebounds, while Alycia Sims finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds.

Sac State will take the day off on Friday, then take the floor against Montana State on Saturday, Feb. 6. The game starts at 1:05 p.m. and can be streamed online via watchbigsky.com.