WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TO FACE EASTERN WASHINGTON IN FIRST ROUND OF BIG SKY TOURNAMENT

3/3/2012

Sacramento State will meet EWU in the first round of the Big Sky tournament.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - It came down to the final weekend of the regular season and a game the Hornets weren't even playing in, but when Portland State lost at Northern Colorado, 65-50, on Saturday afternoon, the Sacramento State women's basketball team jumped the Vikings in the standings and earned the No. 6 and final seed to the conference tournament next weekend.

The Hornets will play Eastern Washington in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament at 4 p.m. PT on Thursday in Pocatello, Idaho.

The Big Sky Women's Basketball Tournament, which is hosted by No. 1 seed Idaho State, features the quarterfinals on March 8, the semifinals on March 9 and the championship game on March 10.

The top two seeds (No. 1 Idaho State and No. 2 Northern Colorado) earned byes to the semifinals, while the No. 6 seed Sacramento State plays the No. 3 seed Eastern Washington and the No. 4 seed Montana State meets the No. 5 seed Montana in the quarterfinals.

The Hornets did not know their opponent until Montana lost at Northern Arizona on Saturday night, giving Eastern Washington the No. 3 seed.

Sacramento State won its final four regular season games to storm into the field. The last time the Hornets had a four-game conference winning streak was two seasons ago, when they also made the conference tournament.

Sacramento State went 10-6 in Big Sky games during the 2009-10 season and entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed but lost to No. 6 seed Montana State, 89-66, in the first round. This year the Hornets will look to pull a similar upset as the No. 6 seed.

BIG SKY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SEEDS
No. 1 Idaho State (Host)
No. 2 Northern Colorado
No. 3 Eastern Washington
No. 4 Montana State
No. 5 Montana
No. 6 Sacramento State
(Portland State, Northern Arizona and Weber State did not qualify)

BIG SKY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKET & SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals (Thurs., March 8)
No. 3 Eastern Washington vs. No. 6 Sacramento State - 4 p.m. PT
No. 4 Montana State vs. No. 5 Montana - 6:30 p.m. PT
Semifinals (Fri., March 9)
No. 2 Northern Colorado vs. highest remaining seed - 4 p.m. PT
No. 1 Idaho State vs. lowest remaining seed - 6:30 p.m. PT
Championship (Sat., March 10)
Semifinal winners - 4 p.m. PT (TV-Altitude 2)