“I wish I knew why we continue to win in overtime,” head coach Dan Muscatell said after his seventh career win. “But I know our players seem to focus well in OT. They execute better on both ends of the floor and they have better floor awareness.”

The Hornets improve to 6-13 overall and 2-4 in the Big sky Conference. The six wins are the most in program history since the 1999-2000 season and the two Big Sky wins are the most since the 1999-00 season as well. All six of Sacramento State’s wins have also come over Division I teams, marking the first time since the 1997-98 season the program defeated six Div. I teams in a year.

Sophomore guard Kim Sheehy led the Hornets with a career-high 21 points. With 11 seconds left in the game and four seconds remaining on the shotclock, Sheehy banked in a 25-foot three-pointer to give the Hornets their final lead of the game at 72-68. She also made a three-pointer with 1:09 left in overtime after shooting only 1-of-6 from behind the arc in regulation.

“She didn’t start the game shooting well,” Muscatell said. “But she maintained her confidence and was able to find seams in Eastern Washington’s zone defense and sink shots inside the arc.” Sheehy was 5-of-8 inside the three-point line during regulation.

Also scoring in double figures was senior guard Tyeisha Brown with 16 points and sophomore guard Stephanie Cherry with 14. Brown, a Vallejo, Calif., native got the start for only the second time this season and played 37 minutes, while dishing out four assists. Cherry, also in her second start of the year, sank her third three-pointer of the game just seconds into overtime to give the Hornets a 64-61 advantage.

“We did a nice job of sharing the ball and making the extra passes tonight,” Muscatell said. “Stephanie and Tyeisha are so effective at breaking down defenses off the dribble, so when they make the extra pass, that’s when we are at out best offensively.”

The Hornets scored first on a layup from Brown, and increased their lead to 18-4 with 10:52 left in the first half. During that opening stretch the team was paced by Brown and Sheehy, who had four points apiece. Eastern Washington struggled to score, making only one of its first eight shots.

“We are making people defend for good stretches,” Muscatell said of his team’s recent quick starts in the first half, taking early leads in its two most recent Big Sky games. “Our shot selection is improved and our attention to detail in our defensive game plan has really been sharp.”

The Eagles, who came into the game second in the Big Sky, are now 12-7 overall and 4-2 in conference.

Eastern Washington climbed back into the game on a 22-10 run to close the half, but it was quickly squashed by a Cherry three-pointer that gave the Hornets a 29-26 lead at the break. It was only the second time this season that Sacramento State has had a lead at halftime. The Eagles never had a lead in the first 20 minutes.

In the second half, the Hornets continued their lead, taking a 43-37 advantage with 12:49 to play on a layup from junior forward Ashley Cadotte. The Oregon City, ore., native pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.

With their six-point lead, the Hornets were outscored 11-0 in the next 5:00 as Eastern Washington mounted a 48-43 lead. It would increase to 53-47 with 7:37 remaining before Sacramento State began to slowly chip away.

The Hornets went on a 11-6 run in the next 5:00, to take their final lead in regulation, 60-59, with 2:30 remaining in the second half on a jumper from senior forward Kristine Knowlton.

Eastern Washington’s Felice Moore, who led all scorers with 22 points, sank a jumper with 1:53 remaining. A made free-throw from Sheehy evened the score at 61-61 with 1:39 left in regulation. Each team failed to connect on their final two possessions sending the game into overtime.

“It is a win we felt we earned,” Muscatell said. “We responded to every run. Eastern Washington is a very good basketball team and it was nice to see our kids play tough down the stretch and be rewarded in the end.”

Sacramento State also matched its season high in field goal percentage, shooting 46.7 percent (28-of-60) from the floor.

“Our forwards and centers did a great job of opening up shots for our guards with screens,” Muscatell said. Knowlton saw her most action of the season, playing 19 minutes, scoring a season-high six points on 3-of-4 shooting and blocking a season-high tying three shots. The Cornelius, Ore., native now has 148 career blocks.

The Hornets'' win ends a three-game losing streak and is the first time that Sacramento State has defeated Eastern Washington since 2000. It also the first win for the Hornets in Cheney, Wash. since 1999.

Sacramento State will finish its road trip at Portland State on Saturday at 2:05 p.m. The Vikings are 2-16 overall and 0-6 in the Big Sky.