The Hornets are still in position to make the Big Sky Conference tournament, battling it out with Montana State for the sixth and final spot. Both teams have league records of 3-10 going into Saturday’s final regular season games. The Bobcats will host Idaho State, while the Hornets will host Eastern Washington at 2:05 p.m. in the Hornets Nest.

“It shouldn’t be too hard to forget this game,” head coach Dan Muscatell said following Thursday’s loss. “Portland State wanted its first Big Sky win more than we wanted to win our way into the tournament. Give their players credit.”

With both Sacramento State and Montana State sharing the same conference record and a head-to-head series record of 1-1, the tie-breaker falls to which team has the better series record against the highest ranked Big Sky team. The Hornets currently hold that tie-breaker, having defeated Eastern Washington (currently in fourth place) on Feb. 3.

In order for Montana State to move ahead of the Hornets in the standings, the Bobcats would have to defeat Idaho State and Sacramento State would have to lose to the Eagles on Saturday. Any other combination of finishes would send the Hornets to the tournament.

Sacramento State (7-19, 3-10) was led by sophomore guard Stephanie Cherry’s 13 points. Also in double figures was junior forward Katelyn Ciampi and junior guard Cindy Alldrin, who each scored 12 points apiece. Alldrin also added a game and career-high nine rebounds. Sophomore Kim Sheehy also added 10 points, while knocking down two three-pointers. She now has 50 three-pointers on the year , tying her for third all-time in program history for three-pointers in a single season.

The game came down to the wire with Ciampi converting two free-throws with 22 seconds left in the game, cutting Portland State’s (3-22, 1-12) lead to 58-57. The Hornets had two more possessions before the clock ran out, but missed both shots.

“We did things as good in the last minute of this game as we have done in any game that we have won this year,” Muscatell said. “We just didn’t finish. The bottom line is, not finishing plays ended up costing us the game.”

The Hornets were without leading scorer Tyeisha Brown, who continues to recover from a knee injury. The team got off to a solid start after a three-pointer from junior forward Lindsey Heard gave Sacramento State a 12-8 lead with 14:02 to go in the first half. The Hornets extended their lead to eight points, 21-13, with a layup from Ciampi with 6:11 remaining in the first half.

Portland State responded with an 18-4 run in the next five minutes of the game, led by Heather Arns and Delaney Conway, who combined for 12 points in that time frame. Arns finished the night with a game-high 23 points on 10-of-19 shooting. At halftime, Portland State had a 33-29 lead, but Sacramento State quickly came back in the second. A three-pointer from Sheehy tied the game and a layup from Cherry gave the Hornets a 39-37 lead with 17:08 remaining.

Both teams grew stagnant offensively in the next six minutes, combining for seven turnovers, until the Vikings took their third lead of the second half, 44-43 on a layup from Heidi Staurt with 11:57 remaining. The Hornets’ offense continued its struggles , missing seven jump shots and three free-throw until the 4:32 mark, when Alldrin sank two from the charity stripe to tie the game at 50-50. Her layup with 2:23 remaining gave Sacramento State a momentary lead of 55-54, but Portland State responded with layups on two of its next three possessions, creating a 58-55 lead that the Hornets could not overcome.

Portland State shot 44.2 percent from the floor, while Sacramento State was 38.5 percent from the field. Sacramento State also committed 20 turnovers, while creating just seven steals, three below its average. The Hornets did outrebound the Vikings, 37-34.