SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Sacramento State outrebounded New Mexico State 54-41 with 23 offensive rebounds and shot a blistering 20-of-40 (50.0%) from the field in the second half to score a 93-85 win on Thursday in The Nest.

"Obviously we're excited and happy to get a win, especially at home," Sacramento State head coach Bunky Harkleroad said. "There's really been no letup in the schedule so we are just trying to look for any bright spot we can and move forward and get better. Our team did what it had to do to win; it wasn't pretty and we made some crazy decisions with the basketball, but our rebounding effort was better and we had some people step up and make shots and get timely rebounds."

Sacramento State (1-3) got in the win column before embarking on a five-game road trip that will include four consecutive games against Pac-12 opposition. The Hornets had season-highs in points, rebounds, and assists but committed a season-high 30 turnovers. New Mexico State (0-3) had an early seven-point lead but was done in by Sacramento State's efforts on the offensive glass as the Hornets outscored the Aggies 26-5 in second chance points.

The Hornets shot just 29.7% in the first half while New Mexico State shot 37.1% after both teams got off to very slow starts. Neither team reached double figures before more than eight minutes had been played. It was the Aggies that jumped ahead to an 11-4 lead at the 11:52 mark of the first half before a 9-0 Hornet run put the home team ahead.

Junior Ericka Magaña hit a long buzzer-beating 3-pointer to put the Hornets up 36-33 at halftime. Sacramento State led for the entire second half, opening up a game-high 14 point lead at 66-52 with 11 minutes to play. The Aggies did get their deficit down to five points with three minutes remaining but the Hornets made their free throws down the stretch to finish the win.

Senior Andrea Chenier, who played two seasons at New Mexico State before transfering to Sacramento State, paced her team offensively with 17 points with a trio of 3-point makes and had a team-high five steals. Junior Adella Randle-El scored a career-high 12 points and added seven rebounds while freshman Maranne Johnson had 10 points with eight boards. Senior Takara Burse chipped in eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Sacramento State's 3-point percentage was also its best of the season, connecting on 12-of-43 (27.9%) shots from beyond the arc with four players making multiple 3-point shots. The team shot 40.3% overall and held New Mexico State to 41.7% shooting in its best defensive performance of the year.

The Hornets did commit three more turnovers than the Aggies and were outscored 31-15 in points off turnovers. Sacramento State totaled 19 steals with three coming from senior Fantasia Hilliard, who moved to just three steals shy of the Sacramento State career program record.

New Mexico State had four scorers in double-figures led by Shanice Davis, who totaled game highs of 23 points and five assists but committed 11 turnovers for a less than appealing double-double. The Aggies ran with the Hornets for most of the night despite having just nine players see double-digit minutes.

The Hornets play eight of their next nine games on the road, facing Saint Mary's at 6 p.m. Monday before the Pac-12 gauntlet begins after Thanksgiving.