SACRAMENTO, Calif. - In a game that saw 18 lead changes, with 13 in the second half alone, Eastern Washington took the lead on a put-back layup with 17 seconds left and forced the Hornets into a missed shot and a turnover to escape with an 80-79 win on Thursday night in The Nest.

Neither team led by more than three points over the final six minutes of the game. After the Eagles took the 80-79 lead the Hornets had a 3-point attempt from sophomore Brianna Burgos blocked out of bounds but the home team kept possession. Eastern Washington's Melissa Williams came up with a steal after the ensuing inbounds pass and was fouled with three seconds left.

On the eighth Hornet team foul of the half Williams went to the line shooting 1-and-1, but neither team realized that it wasn't a two-shot foul and were not prepared for a potential rebound. Williams missed the first free throw and the ball sat on the floor for a few seconds before Sacramento State senior Takara Burse picked it up. Her desperation heave at the buzzer came up short and the Eagles had the win.

Sacramento State (10-13, 8-4 Big Sky) took its first home Big Sky loss of the year and just its second home loss overall this season. Eastern Washington (14-8, 7-4 Big Sky) earned some retribution after the Hornets beat the Eagles 73-67 in Cheney in January.

"You have to give Eastern Washington credit; they're a well coached team and down the stretch they made big plays and we made some big plays as well but weren't able to finish," Sacramento State head coach Bunky Harkleroad said. "I feel really bad for our team right now after the loss. Basketball is a crazy game and its February and this is the time when players have to make plays."

The Hornets had shot 46% from the field through their first four Big Sky home games but we held to 33% shooting on Thursday. Sacramento State had 25 offensive rebounds and forced 22 turnovers en route to attempting 31 more shots than the Eagles but made one fewer field goal. The team also totaled just 12 second-chance points despite the 25 offensive boards.

"We played hard and we did a great job on the offensive glass in the second half," Harkleroad said. "We didn't shoot it well but I'm not going to question our effort. Maybe a few decisions we would like to have over but Eastern Washington is a very good basketball team and coming down to the last couple minutes having a chance to win is all you can ask for."

Hornet senior point guard Fantasia Hilliard led the team with 18 points, eight assists, four rebounds, and a steal and hit a couple of personal milestones in the loss. Her eight assists moved her past former Northern Arizona guard Sade Cunningham into fourth place in Big Sky history with 642 career assists. She also moved into seventh in career scoring at Sacramento State, surpassing her former teammate Alle Moreno with 1,289 career points.

Sophomore Hallie Gennett hit three 3-pointers and had 14 points and five rebounds and junior Adella Randle-El posted 12 points. Sophomore forward Kyhonta Doughty had a big night with eight points, six rebounds, a block and a steal while shooting a perfect 3-of-3 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line and freshman Maranne Johnson chipped in nine points and a game-high five steals.

The Hornets led for most of the first half but never stretched their lead larger than seven points. A Randle-El layup put the home team up 30-23 with 5:52 left in the half but the Eagles ended the half on an 11-4 run to level the score at 34-34 at the intermission.

Sacramento State led by just two at 50-48 with 12:57 to play but used a quick 6-0 run over the next minute of play to take a game-high 56-48 advantage. The Hornets led by five points with less than six minutes to play but a 6-0 Eagle spurt put Eastern Washington ahead.

A 3-pointer from Gennett and a Johnson free throw put the Hornets back ahead by three with 2:13 to play, but after that the Hornets made just one of their last seven shot attempts. The one make, a Randle-El layup with 35 seconds left, gave the home team a one-point lead but the Eagles would win it on the put-back layup from junior Hayley Hodgins.

Three Eagles scored in double figures led by a 27 point, 10 rebound double-double from Hodgins, who nearly had an unfortunate triple-double as she also totaled nine turnovers while playing 39 minutes. Sophomore guard Jade Redmon totaled 16 points and nine rebounds and Delaney Hodgins had 14 points and five boards.

Eastern Washington outrebounded the Hornets by just two, 47-45, but had 10 blocks. Entering the game ranked fourth in the NCAA in free throw percentage, Eastern hit 16-of-20 from the line on Thursday while the Hornets were 8-of-10. Sacramento State made 11 three-pointers but did so in 48 attempts, shooting 22.9% from beyond the arc.

Still tied with North Dakota for second place in the Big Sky, the Hornets return to action at 2 p.m. Saturday hosting Big Sky newcomer Idaho in The Nest. The Vandals improved to 10-12 overall and 4-7 in the Big Sky with a 69-49 win at Portland State on Thursday.