MISSOULA, Mont. – For just the third time in program history Sacramento State will play in the semifinal round of the Big Sky Women's Basketball Tournament after forcing 25 turnovers and hitting 17 free throws to top Montana State 78-62 in the first game of the league tournament.

The No. 2 seed for the tournament, Sacramento State (16-14) avenged a 91-64 loss earlier this year against seventh-seeded Montana State (15-15). The Hornets will play in the semifinal round at 10 a.m. PDT Friday against No. 3-seed Northern Colorado, which beat defending Big Sky champion North Dakota 72-64 in the second quarterfinal game on Wednesday.

On Wednesday Sacramento State led for more than 33 minutes and was up the entire second half, with the Bobcats never getting closer than a four-point deficit over the final 20 minutes. The Hornets shot just 30% but forced 25 turnovers with just seven of their own for a 31-5 edge in points off turnovers and had 25 offensive rebounds. The squad also got to the free throw line 20 times, making 17 including their first 16 tries from the charity stripe.

"I'm really proud of our team for a great effort; we played really hard-nosed basketball and did a good job getting some stops when we needed to," Sacramento State head coach Bunky Harkleroad said. "We played hard and we played unselfish and that's what you have to do to move on at this time. We have to rebound the ball on the offensive glass and we did a good job of that."

A 16-2 run over the last three minutes of the first half and the first minute of the second half was key as the Hornets ended the first period strong. There were six ties and six lead changes in the first period, and Montana State led 29-26, its biggest lead of the game, with 6:12 left in the half but the Hornets ended the period on a 9-2 spurt to lead 42-36 at the intermission.

Sacramento State came out blazing in the second half as well, hitting three shots in the first 1:04 to go ahead 49-36 and force a Bobcat timeout. Montana State answered with a 9-0 run of its own to get back within four and still was in a four-point deficit at 57-53 Hornets with 10 minutes to play.

After runs and dry spells by both teams it was the Hornets that pulled away, using a quick 10-0 spurt to take a 14-point lead with eight minutes left. Montana State never got its deficit back to single digits and, trailing by 10, was held scoreless over the last 4:08 of the game as the Hornets finished a 16-point win.

Sophomore Gretchen Harrigan, named the top reserve in the Big Sky on the all-conference team, had a team-high 19 points along with eight rebounds, shooting just 3-of-13 from the field but making three 3-pointers and going 10-for-10 at the free throw line. Freshman Maranne Johnson and sophomore Hallie Gennett each had 12 points and junior Adella Randle-El started 3-for-3 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points.

The leading rebounder for Sacramento State was sophomore Kyhonta Doughty, who grabbed nine boards and had three steals off the bench. All-Big Sky first team selection Fantasia Hilliard had eight points, seven assists, four rebounds and four steals. For the Bobcats Jasmine Hommes led the way with 22 points and 11 boards, shooting 10-of-17, and Jackie Elliott had 14 rebounds and eight points.

The teams finished even with 44 rebounds apiece with more than half of the Hornet boards on the offensive glass. Sacramento State sent Montana State to the free throw line just six times, and three of its missed shots came on the front end of a 1-and-1. The Hornets had a 15-1 edge in steals and nine of the 10 Hornets that played in the game scored points.

With 13 made 3-pointers in the game Sacramento State eclipsed its own NCAA record for made threes in a season, which it set at 373 last year. The Hornets have now hit 380 three balls this year and have also broken their own Div. I record with 1,192 3-point attempts this season.

Sacramento State and Northern Colorado split their two games during the regular season with each team winning on its home floor, but the game in Sacramento was decided by just five points and the UNC win in Greeley was by just two points. The Bears are red hot, having won nine consecutive games after their victory over North Dakota on Wednesday, and are led by co-Big Sky MVP D'Shara Strange.

Strange and Hilliard rank second and third, respectively, in Big Sky history in career steals. The Bears and Hornets have never before met in the Big Sky Tournament and Northern Colorado holds a slim 10-8 advantage in the all-time series.