STOCKTON, Calif. – Sacramento State led by four points at halftime and shot 44% in the second half to pull away from Pacific for an 87-79 win in a first round game in the 2015 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).

Sacramento State (17-15) picked up its first postseason win in its first postseason game in program history. The Hornets advance to the second round of the 64-team tournament and will host Eastern Washington at 7 p.m. Monday in The Nest. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday online at hornetsports.com and in the Sacramento State ticket office on campus.

Junior Adella Randle-El led the Hornets with 20 points with four 3-point makes and sophomore Gretchen Harrigan had 14 points and a team-high six rebounds. Sacramento State led by as many as 17 points in the second half and withstood a late charge by Pacific (21-10) in front of a bipartisan crowd in the Alex G. Spanos Center.

"I'm really proud of our effort; I thought we played really hard in a tough environment against a good basketball team," Sacramento State head coach Bunky Harkleroad said. "Winning a postseason game in March is a nice accomplishment and I'm proud of our team. We played hard the whole way and I think we were able to wear them down a little bit physically and mentally"

Ranked No. 61 in the country in RPI, Pacific was making its fourth consecutive appearance in the WNIT and had won first round games in the tournament in each of the last three years. The team had never faced Sacramento State under Harkleroad, however, and was forced into turnovers and fouls at a clip much higher than they are accustomed to.

The Tigers committed 16 turnovers and 10 fouls in the first half but led for a good portion of the opening period with a game-high 13-8 lead in the early going. Pacific had a one-point lead with three minutes left in the half before a 10-0 Hornet run put the visitors up nine.

Pacific got the last four points of the half and Sacramento State held a 45-40 lead at halftime. Senior Andrea Chenier hit a three to open the second half and the Hornets led by at least two possessions for the remainder of the game. Sacramento State took a game-high 76-59 lead with 8:26 to play before an 18-7 Pacific run got the Tigers within six points with two minutes left.

The Tigers had two shots and two free throw attempts to get within a one-possession deficit but could not convert. Pacific did get within five points after a layup with 22 seconds to play but senior Fantasia Hilliard and Harrigan made late free throws to seal the win.

Pacific came into the game ranked 13th in the NCAA in turnover margin but the Hornets are No. 1 and had a 14-22 edge in turnovers for the game. The Tigers gave the ball up just six times in the second half but were cold from the field until their late push, starting the half shooting 3-of-18 (16.7%).

The leading 3-point shooting team in the country, the Hornets made eight threes but had just 26 3-point attempts, 13 fewer attempts from behind the arc than they have averaged this year. The team capitalized on its ability to get to the rim, finishing even with Pacific with 34 points in the paint and attempting only eight 3-pointers in the second half.

Pacific committed 22 fouls in the game and the Hornets converted 23-of-31 (74.2%) from the free throw line while the Tigers shot 18-of-24 (75%) from the line. Pacific senior forward Kendall Kenyon had a double-double in the first half alone and finished with 28 points and 21 rebounds in her final collegiate game.

The Hornets will face Eastern Washington for the third time this season after the teams split their two meetings during the Big Sky regular season, with each team winning at the other's venue. The Eagles beat Washington State 67-65 in their WNIT opener on Wednesday.

"We want to do everything we can for Sac State and make people proud so we're excited about getting back in The Nest. We're really happy about that and hope for a great crowd," Harkleroad said.