Updated WNIT Bracket (PDF)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Behind its best defensive performance in more than six years Sacramento State won its first ever home postseason game, outscoring Eastern Washington 46-21 in the second half to pull away for an 84-49 rout of the Eagles in the second round of the WNIT on Thursday night in The Nest.

The 49 points allowed by the Hornets were the fewest the team has given up since December 13, 2008 in a 53-45 win over UC Davis. The low scoring total came from holding the Eagles to 23.8% shooting in the second half and forcing a WNIT-record 33 Eastern Washington turnovers, three more than had ever been recorded in the 18 year history of the tournament.

With the win Sacramento State (18-15) advances to the third round, the "sweet 16", of the 64-team tournament and will host Saint Mary's on Thursday night at 7 p.m. in The Nest. The Gaels (22-10), who beat the Hornets 99-91 in Moraga earlier this year, beat Fresno State 83-64 on Thursday night after topping Hawaii in the first round of the tournament.

In The Nest on Thursday the story was the turnovers and poor shooting by Eastern Washington (21-12) but also a 46% shooting night from the Hornets, including 55% in the second half, and a 51-34 rebounding edge for Sacramento State, which had a higher field goal percentage than its opponent for just the third time this year and outrebounded an opponent for just the fourth time.

"We played extremely hard tonight and I'm really proud of our effort," Sacramento State head coach Bunky Harkleroad said. "Eastern Washington is a very good basketball team and I think their top five are as good as anybody in the league, but we were able to really cause some chaos. I thought the game started kind of weird with both teams showing some nerves but we settled down. Our seniors played well tonight and when all three of them play well and contribute good things are going to happen for us."

The teams split their two regular season meetings in the Big Sky and both games were decided by six or fewer points, with the Eagles topping the Hornets by a slim 80-79 margin when the teams met in Sacramento on Feb. 21. On Thursday the Hornets took a big early lead and never relented.

"A night like tonight is kind of hard to explain," added Harkleroad. "Eastern had a bad game and they're a very good basketball team and a very well coached team. We just played hard and hit some shots."

The Hornets held the Eagles to just six points over the first 11 minutes of the game. Sacramento State opened up a 23-6 lead midway through the first half but the Eagles got the deficit down to a manageable eight points in the final minute of the half.

Sacramento State's lead was 38-28 at halftime and the Hornets opened the second half on a 12-0 run over the first three and a half minutes to build a 22-point advantage. The Sacramento State lead was 17 points at 56-39 midway through the half before an incredible 24-3 spurt over the next six minutes, including a 19-0 stretch, gave the team a game-high 38 point lead with four minutes to play.

The score could have been even more lopsided had the Hornets not shot just 15-of-31 (48.4%) from the free throw line. Eastern Washington also struggled at the line, shooting 10-of-18 (55.6%), and made just 18 field goals in the contest. Sacramento State hit nine three-pointers and had 17 offensive boards amongst its 51-34 rebounding edge.

Senior Takara Burse led the Hornets with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, scoring all 17 in the second half on 7-of-7 shooting, for her highest scoring game since putting up 20 at Eastern Washington in January. Senior Andrea Chenier and freshman Maranne Johnson each had 12 points and sophomore Margaret Huntington posted her fourth career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Burse had five of the 22 Hornet steals, a team total just one steal shy of the WNIT record. The Hornets had an uncharacteristically high 23 turnovers in the game but were still +10 in turnover margin and Sacramento State had a 6-5 edge in blocks. The Hornets outscored the Eagle 18-0 in fast break points, 41-16 in points off turnovers, and 14-4 in second chance points.

Eastern Washington had four players score in double figures but got almost nothing else. The six Eagles that came off the bench in the game combined for two points in 48 minutes played, shooting 1-of-7 with eight turnovers and seven fouls.

Tickets for the WNIT third round game on Thursday will go on sale Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. on hornetsports.com and in the Sacramento State ticket office on campus.