SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Sacramento State was able to rally from down 13 points to take a five-point lead midway through the second half but Saint Mary's came back to break a late tie and complete a 77-69 win on Thursday night in The Nest.

Sacramento State (18-16) saw its season come to an end in the third round of the WNIT after earning wins in its first two postseason games in program history. With the win Saint Mary's (23-10) advanced to the quarterfinals of the WNIT, where it will take on UCLA on Sunday.

"Saint Mary's is a very good basketball team and when we shoot as poorly as we did we really have no margin for error," Sacramento State head coach Bunky Harkleroad said. "They're hard to rebound against because they're big and they're pretty athletic. We had a lot of shots go in and out and when we made our runs we would follow up with a turnover or a foul."

Sacramento State opened the game shooting 3-of-19 from the field and had a nearly seven minute scoring drought that enabled the Gaels to take an early lead. Saint Mary's also had a 59-29 edge in rebounding for the game, including a 36-12 rebounding advantage in the first half.

"We played hard. I can't fault our effort at all and I'm proud of our team for the improvement and the heart they showed," Harkleroad said. "At the end of the day you have to give Saint Mary's credit; they did a great job tonight and played better than we did."

The Hornets shot 30% in the first half but forced 17 Saint Mary's turnovers and hit nine threes to stay within striking distance. After the Gaels opened a game-high 36-23 lead with four and a half minutes left in the first half Sacramento State had a 14-3 run to cut its deficit to 39-37 and trailed just 41-37 the intermission.

Saint Mary's was back up by eight points at 50-42 with 14:11 left in the game before the Hornets caught fire, hitting five threes in less than four minutes in a 15-2 run to take a 57-52 lead with 10:25 to play. The Gaels battled back and had a slim 65-64 lead after a three from Hornet freshman Maranne Johnson with four minutes remaining.

Sacramento State then made just one of its next 10 shots while the Gaels went 4-of-5 over that stretch and made three free throws to pull away for the win.

The Hornets finished with 18 victories for the second consecutive season, just one shy of the program record as the squad recorded its third straight winning year. After playing one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country and dropping their first Big Sky game the Hornets were 2-10. Sacramento State then went 16-6 over the remainder of the season, finishing second in the Big Sky after being picked by the conference coaches to finish ninth in the preseason poll, and advanced to the final 16 in the 64-team WNIT.

"This is a season that they'll always remember because it's been a tough one," Harkleroad said of his team. "Its been a tough long season and we continued to get better but tonight just wasn't our night."

In her final collegiate game senior point guard Fantasia Hilliard had a team-high 13 points, six assists, and a steal. She leaves as the program's all-time leader in assists and steals and is tied for fourth in program history with 1,438 career points. She completes her career second in Big Sky history with 726 assists and third with 308 steals.

"We just couldn't knock down shots. Everyone played their hardest but the ball just wouldn't go in at the end," Hilliard said. "I didn't expect to play this many games and get to play again in The Nest. After the conference tournament we got a second chance so I'm happy with my overall ending."

Seniors Takara Burse and Andrea Chenier also concluded their Hornet careers on Thursday, scoring five and six points, respectively. Sophomore Brianna Burgos hit four 3-pointers and equaled Hilliard with 13 points while Johnson had 11 points and sophomore Ashlyn Crenshaw had 10.

The Hornets shot just 28.6% in the second half and 29.4% for the game, their poorest shooting night since the end of January. The squad shot 16-of-56 from 3-point range, just one 3-point make from the WNIT record. The 56 three-point attempts were just two shy of the NCAA record for 3-point attempts in a game, set by the Hornets in their season opener this year at San Diego State.

Saint Mary's finished at 57.7% overall and were 15-of-23 at the free throw line while the Hornets shot just six free throws in the game, making three. Sacramento State forced 27 turnovers with 17 steals and had a 28-11 edge in points off turnovers. The Hornets had 16 offensive rebounds but the Gaels had 13 and the teams finished even 14-14 in second chance points.

Sacramento State will end the season leading the NCAA in 3-pointers, steals, and offensive rebounds per game as well as turnover margin. The Hornets broke their own NCAA records with 424 made 3-pointers and 1,339 3-point attempts and finished just seven steals back of that NCAA record with 573 steals on the season.