SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Sacramento State overcame a seven-point deficit to lead 79-77 in the final minute but Montana State's Hannah Caudill nailed a 3-pointer with eight seconds left to give her team an 80-79 win on Thursday night in The Nest.

The Hornets called timeout after the make by Caudill and, after a lengthy official review, were not permitted to advance the ball into the frontcourt. Junior Brianna Burgos took the inbounds pass and ran the length of the floor but could not make a contested layup at the buzzer.

In a game with eight ties and 17 lead changes Sacramento State (4-9, 1-1 Big Sky) got a career-high 29 points from senior Adella Randle-El and 20 points from junior Gretchen Harrigan. Burgos had 13 points but no other Hornet scored more than four points in the contest. Montana State (10-4, 3-0 Big Sky) had five players score in double figures to remain perfect in conference play.

"I thought we had some breakdowns early that cost us late, but you have to give credit to Montana State," Sacramento State head coach Bunky Harkleroad said. "They had the right people step up tonight. We played well enough to win but it came down to a few possessions and the ball bounced their way at the end.

"It's a tough one to swallow. We had too many zeros on our stat sheet from too many people. We're only as good as our worst we player and we have to have more from everybody."

Randle-El was 11-of-19 overall and 5-of-10 from 3-point range and had a game-high five steals to go with her career-high 29 points. Harrigan also shot well, going 7-of-13 and knocking down four threes, but the rest of the team shot just 10-of-38 (26.3%) overall and 4-of-21 (19.0%) from 3-point range in the game.

The Hornets shot 45.9% overall and 42.1% from three in the first half but were just 33.3% and 26.3% from beyond the arc in the second half. After trailing 24-23 after the first quarter the Hornets took a game-high five point lead with two minutes remaining in the second quarter and led 46-43 at the intermission.

Neither team led by more than six points in the third quarter before Montana State took a game-high seven point lead at 73-66 with 5:28 to play. An 8-0 Hornet run over the next three minutes put the home team ahead but the Bobcats tied it up at 77-77 with 1:36 remaining.

Junior Kyhonta Doughty answered with a layup and the Hornets forced a turnover on the other end. Sacramento State missed a three on its next possession, however, and with eight seconds to play Caudill hit the game-winner off an inbounds pass.

Caudill finished with 14 points and six assists, shooting 5-of-6 overall and a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point range. Senior Jasmine Hommes led the Bobcats with 19 points and nine rebounds and junior Peyton Ferris also tallied 14 points.

Montana State was a blistering 7-of-10 from 3-point range in the game and shot 54.9% overall. The Bobcats had a 38-32 rebounding advantage and were held to a relatively low 19 turnovers in the game. The Hornets had just a 20-14 edge in points off turnovers and second chance points were even at 13-13.

Sacramento State concludes its three-game homestand at 2 p.m. Saturday vs. defending Big Sky Champion Montana. The Lady Griz are 10-4 overall and 3-0 in the Big Sky after a 79-58 win Thursday at Portland State.