RENO, Nev. – With a berth in the Big Sky Tournament Semifinals on the line Eastern Washington used an 8-0 run in the final two minutes to erase a four-point deficit and come back for a 100-97 win over Sacramento State on Wednesday night in Reno.

Sacramento State (14-17) saw its season come to an end after a 102-89 win over Southern Utah in the first round of the tournament on Monday. The No. 2 seed for the conference championship, Eastern Washington (20-11) won in its first postseason game to advance to the semifinal round on Friday.

The Hornets held a 95-91 lead after a made layup by senior Ericka Magaña with two minutes and four seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. The Eagles then went on an 8-0 run over the next 1:59, making two shots and hitting 4-of-4 free throw attempts while the Hornets missed two shots and had two turnovers.

Sacramento State had possession trailing by just two points with 21 seconds left. Eastern Washington was able to tie up the ball and, with the possession arrow pointing in their favor, got the ball back with six seconds to play. After two made free throws Hornet senior Adella Randle-El made a layup to cut the deficit to 99-97 with one second left.

After a Hornet foul Eastern Washington junior Ashli Payne made one free throw but missed the second to keep it a one possession game, but on the rebound Hornet junior forward Gretchen Harrigan's full-court heave came up short.

"I thought Eastern Washington did a tremendous job and you have to congratulate them on the job they did tonight," Sacramento State head coach Bunky Harkleroad said. "I am extremely proud of my team for the heart we showed. We haven't caught a lot of breaks this season and we don't have that much margin for error. Tonight we made a few too many mistakes and we paid for almost every one of them, but that's a credit to Coach Schuller and the job they do at Eastern Washington."

The game was competitive throughout with eight ties and five lead changes. The Hornets used a big first quarter to take a game-high eight point lead at 21-13 lead seven minutes into the contest and were up 26-21 at the end of the opening quarter.

Eastern Washington made eight straight shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, to open the second quarter to move ahead. Neither team scored over the last 2:08 of the quarter as the Eagles held a 51-45 halftime lead.

The Eagles opened a game-high 58-48 lead at the 8:30 mark of the third but the Hornets fought back, tying the game at 75-75 late in the quarter. Leading by a point with 6:45 remaining, Sacramento State scored five straight point to go ahead 89-83 at the 4:15 mark and still led by six at 91-85 before Eastern Washington closed the gap.

After scoring a career-high 31 points on Monday Hornet sophomore Maranne Johnson was superb again on Wednesday, knocking down six 3-pointers and tallying 25 points and four rebounds. Randle-El was close a triple-double again with 21 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, and two steals.

Junior forwards Harrigan and Margaret Huntington were outstanding on the front line and both recorded double-doubles with 20 points and 10 rebounds and 14 points and 11 rebounds, respectively. The Hornets outrebounded the Eagles 49-47 with 21 offensive boards but had only a 20-19 edge in second chance points.

Eastern Washington committed only 13 turnovers and the Hornets had 17, marking just the third time this season that Sacramento State had more turnovers than its opponent. The Eagles shot 46.8% to the Hornets 40.5% and hit 11 threes while the Hornets, who will in all likelihood end the season leading Div. I in 3-pointers for the third straight season, made 11 but only four in the second half.

Randle-El, one of three Hornet seniors along with Magaña and forward Sydonia Daniels, completed one of the greatest individual seasons in program history. An all-Big Sky first team selection, she broke the single-season record with 117 steals and had the most points a Hornet has scored in a season since 2009-10 (517 - sixth most in program history).

"Sacramento State has been very good to me and I'm glad I chose this school," Randle-El, a two-year Hornet transfer from State Fair Community College, said after her final collegiate game. "I learned a lot, especially from coach Bunky. I wanted to leave my mark and make my teammates proud."

Sacramento State ended the year with a new program record for scoring average at 87.5 points per game for the 2015-16 season, in which it also broke NCAA records for 3-pointers made and attempted in a game and scored a Big Sky record 132 points.