BOISE, Idaho – Sacramento State opened the 2020 Big Sky Tournament on Monday, facing the Northern Colorado Bears at CenturyLink Arena in Boise. The Hornets struggled to slow the Northern Colorado offense, falling to the Bears, 79-61, to end their season.

The No. 9 seed Hornets close their season with an 8-22 overall record, including a 6-14 mark in conference play. With the win, the No. 8 Bears advance to face the No. 1 seeded Montana State Bobcats on Tuesday.  

Gabi Bade led the Hornets with 15 points in a game that Sacramento State trailed start to finish. Playing through a foot injury, Bade rallied to put in a team-high 38 minutes. She finished 7-for-14 from the floor (1-5 3PT), adding two rebounds and a steal.  

Milee Enger and Jakira Wilson each reached double-digits, scoring 10 points apiece. Both were 4-of-7 from the floor with two threes. Despite being one of the smallest players on the floor, Enger muscled her way into five rebounds, second most on the team. Kennedy Burks who finished with a game-high seven rebounds.

Between the two of them, Burks and Enger collected 12 of the team's 26 rebounds (five offensive). Playing again without senior forward and second team all-conference selection Kennedy Nicholas, Sacramento State struggled under the basket as Northern Colorado collected 51 boards, including 19 off the offensive glass. The Bears turned those into 15 second chance points.

Points in the paint were closer, but again the Bears came out on top, 40-30.

Sacramento State had no answer for Northern Colorado's Alisha Davis, who was Monday announced as the league's newcomer of the year. Davis scored a game-high 32 points on a near-perfect 11-of-12 shooting. She was also 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Davis added a game-high 13 rebounds while also adding two steals and a block. All in just 28 minutes of play.

The Hornets forced Northern Colorado into 22 turnovers on Monday, more than their regular season average (18). Two of those were steals by Wilson, who led the Hornets. Six others had one steal.

Sacramento State used some of those turnovers to put together an 8-0 run in the third quarter, seeming to build some momentum, but a series of Hornets turnovers quickly ended the run before it really got going.

In total, the Hornets shot 38.1%, including 36.4% from three. Northern Colorado shot 45.5% overall and was 27.8% from distance.

Monday's tournament opener ends the 2019-20 season for Sacramento State. It also marked the final game in a Hornets jersey for seniors Gabi Bade, Kennedy Nicholas, and Camariah King.

Nicholas finishes her career among Sacramento State's all-time record leaders, ranking second in career blocks (173), fifth in rebounds (805), ninth in rebounding average (7.5), and 10th in field goal percentage (48.5%). For their careers, Nicholas, Bade, and King played in a combined 178 games, though during this final season, the trio started just nine games together due to injuries.