BOISE, Idaho – Sacramento State's postseason journey came to an end Tuesday night in Boise as the No. 11 Hornets fell to the No. 3 Montana State Bobcats, 66-55.

Playing for the second time in as many days following Monday night's thrilling 65-58 upset over No. 6 Montana, the Hornets got off to a quick start Tuesday against the Bobcats. Sacramento State scored the game's first bucket, an and-one for sophomore Jordan Olivares, and went up 9-3 by the five-minute mark.

Playing its first game of the tournament, Montana State found its footing a few minutes into the game, going on a 14-3 run to end the quarter and take a 17-12 lead into the fist break.

Montana State continued to pull away, going up by as many as 12 late in the second period, but Sacramento State scored eight unanswered points in the final two minutes of the half, cutting the deficit to just four, 30-26, at the break.

The Hornets, who were in a similar position Monday against Montana, came out of halftime looking to capitalize on their first-half run. But it was Montana State who came out the aggressor in the second half, putting up a game-high 21 points in the third quarter.

The Bobcats, who had just two made threes in the first half, buried four in the third quarter alone, climbing out to a 13-point lead by the end of the period. The fourth quarter featured more of the same, as Montana State continued to shoot well and take advantage of Sacramento State turnovers, sending the game final, 66-55.

Turnovers proved costly in the loss for Sacramento State. The Hornets committed just nine turnovers in Monday's win over Montana, but piled up 21 in Tuesday's loss. Those 21 turnovers turned into 23 Montana State points.

Despite the result, the Hornets played hard against the favored No. 3 seeded Bobcats. Sacramento State hadn't played on back-to-back days in nearly three months and seemed to be a step behind the Bobcats, who were playing their first game since last Friday, also against the Hornets, most of the night.

Sarah Abney was lights out from three on Tuesday, scoring a team-leading 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting, including 4-for-8 from three-point range. She was one shy of matching her career-high for threes in a game and finished the season with a team-high 39 made three-pointers this season.

As they have done so often this season, Tiana Johnson and Summer Menke led the Hornets in rebounding, each collecting a game-high eight rebounds. Johnson finished with seven points while Menke finished with six.

The duo end the 2020-21 season as the team's top rebounders, averaging 7.3 and 8.1, respectively.

All eleven Hornets saw action in Tuesday night's game, including all four freshmen newcomers. Neysa Munguia led the foursome with 12 minutes while Nina Barry finished with a career-high seven points on 2-of-3 shooting. Jessica Rios had two steals and an assist in nine minutes while Kennedy Lindsey was 2-for-2 at the free throw line with an assist in four minutes.

Three Montana State players finished in double figures, led by a game-high 18 points from Tori Martell.

Sacramento State outrebounded the Bobcats, 41-38, and were better from three (27% to 25%) and from the free throw line (80% to 53%). The Hornets even had more assists than the Bobcats, 12 to 10, finishing the game with more assists than their opponent for the first time this season.

It was the turnover count that mattered most though, as Montana State scored 23 points off turnovers compared to Sacramento State's four.

Tuesday night's loss caps a long, COVID-19-influenced season in which the Hornets still managed to play all 20 conference games, one of just two teams in the Big Sky to claim that success.

With no seniors on the roster this season, Sacramento State is poised to return an incredible amount of starting experience. Four of Sacramento State's regular starters – Menke, Abney, Johnson, and Milee Enger – are juniors while the fifth – Olivares – is a sophomore.

Notes – Sacramento State's Monday night win over No. 6 Montana was the first time a No. 11 seed had won its first-round game in the Big Sky Basketball Championship…Tuesday night's quarterfinal contest was Sacramento State's 10th quarterfinal appearances since 1996 and first since 2016…The Hornets are now 3-7 in Big Sky Championship Quarterfinal matchups.