CEDAR CITY, Utah – Southern Utah women's basketball fell short of Sacramento State in its second Big Sky matchup, 69-67.

The Hornets took a 5-0 lead over the Thunderbirds to launch the game before a fast break layup from Desiree Jackson put Southern Utah on the board.

Madison Wright knocked in a three to tie the game at 11 as Jackson finished a drive to give the Thunderbirds their first lead of the night at 13-11. Sacramento State sprung ahead before a second three-pointer from Iva Georgieva tied the game at 23.

Sacramento led 30-23 before Southern Utah rallied from behind to cut the Hornet's lead to one. A pair of free throws from Marquelle Funk pushed the Thunderbirds ahead to round out the half with a 40-39 lead.

Gates led the first half with 12 points as Georgieva and Jackson added eight and six, respectively.

The second half tied at 44 before Funk drained a three to regain SUU's lead. The battle continued before a three from Funk and layups from both Georgieva and Gates extended Southern Utah's lead to six.

SUU clung to a 62-59 lead with just over eight minutes to play. The game tied at 64 before a pair of free throws from Jackson inched the Thunderbirds ahead.

The Hornets knocked in two free throws to snag a 68-67 lead with 33 seconds remaining and hung to their lead to the end, resulting in a 69-67 Thunderbird loss.

“Win or lose, I love the way our team battled and fought. They (Sacramento) are such a hard team to play,” head coach Chris Boettcher said. “We made a couple of dumb fouls at the end that gave them a chance to take the lead and we weren't able to finish.”

Gates led all scorers with 22 points and Georgieva added 14. Hailey Mandelko suffered an injury in the opening minutes and stayed out the remainder of the game.

The Thunderbirds face non-conference Utah Valley on Tuesday, Jan. 6, at 7 p.m. before returning to Big Sky play as they host Northern Arizona on Saturday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m.