LAS VEGAS -- The quest to earn the Mountain West's berth to March Madness continues with the quarterfinals of the 2025 Women's Basketball championships on Monday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Yesterday No. 8 seed Boise State topped No. 9 Nevada 54-48, No. 7 Air Force beat No. 10 Utah State 66-59 and No. 6 Fresno State survived No. 11 San José State 67-62 to advance.
No. 1 UNLV 80, No. 8 Boise State 70
Trailing by 5 points entering the fourth quarter, the Lady Rebels' championship pedigree shown through in a decisive fourth quarter as UNLV outscored the Broncos 30-15 in the final frame to advance to the semifinals.
Amarachi Kimpson scored 12 of her game-high 29 points in the second half, while Kiara Jackson had 11 of her 13 points after halftime. Tatum Thompson had 25 points to lead the Broncos, while Abby Muse grabbed a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
"Honestly, I just come with the energy every game whatever my team needs that's what I'm coming with," Kimpson said. "I guess it was points today. Career high, good for me."
The Lady Rebels went on an 11-2 run over the final 3:10 to put the game away as their defense held the Broncos to 4 of 10 shooting in the fourth quarter. Boise State opened a lead as large as 9 points in the first quarter and held the lead for nearly 30 minutes of game time, but Kimpson's jumper with 5:11 remaining gave the top seed the lead for good.
With the teams tied 34-34 at halftime, Boise State scored the first 6 points of the second half on back to back Thompson buckets then a Muse jumper. The No. 8 seed built their lead up to 8 points with just under six minutes to play in the third, then 7 points 2:43 left in the quarter on a Natalie Pasco transition layup.
UNLV advances to face San Diego State in the first semifinal at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11. Boise State finishes the season with an 18-15 record overall.
No. 4 San Diego State 63, No. 5 New Mexico 53
After a slow start, the Aztecs turned to their defense to take control of the game after halftime, holding the Lobos without a basket for the first 6:54 of the second half while going on a 12-0 run to take a lead they'd never relinquish.
Adryana Quezada and Caitlin Clark each scored 12 points, while Clark added had a game-high nine rebounds and Jazlen Green added 11 points off the bench for SDSU. Joana Magalhães as the only Lobo in double-figures, scoring 10 points as the two UNM All Conference honorees Vianè Cumber and Destinee Hooks were held to a combined 6 points on 3 of 14 shooting.
"I just want to shout out Viane, because she's been in our league for quite some time. I think her and Kim (Villalobos) are like the OGs of the Mountain West," said San Diego State head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson. "I'm happy that we were able to contain them. But what they've been doing all year and what they were able to do in the Mountain West, I just want to tip my hat to them because they're great offensive players."
SDSU forced 22 turnovers and turned them in to a 17-12 edge scoring off miscues.
New Mexico had built a lead as large as 8 points in the second quarter, but left points at the free throw line as they made just 1 of 5 from the charity stripe in the first half and finished 7 of 16 for the game. After shooting 14 of 27 in the opening 20 minutes, the Lobos missed their first eight shots of the second half and made 7 of 28 in the last 20.
San Diego State will face the No. 1 seed UNLV Lady Rebels in the semifinals -- the teams met for in the tournament championship game last season. New Mexico finishes the season with an 18-14 record overall.
No. 2 Wyoming 77, No. 7 Air Force 64
The Cowgirls were near perfect in the third quarter, making 9 of 10 shots to pull away from the Falcons to earn the first spot in the 7:30 p.m. semifinal on Tuesday, March 11.
Mountain West Player of the Year Allyson Fertig had 22 points and 13 rebounds for her 13th double-double of the season, while Malene Pedersen scored 9 of her 18 points in the critical third quarter to go with six rebounds overall. All-Mountain West selection Madison Smith paced USAFA with 14 points, one of four Falcons in double-figures for the game including Jo Huntimer, who scored 11 points and had a game-high six assists.
"They don't have a lot of size, but they're really aggressive and they don't give up," Fertig said. "They're going to give you their 100% all game long. So even though there may be lack of size, you can't really tell sometimes just because of how aggressive they play.
"But we knew that coming in playing them two times. We just had to see what they threw at us in the beginning and then change our game plan from then on."
Air Force built a 6 point lead at the half as they made four of their seven 3-pointers and had an 8-4 edge in points off turnovers. The Cowgirls turned that stat around in the second half as Defensive Player of the Year Emily Mellema had all three of her steals in the second 20 minutes, helping Wyoming score 15 points on 10 Falcon turnovers for the game.
Tess Barnes scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half, while Mellema netted 11 of her 15 points.
Wyoming will face the Fresno State Bulldogs in the second semifinal.
No. 6 Fresno State 54, No. 3 Colorado State 52
The Bulldogs scored the first upset of the Mountain West Championships by knocking down their first three shots, all 3-pointers, and never allowing the Rams to pull even to advance.
Mia Jacobs scored 20 points to lead all scorers while equaling her season-high with 18 rebounds and Mariah Elohim had 10 points and made all four of her free-throws down the stretch to secure the win. Emma Ronsiek led CSU with 17 points, but shot 6 of 18 from the field as the Rams shot their second-lowest percentage of the season at 29.8%.
"I think we wanted it more. I think our effort was there, and we really just -- we had nothing to lose, it's today or we go home," Jacobs said. "So just being able to push through, push together and stick together through those times. I think we did a really good job of that and just working our butts off."
Jacobs had 10 points in the first half, she and Elohim each made two of the team's seven first half triples, as the 10 point lead at the break by the Bulldogs was the largest by a lower seeded side on the day. Colorado State pulled within a single possession four times in the fourth quarter, but couldn't get over the hump.
Fresno State advances to face No. 2 seed Wyoming, their first time making the Mountain West Championships semifinal since 2021 when they topped New Mexico and advance to play the Cowgirls in the tournament title game.
This story was updated at 10:17 p.m.