LAS VEGAS — The 2025 Mountain West Championships features three of the top four NET teams in the conference, with UNLV set to take on San Diego State in one semifinal and Wyoming in the other, who will face a Fresno State side on a two-game winning streak.
On Monday, the regular season champion and three-time defending tournament champion No. 1 seed Lady Rebels used a strong fourth quarter to dispatch No. 8 seed Boise State and No. 4 San Diego State had a strong defensive second half to knock out No. 5 New Mexico. In the second session, No. 2 Wyoming pounded it inside to top No. 7 Air Force and No. 6 Fresno State rode an early hot start all the way to upset No. 3 Colorado State.
Here are today’s match ups:
No. 4 San Diego State 71, No. 1 UNLV 59
For the second straight season, the Aztecs will play for the Mountain West Championship and there will be a new champion for the first time in four years after they held the Lady Rebels to 27.7% shooting for the game while having five players score in double-figures.
Veronica Sheffey had 15 points and played the final 7:20 of the game with four fouls, Naomi Panganiban scored 8 of her 14 points in the second quarter, knocking down two of the Aztecs' 8 3-pointers for the game and Kim Vilallobos had 11 points and equaled Cali Clark with eight rebounds. Alyssa Brown scored 15 points, while Kiara Jackson added 14 points and McKinna Brackens grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for UNLV.
San Diego State held UNLV to 10 points in both first half quarters, holding the Lady Rebels to 23.3% (7 of 30) shooting from the field and keeping them scoreless for the final 3:55 before the break. The Aztecs scored 15 of the final 18 points to take a 33-20 lead after 20 minutes, the largest halftime deficit UNLV faced all season.
The Lady Rebels put together an 8-0 run in the first 3:30 of the fourth quarter and pulled within 8 points, but couldn't come closer than 7 as SDSU made 11 of 13 free throws in the finals minutes to salt the result for the Scarlet and Black.
The Mountain West Championship Game will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
No. 2 Wyoming 57, No. 6 Fresno State 45
The Cowgirls are back in the tournament championship game for the third time in five seasons after a 57-45 win over the Bulldogs, holding Fresno State to 32.1% shooting and winning the rebound battle 42-25.
Allyson Fertig scored 17 points with 18 rebounds for her 13th double-double, Malene Pedersen notched 14 points to go with a game-high eight assists and Emily Mellema had 11 points with nine rebounds and four assists. Mia Jacobs scored 17 points with eight rebounds while Mariah Elohim and Kylee Fox each scored 9 points.
After holding the Bulldogs to 28.6% shooting the in the first half, Wyoming took control of the game after Fresno State took their only lead of the game just past the six minute mark of the third quarter and closing it on a 15-4 run. Mellema nailed a pair of triples as the Cowgirls had three of their seven long balls for the game in the decisive 20-11 frame.
Wyoming won their only Mountain West tournament championship in 2021 when they knocked off Fresno State 59-56. They will face an Aztecs team that they swept during the regular season, winning 78-71 in Laramie on January 11 before taking a 64-51 result in San Diego on February 8.
It's the first time the teams have met in the tournament since 2019, when the Cowgirls won 75-70 in the semifinals. The Aztecs hold the advantage in the all-time match up at the Mountain West Championships with a 4-2 record.
This story was updated at 9:14 p.m.