LAS VEGAS – For the first time since 2021 there will be a new women’s basketball team to punch their ticket to March Madness at the Mountain West Championships, as the 7:30 p.m. final headlines a day stacked with three first round men’s games beginning at noon.
On Tuesday night women's No. 4 seed San Diego State upended No. 1 UNLV 71-59 to advance to the tournament championship game for the second consecutive season, while No. 2 Wyoming knocked off No. 6 Fresno State 57-42. The winners of the men's first round games advance to the quarterfinals on Thursday, which begin at noon.
Men's First Round
No. 8 San José State 66, No. 9 Wyoming 61
The Spartans raced out an early lead, scoring the first 12 points and opening a lead as large as 22 in the first half, then held off a furious rally from the Cowboys in the second half to advance to the quarterfinals.
Donovan Yap Jr. led all scorers with 19 points and made four triples for SJSU, who also got 16 points from Sadaidriene Hall and 15 points and eight rebounds from Josh Uduje. Jordan Nesbitt scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half to go with nine rebounds for Wyoming, while Obi Agbim scored 12 points but was limited to 5 of 14 from the field. The Spartans held the Cowboys to 2 of 16 shooting from downtown while making 8 of 24 from the land of plenty.
"I feel like sometimes when we get up, our guys get a little too comfortable, honestly," Yap said. "We just gotta stay with the same intensity that we have to start off the game and I think we'll be okay."
Wyoming rallied from a 38-22 halftime deficit to pull within 3 points with 23 seconds remaining after a tip-in that Henry Cole was fouled on, with Nesbitt taking the rebound and finding Agbim for a trey. A Yap turnover with 13 seconds left gave Wyoming a chance to tie, but Agbim's 3-point try from the left wing missed and Uduje made seventh and eighth free-throws on nine attempts for the night to seal the result.
"I'll always be grateful for these seniors that chose this team, that chose us at Wyoming because we got the last job in the cycle," said head coach Sundance Wicks. "We had guys that chose to be Cowboys that rode for the brand, whether it was nine months, ten months or eight months, whatever that tenure was, they chose us, in a desperate time, in one of the hardest times of college basketball."
SJSU faces regular season champion and No. 1 seed New Mexico at noon on Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
No. 7 Nevada 86, No. 10 Fresno State 71
The Wolf Pack went on an early 12-0 run to open a double-digit lead, building the advantage as large as 21 in the first half that would never dip below a dozen in the second half to comfortably advance over the Bulldogs.
Kobe Sanders notched a double-double with 17 points and 10 assists while also grabbing seven rebounds and Nick Davidson added another with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Elijah Price led Fresno State with 17 points, making 11 of 16 at the line, to go with 16 points on three made 3-pointers by Brian Amuneke.
"It was a team effort, everybody was hot in the beginning and I was getting everybody involved," Sanders said. "They made my job easy. When Chuck (Bailey III) hits three threes in a row, it makes us all look good."
Bailey was a big part of the Wolf Pack's hot start, knocking down all three of his first half triples en route to scoring 12 points off the bench. Tyler Rolison also scored 15 points and Xavier Dusell added to his Mountain West career 3-pointers record by knocking down a pair from beyond. Nevada had a 30-14 edge in bench points as the Bulldogs played a seven-man rotation with Jasir Tremble providing all their reserve scoring, while the Pack also won the battle in the paint 48-26.
"We've been limited all year. We've gone through a lot of different things, but I've been very proud of the seven guys who finished the year and what they gave us and how hard they tried, and I appreciate them," said Fresno State head coach Vance Walberg.
No. 2 seed Colorado State awaits Nevada in the third quarterfinal game, which tips at 6 p.m. The teams met in the quarterfinals last year with the seeds flipped, with the Rams taking the game in overtime 85-78.
No. 6 UNLV 68, No. 11 Air Force 59
The Runnin' Rebels went on a 19-0 run in the second half to rally from a deficit that was as large as 8 points, knocking off the Falcons 68-59 thanks to shooting a blistering 72.7% (16 of 22) in the final 20 minutes.
Jalen Hill led the Scarlet and Grey with 17 points while also grabbing 10 rebounds, Jailen Bedford scored 13 points while made all three of his 3-pointers during the gamebreaking run and Jeremiah 'Bear' Cherry added 13 points. Ethan Taylor scored a game-high 23 points for Air Force, making 7 of 14 from downtown while also leading the Falcons with six rebounds and four assists.
"I think we went into a break and I think we just figured out we need to feed him every time, feed Bear, and just get the shots that we want," Hill said. "The second half, I think we showed that by shooting above 60 percent."
USAFA led for 26:05 thanks to runs of 9-0 and 6-0 in the first half as Thomas scored 11 of his points and Wesley Chelichowski had 6 of his 8 points on a triple and three free-throws. The Falcons took 38 of their 57 shots from beyond the arc, making 11.
"When you've gone through what we've gone through over the last three years since... all these rules changed, it's been hard," said Falcons head coach Joe Scott. "(Taylor and Jeremy Mills) and the other seniors, never once have they not given what they have."
Dedan Thomas Jr. did not play for the Runnin' Rebels as well as Adam Rishwain, who is unavailable for the tournament according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
UNLV will face No. 3 seed Utah State in the last quarterfinal, scheduled for an 8:30 p.m. start.
Women's Championship Game
No. 4 San Diego State 72, No. 2 Wyoming 68 (Triple Overtime)
After the longest championship game in Mountain West women's basketball history, the San Diego State Aztecs won the battle of the conference's defensive titans to earn their first berth to the NCAA Tournament since 2012 with a 72-68 win over the Wyoming Cowgirls in triple overtime.
Veronica Sheffey scored 10 of her game-high 24 points in overtime, including making the clinching free throws, while Cali Clark had a had a 12-point-17 rebound double-double and Naomi Panganiban scored 17 points for the Scarlet and Black. Malene Pedersen led the Cowgirls with 19 points, while Allyson Fertig score 17 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.
Neither team could build a lead larger than 5 points, as the game featured 16 lead changes and 12 ties. The San Diego State defense held Wyoming to 14 of 45 shooting after the first half. The margins between the two teams were razor thin; the Aztecs held a 37.5% to 36.9% edge from the field, won the rebound battle 44-43 and had a 34-28 edge in paint scoring.
San Diego State never trailed in overtime, with Kim Villalobos scoring 9 of her 11 points in the extra session. Wyoming committed a season-high 25 turnovers.
Sheffey earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors, with Panganiban also earning a spot on the all tournament team. Fertig and Pedersen respresented the Cowgirls on the all tournament team, which was rounded out by Fresno State's Mia Jacobs.
This story was updated at 10:25 p.m.
