Cowgirls Bury Fresno State Late, Punch Ticket to Title Tilt

LAS VEGAS, Nev., -- The Cowgirls are 40 minutes away from a championship.

No. 2 Wyoming went on a decisive 15-0 run in the second half to defeat No. 6 Fresno State 57-45 in the Mountain West Tournament semifinals on Tuesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

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MW player of the year Allyson Fertig finished with 17 points and 18 rebounds, Malene Pedersen had 14 points and eight assists and Emily Mellema added 1 points and nine rebounds to lead the Cowgirls (22-10).

UW advances to play No. 4 San Diego State in the title game at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday on the CBS Sports Network. The Aztecs (24-9) upset No. 1 UNLV 71-59 in the first semifinal.

The Cowgirls lost to UNLV in the 2023 title game.

"It's just so fun. It's like an experience you will never feel again," Fertig said after becoming the first player to record back-to-back 15-point, 15-rebound games in the MW Tournament. "Having the chance to be in the championship game again but this time hopefully it's different. It just shows how much work we've done this season and we're finally at that spot where it all matters.

"The work has been done so now it's time to just focus in, get our bodies healthy and go win a championship."

The Cowgirls, who shot 76% in the second half to overcome an eight-point deficit in the 77-64 win over Air Force in the quarterfinals, outscored the Bulldogs (19-15) 25-11 over the final 16 minutes.

Mia Jacobs made a 3-pointer to give Fresno State its first lead, 30-29, with 5:54 remaining in the third quarter. Fertig answered with a three-point play on the other end on the next possession.

After a bucket by Jacobs tied the score 34-34 the Cowgirls went on a 10-0 run over the final 3:32 of the third quarter to take a 44-34 lead.

Pedersen scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, including a three-point play to extend the cushion to 49-34.

Ola Ustowska and Pedersen hit back-to-back 3s to make the score 55-38 with 4:07 remaining.

"I kindly challenged the team at halftime that we needed to be able to want to make a play and be a threat out there," Mellema said. "That was on both sides of the ball, but against that zone I didn't want people to hide or be timid. I challenged the team to be confident with our shots and be confident with the ball in our hands. That helped us a lot there in the second half."

UW swept the regular season series with SDSU, winning 78-71 in Laramie and 64-51 in San Diego. The Aztecs lost to UNLV in last year's MW Tournament championship.

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