After a scare against Air Force in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament yesterday, the Wyoming Cowgirls were keen to jump out to a good start in the semi-finals in hopes of reaching the finals of the Mountain West tournament for the second time in the last four years.
Their opponent in the semi-finals would be a red-hot Fresno State Bulldogs squad that had already fired off two impressive wins in the tournament as the six-seed, including taking down the Cowgirls’ border rival in Colorado State in the quarterfinals.
Despite dropping four straight heading into the tournament and being relatively easily handled by the Cowgirls earlier in the conference slate by a final of 68-59, the Bulldogs were right in the fight after the first two quarters of play inside the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
The Cowgirls–as they had against Air Force the night before–struggled to efficiently score against zone defense, which the Bulldogs had switched to after the Cowgirls had raced out an 11-2 lead early in the first quarter behind the dominance of Allyson Fertig in the paint.
The Cowgirls would proceed to not make a field goal for five minutes in the late portions of the first quarter, allowing the Bulldogs to creep back into the contest, as the Cowgirls clung to a 15-12 lead after one quarter. That lead was even further diminished to just a point after the second quarter had expired, as the Cowgirls would only score nine points through the entirety of the second frame.
Despite leading wire-to-wire–though narrowly so–through the entire first half of play, it was clear some adjustments needed to be made at halftime if the Cowgirls wanted to build a cushion such as they did in the third quarter against Air Force last night, when they outscored the Falcons 26-11 to comfortably take the win in the quarterfinals.
A main key to that third quarter blitz was the Cowgirls’ was their scorching hot shooting proficiency, as they shot 9/10 from the field and 4/4 from deep in that third quarter to pull away from the Falcons.
It looked as if that famed third quarter run wasn’t destined to come to fruition early on in the third frame for the Cowgirls, as the Bulldogs would carve out their first lead of the contest at 30-29 with around five and a half minutes remaining in the third.
Mia Jacobs hits the 3 to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game!
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) March 12, 2025
📺 MWN pic.twitter.com/KEuA1tjwWE
The two teams would battle and draw even at 34 a piece, before the Cowgirls would rattle off 15 unanswered points carried into the fourth quarter, taking the lead at 49-34 with just under eight minutes remaining in the final quarter.
Finally, that big second half run had arrived.
It was smooth sailing from then on out for the Cowgirls as they’d end the Bulldogs’ cinderella run by a final score of 57-45.
“I challenged the team at halftime. We needed to be able to make a play and be a threat out there…especially in that zone, I didn’t want people to hide and be timid,” Emily Mellema said of the Cowgirls’ third quarter run.
Mellema certainly wasn’t timid in that third quarter, as a pair of timely triples in the third quarter helped spark the Cowgirls’ 15-0 run as she nearly finished with a double-double including 11 points and nine rebounds.
Emily Mellema is feeling it from 3 tonight!
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) March 12, 2025
Cowgirls up 8 late in the 3rd.
📺 MWN pic.twitter.com/xQd5namdTo
Ola Ustowska also took Mellema’s halftime speech to heart, as she finished her night with three made triples, which also helped tripled her point average of just around three points.
“I felt really good in warm-ups, and right now is the best time for me to hit it,” Ustowska said postgame with a smile, as this contest marks just the second time this season she’s hit three or more triples in a contest.
Fertig was also up to her usual antics down low, as she finished with 17 points and 18 rebounds for her 14th double-double of the season.
The Cowgirls’ opponent in the finals will be an upstart San Diego State squad that upset first-seeded UNLV in their semi-final matchup that came just before the Cowgirls punched their ticket to the finals. The Aztecs had made the finals just last year, where they fell short to UNLV.
“It’s going to be a tough 40 minutes,” head coach Heather Ezell said of the Cowgirls’ upcoming matchup in the finals. “There’s no doubt they’re going to come with everything. They were in the championship game last time and I know they have a bitter taste in their mouth.”
“So, what it comes down to is, who wants it?”
𝙊𝙉 𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙄𝙉𝘼𝙇𝙀 😎 #MWMadness pic.twitter.com/T6662DDzO0
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) March 12, 2025
The Cowgirls, and the six seniors on this squad, four of which saw the Cowgirls lose the tournament championship game in 2023, will undoubtedly be up to the task tomorrow night, with everything at stake.
