2020 Mountain West Conference Women’s Basketball Championship –...

2020 Mountain West Conference Women’s Basketball Championship – Semifinals Recap
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The No.1 seed Fresno State Bulldfogs gave the No. 4 seed San Jose State Spartans a beat down with a 94-68 victory on their way to the Mountain West Women’s Basketball Championship.

The Bulldogs have been putting up shots at a record pace in the Mountain West Women’s Basketball Tournament. Fresno State has made 94 shots as a team, which put them in 4th place for the most baskets made in Mountain West Basketball Championship history, with a game to go. Junior guard Maddi Utti, who recently received The Mountain West Player of the Year Award, had an impressive stat line scoring 22 points, pulling down 15 rebounds, and adding five assists. It marked her 11th double-double of this season.

Jaime White, Fresno State’s head coach, had her team prepared and locked in all game, much like she has all season. White has a bold mindset for the Bulldogs, teaching them how to get tough in the paint while playing unselfishly as a team. White is in her 6th season as the boss lady of the Bulldogs and has guided the ‘Dogs to three 20-win seasons, five postseason appearances, and two appearances in the Mountain West Tournament Championship game. Through the 2018-19 season, White holds the second-highest winning percentage in league games among active coaches with a 58-32 record (.644).

Aly Gamez had an impressive 22 points in the game on 6-of-10 shooting. Gamez speaks on the madness about how the Bulldogs play the game, “I think it starts with chemistry. It starts in practice,” said Gamez. “We’ve been together all year. So bonding together and knowing where everyone’s going to be. Knowing everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. I think that’s important, And I think just us playing as a team at the end of the day.”

Haley Cavinder and her sister Hanna Cavinder brought the Bulldogs some swagger to the court. These two Freshman point guards controlled the ball, the tempo, and the pace of the game. Haley finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists while her sister Hanna added 14 points to help the Bulldogs advance to the MWC WBB Championship.

No.2 Seed Boise St. closed out No.3 Seed Wyoming in a close match of 79-71 in the other Mountain West Women’s Basketball Semifinals.

Wyoming’s bench screamed “defense, defense, defense.” but it wasn’t enough as Boise St. pushed through the Cowgirls and moved to 15-4 all-time in the MWC tournament after their victory. The Broncos now enter the Mountain West Women Basketball Championship final for the fourth year in a row.

“They (Wyoming) tried to establish post-play real early. And I thought they did an outstanding job doing it,” stated Gordy Presnell, Boise State’s head coach. “And then they started driving the ball.

One of the things that we did really well through the course of the year and haven’t done well at the end is three-quarters of the game we’d play pretty good defense and everyone attacks the rim. Everyone attacks the right side of the rim, or the left side of the rim, depending on what hand they are. And we have not done well with that at the end of games. And that’s what is going to happen tomorrow for 40 minutes. So we’ve got to get ourselves prepared.”

Although Boise’s defense didn’t live up to their coach’s expectations, they did manage to hold Wyoming to just 1-of-13 shooting from 3-point range.

Senior forward Ashanti Coleman was locked in, scoring 20 points and pulling down 12 rebounds, giving her the fourth double-double of her career. Coleman has scored 20 points in each of the last five games. Jayde Christopher also had an impact on the game by adding ten rebounds and ten assists. This is the fifth double-double of her career.

Boise St. would face Fresno St. Wednesday night at the Thomas N’ Mack at 8 p.m PST for the Mountain West Conference Women’s Championship.

No.2 Boise State upsets No.1 Fresno St. with a victory of 80-76 in OT to win the 2020 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Women’s Basketball Championship.

The Broncos win the Mountain West Championship and gain the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Boise State is officially 16-4 all-time in the tournament.

Fresno St. trailed the Broncos the entire match, right before Freshman guard, Haley Cavinder shot a long 3-pointer before the end of the 4th quarter. Tying the game to 71-71 with only 7 seconds left to head into overtime. Cavinder attempted to keep the game close with the Broncos, scoring 17 points. The Bulldogs were fired up and not leaving without a fight. This was the first MWC tournament game to go to overtime since 2011.

Photo Credit: Nyshon Zaragoza – Franchise Sports Media

Gordy Presnell, Boise St. head coach has led the Broncos to the NCAA Tournament on 5 separate occasions and has won the Mountain West Championship four times in a row. “I thought it was a great game, and I thought our kids had some adversity, states head coach Presnell. We talked about adversity before the game and how we’ve gone through it before. And I thought that they just really stepped up.”

Ashanti Coleman was named MVP for the 2020 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Women’s Basketball Championship. She was smiling in exhilaration holding her shiny MVP trophy. Averaging 19.7 points, eight rebounds, per game this tournament on 26-of-44 shooting.

Star players of the game were Senior guard Braydey Hodgins and sophomore guard Jade Loville, who assisted in 20 points each. “I would say for sure we’re always going to look back on this night as something special,” states Hodgins. “Like I keep saying over and over, we have weapons. And so I think this brings extra confidence to the players on the bench. And then also takes a little load off the starters that we don’t have to do it all. We have people who have our back and do a spectacular job at that.”

2020 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Women’s Basketball Championship All-Tournament Team

Jayde Christopher, Boise State (7.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 10.0 apg)

Haley Cavinder, Fresno State (20.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 4.3 apg)

Maddi Utti, Fresno State (16.7 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 3.3 apg)

Hailey Bassett, Utah State (23.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.5 apg)

MVP: A’Shanti Coleman, Boise State (19.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.7 spg)

The 2020 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship Quarterfinals will take place today at the Thomas N’ Mack Center beginning at 11:30 a.m.

2020 Mountain West Conference Women’s Basketball Championship 2020 Mountain West Conference Women’s Basketball Championship 2020 Mountain West Conference Women’s Basketball Championship 2020 Mountain West Conference Women’s Basketball Championship 2020 Mountain West Conference Women’s Basketball Championship 2020 Mountain West Conference Women’s Basketball Championship

-Nyshon Zaragoza – Franchise Sports Media

Las Vegas! If you want another great place to watch the game, head to Al’s Garage in Summerlin. There are multiple televisions to watch all the games. Al’s has “Happy Hour” starting at 9 AM and ending at 9 PM. Al’s Garage is located at 11760 W. Charleston Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada 89135. Tell them, “The Franchise sent you!!”

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