March 10, 2025
Mountain West Tournament roundup: Sights and sounds from Day 1 in Las Vegas
All three higher seeds prevailed in first round matchups in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS — The Mountain West Conference tournament has all the trappings of a big-time event, something that you could feel as it tipped off with three games on Sunday afternoon. The Thomas & Mack Center, home to host and regular season champion UNLV, is a professional grade facility with large capacity and top-end sound systems and scoreboards.
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For the MWC tourney, the Mack has been decked out with team banners, red carpets, and a large central stage for post-game press conferences. A mile away stretches Las Vegas Boulevard lined by world famous casinos and other iconic entertainment attractions.
But for all of the grandeur of Las Vegas, the environment inside the Thomas & Mack Center felt sterile on day one and, as is the case with so much in Las Vegas, a bit artificial. Yes, there were the bands at opposite ends of the floor and the energetic cheer squads performed feats of daring acrobatics at center court during the media stoppages. What something important was missing: the fans. To be sure, some fans turned out for day one of the tournament. But they were scattered in isolated pockets, lost among the ocean of empty red seats in the capacious arena where Jerry Tarkanian and his Runnin Rebels built a basketball dynasty.
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As for the first round games, the action started off when No. 8 Boise State scored the first win of the tournament, outlasting No. 9 Nevada 54-48.
The game came down to a duel between Tatum Thompson of Boise State and Lexie Givens of Nevada. Both players wanted the ball in their hands in crunch time and Thompson came out on top, hitting a jumper from the right elbow to put the Broncos in front, 49-48, with 1:23 to go. It turned out to be the game winner.
Givens, a fifth year senior, posted a double-double in a losing cause with 13 points and 20 rebounds. The 6’1” forward from Alameda, Calif. finished her career at Nevada with over 1,000 points and as the third-leading rebounder in program history.
The loss was a disappointing end to Nevada’s injury-riddled season. The Wolf Pack entered the 2024-25 campaign with high hopes as eighth-year head coach Amanda Levens welcomed back her entire starting lineup from last season.
“It’s really disappointing to have such a bad season, to be honest, in terms of wins and losses,” Levens told reporters at the post-game press conference. “But I’ll tell you, off the court, this is one of the greatest groups I’ve ever coached. They get along. There’s no drama. They care about each other. They care about the right things. But I think from a basketball standpoint, we have to keep recruiting players to help elevate us and players that are really hungry to come in and really care about winning.”
The win extended Boise State’s season and earned the Broncos a Monday matchup against no. 1 seed UNLV in the tournament quarterfinals.
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In the second game of the day, the No. 7 Air Force Falcons held on to beat No. 10 Utah State, 66-59.
The diminutive yet mighty Falcons were led by Milahnie Perry, who scored a game high 22 points and dished a game high six assists. Earlier in the week, Perry was given Honorable Mention recognition when the conference named its All Mountain West team.
It’s been a special season for head coach Stacy McIntyre in her first season at the helm in Colorado Springs. With an 18-14 record, the Falcons secured a winning season, only their second of the 21st century. One more win would equal the program’s high water mark of 19 reached two seasons ago, when the AFA went 19-4 and finished 11-7 in the Mountain West. After that, you have to go all the way back to the 1991-92 season, before Air Force joined Division I, to find a winning season in the Falcons’ record book.
The Falcons have no starter taller than 5’10”, but they held their own on the glass, losing the rebound battle by a single board, 45-44.
“I think we really emphasize rebounding especially because we’re a small team,” Perry told reporters after the game. “Jayda [McNabb] really does work down there. She puts in so much work, and that really makes a difference. And just everyone, I feel, today made a collective effort to do so as well.”
The win over Utah State capped an Air Force three-game sweep of the Aggies, something that Falcons guard Madison Smith noted is hard to accomplish.
But with Air Force advancing to face Wyoming on Monday in the quarterfinals, the tables will be turned. Wyoming beat Air Force twice earlier this season, so now it will be Wyoming that has to find a way to beat a foe three times in the same season. Does that give Air Force extra motivation to pull the upset over their neighbors to the North?
“Yes sir, for sure,” said Smith. “Our team is a very hungry team. We’re very eager to kind of, I don’t know, work the chip on our shoulder a little bit. So we have a lot of motivation going into Wyoming. And obviously they’re close to us, so there’s that little bit that adds more motivation. We’re excited.”
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In the nightcap of day one, No. 6 Fresno State used a second half comeback to grind out a win over No. 11 San Jose State.
The smaller Spartans used scrappy defense and opportunistic shooting to take a 29-26 lead into the intermission, but Fresno State responded with a 22-point outburst in the third quarter to vault into the lead.
The Bulldogs appeared to be in control until the relentless Spartans made a series of late stops to spark a 11-0 run. Two free throws by Djessira Diawara pushed San Jose State back into the lead, 59-57, with 1:43 to play.
But that would be the Spartans’ high water mark. 8-of-10 free-throw shooting down the stretch gave the Bulldogs a come-from-behind win, 67-62, to close out the first day of the tournament.
Junior forward Mia Jacobs led the Bulldogs with 14 points and 10 rebounds, her 18th double-double of the season.
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After the game, junior guard Maria Elohim reflected on how the Bulldogs were able to withstand the Spartan’s furious late rally.
“Every basketball team has runs throughout a game. I think when we go on a run, obviously we feel really good. And then when San Jose went on their run, we just have to kind of regroup and come back together and just like, focus on every possession and just get stops and get something good on offense, either get fouled, get to the free throw line, or just hit an open shot. . . .You just got to keep playing.”
Monday will be the busiest day of the four-day tournament with four quarterfinal matchups on tap. Boise State takes on top-seed UNLV in the first game at noon Pacific time, followed by No. 4 San Diego State versus No. 5 New Mexico. Two evening matchups will feature No. 2 Wyoming against No. 7 Air Force, followed by a nightcap engagement between No. 3 Colorado State taking on No. 6 Fresno State.
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Written by Steve Silverman
Steve Silverman covers the Colorado Buffaloes and other programs in the mountain states for The Next from his perch in Boulder. He has covered Ivy League basketball for IvyHoopsOnline.com for many years, focusing on the Princeton women's basketball program.
