Boise State Goes For MW Three-Peat

2019 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Championship Game
No. 1 Boise State (27-4) vs. No. 3 Wyoming (22-7)
Wednesday, March 13 • 8 p.m. MT
Las Vegas, Nev. • Thomas & Mack Center
TV: CBS Sports Network (PxP - Joel Godett, Analyst - Julianne Viani)
Series: Boise State leads, 12-11
Last Meeting: Wyoming 64, Boise State 52 - Laramie, Wyo. (Jan. 26, 2019)
Listen | Live Stats
LAS VEGAS - Boise State goes for the Mountain West Tournament three-peat Wednesday as it takes on No. 3 Wyoming at 8 p.m. MT on CBS Sports Network.

LAST TIME OUT
Boise State secured its spot in its third-straight Mountain West Championship Game, and fourth in five years, with Tuesday's 89-77 semifinal victory over Fresno State.

Senior guard Marta Hermida scored a career-high 30 points, and posted a double-double as she also grabbed 10 rebounds. Hermida came up just two assists shy of her second-career triple-double, finishing with eight. For the game, Hermida went 8-for-13 from the field, including 6-for-9 from 3-point range, and went 8-for-10 from the free-throw line.

Boise State broke open a game that was tied 36-36 at halftime by shooting 53.3 percent in the second half, including 58.3 percent in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Bronco defense held Fresno State to just three field goals over its final 14 attempts of the contest.

WHO'S NEXT
Boise State faces No. 3 Wyoming (22-7) in Wednesday's Mountain West Championship Game. The contest will be the rubber match between the schools, as each defended its home court against the other this season.

Wyoming opened the Mountain West Tournament with a 64-41 quarterfinal win over No. 6 Utah State, then outlasted an upset bid from No. 7 San Diego State, capturing a 75-70 overtime win over the Aztecs in the semifinals.

Marta Gomez leads the Cowgirls with 16.1 points per game, and FG/3FG/FT percentages of 53.1/48.9/93.5. Bailee Cotton averages 11.6 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game.

THIS SEASON'S MEETINGS
Boise State and Wyoming split this season's series, with each team successfully defending its home court.

The Broncos defeated Wyoming, 72-64, in the Mountain West opener for both teams on Jan. 2 at Taco Bell Arena, and the Cowgirls captured a 64-52 win in Laramie on Jan. 26.

Wednesday's meeting will be the first between the schools at the Mountain West Tournament.

GOING FOR THE THREE-PEAT
Boise State is one win away from a third-straight Mountain West Tournament title, with only Wyoming standing in the way.

A tournament title this week would make the Broncos just the second team in conference history to pull a three-peat, matching the 2003-05 run of New Mexico.

It would also mark four Mountain West Tournament crowns total for Boise State, which would put the program second all-time in conference history, behind New Mexico's five.

BOISE STATE IN CONFERENCE TITLE GAMES
Wednesday's Mountain West Championship Game will be the eighth conference title game in Boise State program history. The Broncos went 0-2 in Big Sky title games (losing to Montana in both 1992 and 1994), 0-1 in its only Big West title-game appearance (losing 86-69 to UC Santa Barbara in 1998), and 1-0 in its lone WAC title game (beating New Mexico State, 49-46, in 2007) prior to joining the Mountain West in 2011-12.

Boise State is 3-0 in Mountain West title games, defeating New Mexico in 2015 (66-60), Fresno State in 2017 (66-53), and Nevada in 2018 (62-60).

BOISE STATE AT THE MOUNTAIN WEST TOURNAMENT
Boise State is now 12-4 all-time at the Mountain West Tournament after Tuesday's 89-77 semifinal win over Fresno State.

After going 1-3 at the event from 2012-14, the Broncos have gone 11-1 over the past four tournaments, winning titles in 2015, 2017, and 2018. The Broncos are also currently on a eight-game winning streak at the tournament.

HERMIDA IS THE NEW MAYOR OF FRESNO
Senior guard Marta Hermida may as well be the new mayor of Fresno after her performance against the Bulldogs this season.

Over this season's 3-0 mark against Fresno State, Hermida averaged 21.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.00 assists while posting FG/3FG/FT percentages of 53.8/58.8/75.0.

She capped her big year against the Bulldogs by scoring a career-high 30 points with 10 rebounds and eight assists, while going 8-for-13 from the field, 6-for-9 from deep and 8-for-10 from the line in Tuesday's Mountain West Tournament semifinal win.

COMING IN HOT TO THE TOURNEY
Senior guard Marta Hermida is hitting her stride at the right time, recording double digit-scoring performances in eight of Boise State's last 10 games after Tuesday's 30-point performance against Fresno State.

Over these last 10 games, Hermida has averaged 14.6 points while shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 35.0 percent from deep, and 84.6 percent from the free-throw line. She's also made the hustle plays, grabbing 5.3 rebounds per game and making 13 steals.

BIG GAME BRAYDEY
Junior guard Braydey Hodgins proved Monday why her moniker, "Big Game Braydey," holds true.

Hodgins set the Mountain West Tournament single-game record with 37 points Monday, breaking the 17-year-old record of 36 held by UNLV's Constance Jinks. Hodgins also tied tournament single-game records for free throws made (14) and attempted (15), while going 10-for-18 from the field.

She continued her strong tournament performance with 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting in Tuesday's semifinal win over Fresno State. Over the first two games of this year's event, Hodgins is averaging 27.0 points per game with FG/3FG/FT percentages of 53.3/35.3/94.1.

Last year, Hodgins averaged 16.7 points over Boise State's 3-0 title run, including a 25-point outing in the semifinal win over Colorado State.

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU...
With Braydey Hodgins' 37-point effort Monday against Nevada being followed by Marta Hermida's 30-point outburst Tuesday against Fresno State, Boise State had back-to-back 30-point games for the first time since 2014?

Miquelle Askew scored 34 points against Utah State on Feb. 8, 2014, and Deanna Weaver followed four days later with 33 at New Mexico on Feb. 12.

MARCH BELONGS TO THE BRONCOS
It's March, which means Boise State is turning up the heat on the rest of the Mountain West. Among regular-season and conference-tournament games, the Broncos have now won 13-straight in March against Mountain West opponents, and 18 of the last 19. Nine of those wins came over the 3-0 Mountain West Tournament runs in 2015, 2017, and 2018, with the only March loss coming in the 2016 Mountain West quarterfinals to UNLV.

RED DEAD AMUNDSEN
One of the key players for Boise State heading into Wednesday's Mountain West Championship Game will be sophomore forward Tess Amundsen.

Over four career games against Wyoming, Amundsen has come off the bench in all four and averaged 7.3 points while shooting 58.8 percent (10-for-17) from the field and 55.6 percent (5-for-9) from 3-point range. In Jan. 2's 72-64 win over the Cowgirls, Amundsen scored 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting (2-for-3 from 3-point range) in just 10 minutes of action.

ANOTHER TROPHY AT STAKE AGAINST THE COWGIRLS?
While Wednesday's title game against Wyoming is the first meeting of the programs with the Mountain West Tournament title at stake, it won't be the first time the Broncos and Cowgirls clashed with a conference championship at stake.

Last March 2, Boise State traveled to Laramie for the regular-season finale, one game back of the Cowgirls. The winner of the contest would capture the No. 1 seed at the 2018 Mountain West Tournament and share the regular-season title with UNLV.

The Broncos would capture that contest, 67-63, after outscoring the Cowgirls, 17-5, over the final 6:49. Braydey Hodgins scored 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting in the contest, while Tess Amundsen scored nine in 20 minutes off the bench

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Players Mentioned

Tess Amundsen

Marta Hermida

Braydey Hodgins